Skipper Stewart injured in UCS loss
London New Zealand 21 UCS 7 UCS Old Boys had a day to forget in the opening match of the Division Two season at London New Zealand on Saturday when they were well beaten...
London New Zealand 21
UCS 7
UCS Old Boys had a day to forget in the opening match of the Division Two season at London New Zealand on Saturday when they were well beaten and had two players seriously injured.
UCS sought to make an immediate impact after four productive seasons that has seen them bag back to back promotions, before finishing 10th and then sixth in Division Two.
Old Boys twice had the chance to take an early lead when awarded a brace of penalties, only for Casey Mee to miss both kicks.
Worse was to follow with the serious injuries to skipper Daniel Stewart, who will be out for six weeks with a broken finger, and Ahmad Ghanem, who tore a calf muscle.
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The scoreline remained 0-0 at the break but the Kiwis took the lead with a converted try in the 55th minute and their second try came soon after to lead 14-0.
UCS hit back with a try after Paul Dillon carried powerfully to take out two defenders.
From a quick ruck Kieran O'Donnell ran an arc outside the centres to score. Mee converted to cut the deficit to seven points.
But the hosts were not about to let the visitors off the hook and touched down in the final minutes to ensure victory.
Geoff Boxer, UCS director of rugby, said: "Despite our loss of key players and our inability to shore up the scrummage, we still created enough chances to win the game.
"We had opportunities but didn't convert them."
UCS: Harding, Boxer J, Thomson, O'Donnell, Fidow, Stewart (J Barnes), Mee, Skinner, Bower (Sadler), Stirling, Jayne, Orr, Head, Hudson, Ghanem (P Dillon).
