Herts/Middlesex One: UCS Old Boys 32 Thamesians 8

UCS Old Boys cruised to a comfortable 32-8 success at home to Thamesians in Herts/Middlesex One

The first scrum demonstrated overarching dominance by the Old Boys forwards, with the opposition fielding a somewhat senior, but inexperienced prop.

An early lineout win and mauling drive by Sam Richardson was rewarded with a penalty.

The penalty goal in the opposition 22 was effortlessly put over by fly half Corne Jansen Van Vuuren.

This was, soon after, followed by an unconverted Thamesians’ wing’s corner try, which owed much to a series of inadequate UCS tackles near the try line.

This was followed soon after with Lysander Code receiving a yellow card.

Old Boys responded quickly and within 10 minutes following a series of five-metre scrums, Richardson picked and scored by placing the ball at the foot of the posts, Jansen Van Vuuren getting the easy conversion to make it 10-8 with 30 minutes gone.

Further UCS pressure and Thamesians infringements led to another penalty by Jansen Van Vuuren to make it 13-8 at half-time.

The opposition came out with real verve, but strong defence from Old Boys and patient work saw the dominance of the hosts return.

Nat Breakwell had a masterful game at scrum-half, with invariably agile feeds from scrum, lineout and breakdown, culminating in one of his best tap-and-go penalties and breakthrough darting runs to touch down between the posts.

Lam Clarke displayed panoply of rugby skills in both the rush and tackle, with some crunching hits which had a truly breath-and-morale-sapping effect on the opposition.

Following a bad ankle injury to a visiting player, the game moved to the next pitch.

This did little to stop UCS’s relentless supremacy and from another penalty, the hosts, who were playing the game at real pace, tapped and went.

The ball was fed to teenage sensation Richardson and from the 10-metre line, he shrugged off some challenges to saunter in for another try.

As the sun started to set, there was still time for another score and this was a thing of beauty, with backs and forwards interchanging positions.

Substitute Wayne Early with one of his trademark bullocking runs, which set up quick ball.

Ryan Ovens at first receiver delivered a touch of class with a perfectly tied inside pass to Richard Grocott at fullback.

Grocott put on the afterburners and, with a weaving run, touched down under the posts.

Two more easy points followed for Jansen Van Vuuren, leaving the final score at 32-8 to UCS.