All-round game sees the Barbarians bettered at Calfridus

It is a little frustrating to find that our fellow Berkshire clubs struggle to attract sufficient players for B sides, but it is equally refreshing that clubs such as Reading and Tadley can work together to produce a joint team, and provide rugby for more boys than would otherwise be possible. It cannot be easy to successfully meld players from two clubs together, but despite the scoreline there were plenty of positives for the Reading/Tadley coaches, parents and players to take away, and clearly they have the players to make a success of their joint venture.

After the poor start to the previous week’s game, the Bracknell boys appeared very focussed right from the outset, and despite the summer weather managed a fully committed and precise 50 minutes of rugby, whereby the forwards won a lot of ball, and the backs ran with pace and precision, to continually create and exploit space through the committed Barbarians defence.

It was certainly not all one way though, and the Barbarians did threaten through the game, but today found the Bracknell defenders just as committed and precise in the tackle as they were with ball in hand, with Tom D, Lewis, Max H and Kyle all putting in some particularly strong tackles.

Four tries and two conversion were scored in each half, with two more tries being disallowed (correctly) for a forward pass and a foot in touch, and the ball was once dislodged through a last ditch tackle, when over the line.

The highlights were the first try after 3 minutes, when Theo fielded a long kick out of defence and ran the ball straight back from around half-way to score close to the posts, and the last try when Ryan barrelled over in the corner for his first ever try for the club.

In between Max R ran in from some distance after making several breaks through the midfield, and then in the second half, after very quick handling from Josh E, Joe and Oscar he set up Tim for a try when he could have easily scored himself. Lewis swerved past several defenders to score in the first half, whilst quickly recycled ball from the forwards allowed Josh J to step through the splintered defence for a try in each half. Unusually, Tom H remained try-less despite several speedy bursts.

If the backs provided the finishing touches, then the forwards certainly laid the platform. With almost two full packs, the Bracknell boys were able to chop and change, staying fresh throughout the game, and it was this that enabled them to eventually win the forward battle. The breakdowns had begun very much in Reading/Tadley’s favour, where their work was excellent, and the scrums had been an equal contest for much of the first half, but in the second half the Bracknell scrum became stronger and stronger, and Bracknell’s defence around the fringes of the breakdowns, and ability to secure quick ball, became a feature of the game as a whole.

It is a unusual occurance that Bracknell were not awarded a single penalty throughout the game (testament to the oppositions approach to the game, not a reflection on the ref), whilst conceding quite a few in the first half, particularly at the breakdown when Reading/Tadley applied pressure, eventually prompting the “suggestion” of a yellow card by Mr Ref. It was very pleasing then, that the Bracknell forwards listened to the ref, learned from their errors and drastically reduced the penalty count in the second half.

It is difficult to single out any of the 14 forwards who ALL worked fantastically well together, so in summing up we should quote Max R, who commented from his position in midfield how impressive it was to see no forwards hanging around, but instead committing to winning the ball time and again, driving forward and providing a steady supply of possession for the backs.

Just how it should be – or to quote one touchline spectator; “real rugby”.