A tough day at the office...

After watching a spirited Stormers side lose out to a solid Bournemouth 2nd Team with standout performances by Ollie Froud, Ollie Anderson and James Branch, the Hurricanes were next up against the Bournemouth 1st Team.

Within two minutes Bournemouth scored from a counter attack which quickly showed they were determined to attack us given the opportunity.

It didn’t take long for Bournemouth to get into their stride again with the ball being moved quickly through their backs with a series of quick passes and in no time at all we found ourselves 10 -0 down from another score. It was a pattern that was to continue throughout the morning.

Bournemouth were winning the forward battle and were very effective at turning the ball over and we found ourselves 5 tries down by the start of the 3rd quarter.

Bournemouth continued to attack us at every opportunity and with some very slick passing and unselfish play by their well drilled backs the game continued to slip away from us and by the final whistle we lost by 12 tries to nil, 60-0 in real terms.

Despite concerted efforts by Seb Corley, (who was coach’s man of the Match) who tackled like a demon and took the ball up well, and William Taverner (who was player’s man of the match) who also played with 100% commitment going forward, our forwards came up against a strong and well organised pack who stuck to their role of securing the ball.

As a result we didn’t have sufficient ball to play with and often were on the back foot when in possession. Zach Pugh was awarded the Bournemouth Coach’s player of the day for doing his best to take the ball forward and trying to get us on the front foot even when the Bournemouth defences stood firm and we struggled to break their line.

As coaches we were able to identify a number of areas to work on ahead of our next match in 2 weeks time. We have some great players with great potential. When they fulfil their intended roles we will have a team that’s more than capable of having a very successful and enjoyable season.