Bracknell Stormers show Windsor the way

Sunday saw another glorious day for rugby at home for the Stormers, playing host to the Windsor RFC U13 B-team. Windsor always arrive with a win in mind and play with a passion and intensity unrivalled in the county. This week was no different, but they met their match this week when Bracknell got off to a great start and after a great passing move, Oliver Anderson broke through and ran in to score a very good try.

When Windsor replied almost immediately, we knew we had a game on our hands.

There was a short lull with Windsor maintaining possession but held by Bracknell’s defence. After an intense few minutes Bracknell withheld several waves of attack to win the ball from the ruck and this time Hayden Eves drove through the remaining Windsor boys to release to Oliver Anderson for his second try. A great team effort from both the first and second row players.

As you’ll see from the supporting videos, the Stormers have gelled as a team, trusting their defensive lines and attacking in numbers when they need to, moving the ball to the wings, creating space. This was very clear in the first half as they finished the first half winning 20-5. The third try coming from Hayden Eves; breaking through and muscling his way to the try line and the last coming from a last man tackle from George Larks at full back, driving over the player and ball with support from James Branch and a pickup from Sam Sershall who took the last.

The second half started as the first, the Windsor kick-off coming straight to the hands of Harry Winchester who drove through the Windsor line supported by Sam Sershall with an unselfish pass to Oliver Anderson who landed his third (hat trick) try.

At 25-10, Bracknell seemed to lose composure and the ability to tackle and a reinvigorated Windsor replied with sustained attack trundling through the middle of the Bracknell line, 25-15 and a second just a minute later saw the Windsor boys pulling back to 25-20. They had momentum on their side. Desperate measures caused desperate actions, with Coach Mike Rhodes pulling the team together to refocus them on what changes needed to happen and our defensive line stepped up and held strong.

Final points came from Bracknell who forced a scrum and a full team effort saw Drew Halley take the final points, ending the game 30-20. The Bracknell tackling was superb throughout and considering they were up against some very big forwards they should be proud of the commitment they made. All the boys tackled well with standout tackling performances from Sam Georgesum, James Branch, Oliver Anderson, Hayden Eves, George Larks, Jack Rhodes and William Binnie. Overall the passing and teamwork was excellent with good support play