Bracknell lose their way on the M4

Weak defending saw Bracknell’s Colts slump to a second successive six-try defeat on the road, despite dominating large sections of play against Newbury.
As against Wasps in the National Cup last week, Bracknell allowed their hosts too much early possession, conceding in the first minute (43 seconds this time as opposed to 45 at Wasps) and, again, they were two tries down within eight minutes.
Lock Tom Dyer had an easy touchdown for 5-0 as Newbury’s sound rucking and fluid passing split Bracknell apart. James Monger added a second after Bracknell’s backs failed to deal with a simple lofted kick. Both tries under the posts, both converted by Toby Thorne.
Ten minutes later, Newbury No 8 Jack Walsh made it 19-0 as the home side first seized on Bracknell’s handling errors, then exploited poor defensive positioning to score on the left. They could just as easily have gone right and scored, such was Bracknell’s disarray.
At this point you could almost read the thought bubble over Bracknell Academy Coach Martin Radford’s head - “core skills and structure”. If he were embarking on a journey, instead of a new rugby season, he’d be right to remark “I wouldn’t start from here.”
When Bracknell defended well as a unit they made Newbury struggle and Chris Laidler lifted spirits among the men in green with an intercept try on 22 minutes which he converted for 19-7. But Bracknell were done out wide once again as winger Alex Makin went over on the half hour to secure Newbury a 24-7 lead at half time.
Bracknell’s coaching staff have almost three months before the first league game at Beaconsfield in which to mould their huge U19 squad into a tight competitive unit that is confident in attack and competent in defence. That process may have started at half time at Newbury as Radford strengthened his pack and changed his half-back combination.
Forwards James Wright, Matt Elsbury and Samir Kharbouch immediately made their burley presence felt as Newbury were penned into their own 22. While Louis Marshall brought added sharpness to scrum-half and Laidler, moved to No 10, began to pull some strings. No surprise then, that after 10 minutes of solid forward pressure Marshall crossed from a quick-tap penalty and Laidler converted for 24-14.
Newbury’s infringements, Laidler’s wind-assisted boot, and graft from a pack in which prop Dean Axton stood out, saw Bracknell camp in the Newbury 22 for almost 15 minutes but, crucially, without the cold edge to score a try that would have blown the game open.
When Newbury did break out they did so with aplomb and scored the killer try - on 58 minutes - with a speculative kick up the left wing. Kharbouch won the race, gathered the ball while slipping a tackle, but just as he seemed to buy enough time for defensive support to arrive, he tried an ill-fated offload that presented Makin with a second try. Jack Stefan added a sixth touchdown off another Newbury break-out on 67 minutes to bring up 34-14.
Reasons to be cheerful? Bracknell’s younger forwards performed well (Tom Case did great things in the line-out while Axton, Kharbouch and Nick Sayce battled hard); Matt Betts, covering at centre, did great work for the team; inside centre Mike Eastwell showed potent running skills (but needs to walk on ball retention in contact); Laidler and No 8 Jack Williams made a welcome return; and Bracknell only lost the second half 10-7.
“I was disappointed with our first half,” said Radford later. “The decision making in key positions was not good and we lost our structure. Some of the players let their heads drop, lost focus, and looked a little lost at times. The second-half was much better and for 20 minutes we were the stronger side. I think the guys were naive at times but they are starting to realise what’s required at this level in terms of focus and organisation.”
“We got off to a really good start,” said Newbury Colts coach Matt Styles. “Though we suffered a low patch after Bracknell strengthed their line-up, and were lucky at times, we worked hard when we had to and came back into it .” David Ryan

SCORERS: Dyer (try) 5-0, 1min; Thorne (con) 7-0, 2min; Monger (try) 12-0, 8min; Thorne (con) 14-0, 8min; Walsh (try) 19-0, 18min; Laidler (try) 19-5, 22min; Laidler (con) 19-7, 23min; Makin (try) 24-7, 30min; Marshall (try) 24-12, 44min; Laidler (con) 24-14, 44min; Makin (try) 29-14, 58min; Stefan (try) 34-14, 67min.