We took 34 colts to Basingstoke and they had similar numbers, so we agreed to play 3 thirds and allow rolling subs throughout. We played mixed U17 & U18s in each third to build on our integration of the two age groups, and the game started with Basingstoke camped in our half, but continually giving away penalties. A rare turnover resulted in a number of attacking phases before Scott broke away to score in the right corner, Fin narrowly missed the tough conversion - but our season was up and running at 0-5 to the good.
B'stoke continued to attack and two nailed-on tries were stopped, one on the tryline and one into touch just before the corner flag. By this time, ill-discipline and backchat from B'stoke had wound the ref up, and they received a yellow card. However, this clearly motivated them and our defensive line suddenly opened wide and allowed B'stoke the softest of tries under the posts, going 7-5 ahead. Suddenly, we were really under the cosh and continued pressure from the 14 B'stoke Colts resulted in us missing several tackles and ending the third 14-5 down following another soft try.
We started the second third with a completely new 15, and went on the attack. A series of driving phases by the forwards ended up with Lewis C touching down, and Louis W added the extras to put us 14-12. We then switched off again, including one ruck where all our forwards watched Ethan try his best to resist the B'stoke drive, and we found ourselves 19-12 down. There was then a long break whilst the ref spoke to the B'stoke coach and players about discipline and backchat, and we finished this third on the attack. We camped in their 22 for nearly 10 minutes, but couldn't quite score, ending the period held up just inches from the line.
The final third was a mixture of players from the first 2 thirds, and began well when Jack R broke through to score under the posts, and with the conversion from Louis W it was 19-19, all to play for. The middle of this period was fairly even, with some solid play from both teams, but then Ruben received a yellow card (which the ref later apologised for!) so we were under the cosh for the last few minutes. B'stoke threw everything at our defence and we resisted strongly, but couldn't get out of our half until Scott eventually broke away over the halfway line. He got half-tackled and somehow popped the ball to Will who got close to the 22 before being tackled, and we all thought the move was over but somehow Oski did a fantastic pickup and sprinted over for the winning score. Fin had another tough kick which didn't quite clear the crossbar, but we finished 19-24 to the good which was probably a fair result.
For the first outing of the year, it was a very solid effort, with lots of new combinations tried and some glimpses of really promising potential around the group.

by Phil Wells