The B team lost out the top place to a strong Beaconsfield team who also beat us into second place at last year’s Marlow festival. This time there was no final (in the B pool – strangely the A’s and C’s did have a final), with the B team playing four games with the winner ending up top of the table.

First up for Bracknell, and opening the Tournament was a 10-0 defeat of Wallingford that saw two tries from Lewis cap and excellent all-round team display hinting at the quality shown later in the afternoon, with the 13 boys strong in defence and enterprising in attack. Only sound defence by the Wallingford team prevented a couple more scores for the Bracknell boys.

After last year’s (Marlow Tournament) final defeat by Beaconsfield, the team knew that the second game would be the toughest test, and so it turned out to be, although it is right to say that Beaconsfield probably found it significantly harder than they could have expected. The eventual score was a 0-10 reverse but for much of the game it looked as if a very resolute defence, much of it whilst camped on the try line, may hold out. In actual fact, the two late tries came from deeper plays, where Beaconsfield were able to exploit the larger spaces out wide, after the Bracknell boys had appeared to weather the storm and force their way up the pitch.

The third game was a match up against Abbey, and the efforts of the previous game, coupled with the exertions of a few boys supplementing the C team, saw a below par showing, going behind due to some poor defensive work – which was disappointing given the previous games’ performance. With no half time (these game were 15 mins one way), it was for the boys themselves to up their game, and this they did with the forwards dominant in the scrums and asserting themselves at the breakdowns, this started to create a very fluid game. Behind the pack, a dynamic offloading game started to develop with Oscar, Joe and the two Josh’s particularly to the fore. After hammering away at the Abbey line with big surges from Fergus and Kane, quick ball was spread out to Aggie who exploited a stretched defence to equal the game with virtually the last play of the game. Despite the poor aspects of this game, the momentum created by the boys themselves in the latter period of the game, and some very selfless play, left a positive impression and a draw was probably the right result.

Of particular note was the scrummaging, which was excellent with Fergus, Seth and Kane dominating at the front, ably abetted by Lewis, Billy and Ed behind them.

With Beaconsfield having won all of their games, the team entered the last game against Tadley Tigers (‘A’ team), knowing that a win would likely secure runners-up spot. This game provided probably the most exciting entertainment of the day, with a try deep into the clocks “red zone” securing a comeback from 0-5 down to win 10-5. Tadley showed some good running play right from the outset with some very forceful runners, making serious inroads on numerous occasions. At the same time Bracknell, with their rock-solid scrum, were hinting at replicating their all-court game from the previous match up against Abbey. It was however, Tadley who broke the deadlock just after the mid-point of the game with an excellent individual run from a midfield breakdown leaving several defenders grasping at thin air.

This appeared to fire up the Bracknell boys but rather than slip desperately into individual attempts at match saving heroics, the scrum upped their intensity, and the backs launched into some Barcelona-esque possession and passing play, interspersed with some solid bursts from the forwards. The result was that Tadley, who tackled very well, started to run out of defenders, eventually enabling Lewis to force his way over for the equaliser. Not happy with securing a draw, and undoubtedly inspired by the success of this continuous-motion approach, the boys weathered the Tadley attempts to regain the lead with a couple of big tackles, a turnover and back onto the front foot. Big forward drives, quick rucking, deft off-loads and numerous changes to the point of attack, saw the Tadley defence scattered and Oscar touch down, with even a two-man overlap to spare. Cue the final whistle, it was an excellent way to sign the day off, and in some style too!