The long-awaited game versus Trojans took place with the help of Gosport RFC as we took on a Bar-Bars side in the penultimate group game of the competition. Off the back of a few really great performances, and some very focused mid-week training, our boys were on the grid raring to go for the start. Sadly, unlike the F1 finale in Abu Dhabi, the race into the first corner brought about the first stoppage of the day with James having one of those freak collisions, having only recently recovered from his last knock. James played a great game vs US Portsmouth and we were looking forward to seeing James play at full-back this weekend. Alas, it was not meant to be; recover well James and get yourself match-ready for the knockout stages next year.

The consequential round of substitution dominos meant that Lewi (our only sub) came onto the field to join the second row, displacing Dan to the flank, with Isaac moving from no.6 to replace James at full-back. Lewi’s first effort in the second row went really well, and it was good to see him going for it after the nasty injury vs US Portsmouth earlier this season. Full-back is not Isaac’s preferred position but he did a great job and collected the ball well, initiating several attacks during the game. It’s uncommon to be able to play interchangeably in the back-row and at no.15, and it was only a few times that gravity was drawing him back to his natural habitat at the bottom of a ruck.

Dominance in the scrum was apparent from the start and Tommy clearly felt really stable, and able to properly strike at the ball, propped nicely between Jamie and The Beast. The ref was giving Trojans the benefit of the doubt at the set-piece, awarding pen’s for the early push (unjustifiably more often than not). It was brilliant to see how close we came to winning the ball against the head, even with the ball being put in practically at the second-rows’ feet! There will be harder scrum opponents in games to come, but this pack has the ability to drive forward so that’s an exciting prospect.

As parents, we all know the challenges of putting a varied diet in front of our boys, but I really don’t know what Alison is going to do to keep Josh happy – judging from yesterday’s evidence he apparently likes eating scrum-halves for breakfast, and now he’s got the taste for it I don’t think Coco Pops will cut it anymore. Harrison fully activated Beast Mode only a few minutes, putting in some hefty tackles in the centre of the park and running support lines for the centres. This exemplified how the whole team has really embraced the benefits of running through a few phases up the middle, on which they have worked so hard in training.

The first breakthrough came early in the form of a rapid Charlie Field try, round the outside to score in the right corner, leaving a wicked angle for the conversion attempt from Harry.

Trojans 0 – 5 ERRFC

Dan obviously turned up meaning business: swapping to no.6 after James went off he put in an unbelievable shift, covering so much ground and making valuable contributions to retain the ball at the rucks. With players like that in the engine room this team will go far. Dan dabbed down after a great pick up, scoring his first try for the club, with Zach calmly slotting the conversion. Then, to finish off the half Charlie got his second try of the day, with Oscar’s conversion attempt coming back off the right post.

Half time: Trojans 0 – 17 ERRFC

The second half started well, particularly through the centre. The combination of Zach and Cam is really working, and Cam timed some passes beautifully to draw a player and give Joe the opportunities we were looking for. Joe made 10-15m every single time he got the ball and it was great to see him really power through some of the Trojans’ attempted tackles with new-found aggression. Oscar played outside Joe really well and also made a lot metres, with Cam W putting in some hard yards on the opposite wing. All of these efforts made a huge difference to our field position, and paved the way for the tries we scored.

Trojans fought back though, and we temporarily relaxed allowing them to progressively march us back along our left touchline with a mixture of penalties and line-outs. Finally, we defended four 5-metre penalties in a row with some gutsy defending before Trojans got their reward. With the threat of a yellow card looming (due to conceding so many penalties in quick succession), was the tide turning in Trojans’ favour?

Trojans 7 – 17 ERRFC

After a brief period where we may even have seen Trojans close the gap to 3 points, we bouldered the game back into the other half. Punching up the middle, and going through the phases, there were a couple of lovely interchanges with Tommy, Elliot and Dan – each taking a tackle while managing some lovely offloads. Dan charged over for his second try of the afternoon (caught on camera!), followed by Oscar calmly slotting the first of three excellent conversions in a very windy second half.

Trojans 7 – 24 ERRFC

Harry has a beautifully cultured pass, but as a fully paid-up member of the Forwards Union I have to say it’s a joy to see him ‘flick the switch’ and just decide to run through the opposition instead of passing. Timing is everything and he took his chance with aplomb, scoring a brutal try from the mid-field that effectively put Trojans to bed. On top of this he made a right nuisance of himself at the Trojan lineout, twice binding their catcher into a maul and winning a turnover.

Trojans 7 – 31 ERRFC

Chris ‘Nostradamus’ Tunnicliff then rounded-off our stint on the touchline with an impression of Mystic Meg, when he said “Look at Jamie, there’s no way he’s coming off this pitch without scoring a try” and about 30 seconds later that is exactly what happened… the baby rhino charged straight up the middle and barged it over for a try just to the right of the sticks, which also marked him out for the opposition to justifiably name him their man of the match.

Final score: Trojans 7 – 38 ERRFC

Make no mistake, this was a tougher game than the final score suggests, against what was effectively a scratch side. Both sides gave everything and there was just the right amount of niggle & grind at the breakdown – but both sides played with respect and represented themselves and their clubs admirably. Rest well over Christmas boys, and come back in the new year ready for the big face-off vs Bognor!