What a day for rugby at Rosslyn Park! Once everyone had found their way to the right location, we managed to field a full team of 12. First up was against Esher. The team was fired up and ready to go, not wanting to let the Mighty Oaks first game loss come in to play…… Esher also came out of the blocks quickly with good end to end rugby, Oaks managed to get a score on the board following a great diving run from Mitch and things were looking promising. Lots of disappointing finger tackles later Esher managed to gain two back. Not wanting to go in a half time down, Oaks managed to pull one out of the bag with a nippy run up the wing from Imogen with great support from Liam and Zach. in the final play Esher managed their third with the half time whistle going at 3-2 to Esher. Subs on and off, Sevenoaks took the kick which turn through to a try for Esher. Heads did not go down though and Liam managed to zip through the defence to pull back to 4-3. Alas, the final whistle came but a great first game for Sevenoaks none the less.
Next up Ealing - The team were dead set on winning this one and received the ball from the kick off with Jonny making an expert catch and run, all the way to the other end. Try to Sevenoaks. Next at the re-start, Ealing received and drove up the pitch, some good defensive work from all forwards Colby, Charlie and Jack made it hard for Ealing to make ground. Great rucking turned the ball over to allow Taylor a fantastic run to the try line to score number 2. Now Sevenoaks were riding the wave with a follow up try from Max followed by a great try by “swan dive” Coogan. 4 - 0. Pressure did not stop, allowing both Max and Conor to take another try each, finishing off the match 6-0.
Third game up was Teddington who took the kick to start. Max must have had his weetabix as before Teddington knew it, we were 2 up and Max was on fire. Teddington managed to regain 2 back, even with some stunning defensive play from Colby and an injured Zach to level but the team pulled together and with Max and Liam playing off each other on the wing, great support from Max and selfless play from Liam meant Max managed to get 4 on the score sheet. Not to be out done, both Conor and Taylor stepped up with good supporting play from Jonny, making the final score 6-2
Fourth game was the host side Rosslyn Park. Sevenoaks lost the toss so took the start with a great drop kick from Charlie. Some end to end Rugby saw Rosslyn take up 2 tries early on. Once again, some outstanding play from Bruno who got the ball out wide to Max allowing him another lighting run to the try line, 2-1 at half time. Not sure what Rosslyn Park ate at half time but they came out all guns blazing and with slightly lacklustre tackling from Oaks, managed to notch up 2 early tries, with a return try from Conor making it 4-2. Last play saw RP take the advantage to score a try making final score 5-2.
Final game against Hampstead and the team had heads held high. From the offset you could see this was going to be a physical game and Hampstead managed to take first score. With some good driving from Mitch and an offload to Conor we managed to pull one back before the half time whistle blew. Second half saw the game turn even more physical. A second try from Hampstead made the going hard. Some excellent work from Jack saw the ball passed out to Imogen who was on her way to the try line only to be viciously taken out by a Hampstead player pulling full force on her ponytail which took her off her feet. With Conor subbed on and the Hampstead player sent off, Sevenoaks were a man up. Play resumed but against the play, Hampstead managed to get a third try. Max and Liam joined forces again with a great run from Liam, only to also be taken out by Hampstead - another sub and on came Jack. The final minute saw some good end to end rugby but no change on the score - finishing 3-1 to Hampstead
Overall, some great Rugby today with the team really good in the supporting play - especially Liam and Max out on the wing. Rucks were good, on the whole, especially considering these are generally our nemesis - Some thought needs to go back in to carrying out proper tackles which could have meant a clean sheet today. Having said that, each member showed great heart and good teamwork. Well done all!