The responsibility of bringing the 15-a-side season to a close belonged to the academy U16s on Sunday as they welcomed Combe to the Paddock for a rearranged league fixture.
Oaks were looking for their first league win of the season and were cautiously optimistic after improved performances in their last two games, as well as Combe's own league performance to date (W1 D1 L3).
What became immediately apparent is that to have any chance of success, Oaks were going to have to contain an absolutely enormous Combe forward pack. This seemed a tall order in the early exchanges as Combe very quickly set up in the Oaks 22. Home defenders hurled themselves at visiting ball carriers, but Combe's progress towards the try line was continuous and seemingly inevitable. However, Oaks' line speed did just enough to force an error as Combe attempted to move the ball to the edge for an early score. Three scrums followed, in which the much larger Combe pack had Oaks under massive pressure. However, the Combe loosehead got greedy and was penalised for illegal scrummaging.
Oaks kicked to touched before immediately winning another penalty as Combe infringed at the maul. Another kick to touch, this time inside the Combe 22. Oaks set up the maul before centre Arthur Luboinski cut a great line off scrum half Toby Shrimpton and wriggled through to score a try that had very much been against the run of play. Fly half George Rehbein converted to give the home team an early 7-0 lead.
A common theme for this team during the season has been immediately conceding points after scoring. Despite a lot of recent work in training on exits, Oaks butchered the kick off receipt and Combe quickly moved the ball to the near edge and scored. This try was followed by another from the Oaks kick off as a nasty head knock for hooker Luke Coll stopped several of his teammates dead in their tracks. Unfortunately, the referee was unsighted as the ball had already been moved from the ruck. Combe (also unaware of the injury) moved the ball beautifully to the edge and ran in from 80m out to go into a 7-12 lead.
There was a 20 minute stoppage as the medical staff from both teams treated Coll to ensure that the suspected concussion was the worst of his injuries (we are glad to confirm that it was). The ambulance arrived in good time and the game was restarted with Oaks having suffered the kind of blow that earlier in the season would have led to the flood gates opening.
To their credit, Oaks forced a scrum from the kickoff and then set up camp in the Combe 22. Unfortunately, errors at lineout combined with incredibly physical Combe defence meant to Oaks missed several opportunities to score. To make matters worse, some missed tackles allowed Combe to break from deep off a turnover and then Oaks infringed under pressure just inside their own 10m line. Combe put it in the corner and then drove their way over from close range to head in 7-17 up at half time.
Oaks knew that the 2nd half had the potential to be season defining. Could they come back from 10 points down and win a game that really mattered? Or would they fight bravely for another 15 mins before ultimately being comfortably beaten?
Things looked promising as Combe's ill-discipline became more and more of a factor. Rehbein kicked two penalties within the first 10 mins of the half to get Oaks back to 13-17. There was then another stoppage as the medical teams attended to an ankle injury to one of the Combe players. A well-worked three phase move from the scrum then gave centre Callum Le Roux space to roam down the left inside the Combe 22. The defence refused to bite, so Le Roux threw the dummy and put his head down to bundle over the line and take Oaks into the lead with 10 mins to go. 18-17.
Oaks were flying and Combe seemed to be reeling as the penalty count mounted against them. However, they still had their juggernaut pack and the ferocity of their carries increased to the point where Oaks started to fall off more and more tackles. A penalty was conceded, and Combe stabbed it through the posts to take the lead again with just a few minutes remaining. Would it be heartbreak again for Oaks?
The home side summoned one final defensive effort from the kickoff and were rewarded when a Combe player was deemed to have left his feet at the breakdown. Rehbein stepped up and slotted the kick from in front of the posts and the Paddock went wild as the final whistle blew. Final score, 21-20.
This was an absolutely enormous result for the U16s. Winning is a habit and it was vital that improved performances were accompanied by the satisfaction that comes from winning games of rugby. There is still a huge amount of work to do as these players look to secure spots in Academy 1st and 2nd XVs next season, but things are looking up!
Squad list : Dexter Williams, Luke Coll, Jack Pearson, Tom Kerton, Ben Thomson, Herman Waschefort, Tait Andersen, Sam Pearl (C), Toby Shrimpton, George Rehbein, Alessandro Valaguzza, Arthur Luboinski, Callum Le Roux, Tiger Bussey, Hugo Schwemm
Subs : Owen Abel, Will Blackmore
MotM : Sam Pearl