There have been a lot of rumours flying around the Combination recently, but it is no longer a secret that Kingswood have welcomed a few new players to the club in recent weeks. With a deliberately slow integration process now complete, Kingswood fielded its strongest available team this weekend against fellow strugglers Old Colstonians.

Kingswood were guilty of over enthusiasm in the opening exchanges, a keenness that saw them trying to run everything from their 22 instead of clearing their lines. As a result, when the mistakes came, Old Colstonians found themselves in points scoring territory. On 11 minutes, Colstonians No. 11 slipped over a penalty to give the away side an early lead. 0-3.

From the restart, Kingswood were able to gain territory from well worked lineouts and devastating rolling mauls. With just over 25 minutes gone on the clock, and after a barrage of attacks from both forwards and backs, Kingswood were awarded a penalty 5 metres from the Old C’s try line. Kingswood opted for the scrum and a powerful drive meant Alastair Lewis just had to bide his time at No. 8 before crashing over the line to grab Kingswood’s first points of the game. 5-3.

Kingswood continued to dominate and the sideline were treated to a lovely run which saw Paul Allen, Luke Colton and Fatheur Rahman tear Colstonians apart, sadly the move came to nothing. Despite the domination, it was a Kingswood mistake that put Old C’s No. 11 over in the corner for the visitor’s first try as they regained the lead. 5-8.

With the half time whistle approaching, Kingswood found themselves just inside their own half with possession at a ruck. From the depths, a full paced Ryan England burst towards the game line and was fed a lovely little pass from Steve Ridgway to be sent bursting through a gap in the defence. With the visitors running backwards, Captain Nick Coe was put away up the wing before feeding Alastair Lewis on the inside. By now it was just a matter of who would get the ball down over the line. With the defence chasing hard, Alastair Lewis popped the ball infield to the rapid Jake Saunders, who sped over the line to place the ball under the posts. Chris Rhodes added the easy extras and Kingswood led again as the referee ended the first half. 12-10

Half Time: Kingswood 12 – 10 Old Colstonians

Early into the 2nd period, the Kingswood spectators were graced with an event rarely seen on the hollowed turf of the Big K. With the Old C’s defence holding firm, Fly Half Chris Rhodes dropped back into the pocket and slipped over a beautiful drop goal to increase Kingswood’s lead further (For an indication of how rare a drop goal is, listen to Chris Hussey on the video as it goes over) 15-10.

With Kingswood on top, they were then reduced to 14 men as Captain Nick Coe was binned for over-zealous use of the boot. From the resulting penalty, No. 11 kicked for the posts. Both touch judges said “don’t know” to the kick, so the referee took it upon himself to judge the kick as good. 15-13.

No matter though, as like London buses, when one drop goal comes along, another soon follows. Much like the last one, Chris Rhodes opted to slip the ball through the posts to move Kingswood 5 points clear once again. 18-13.

With Kingswood looking good for their first victory in 8 matches, there was then a mini collapse as they allowed Old Colstonians in for not 1, but 2 tries in a matter of 8 minutes. Both kicks were unconverted, but Kingswood’s had fallen behind once again. 18-23.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, the game swung once again into Kingswood’s hands. The home team battled hard and made it deep into Colstonians 22 where a ruck was secured. Paul Ford was on hand to remove the ball from the ruck before slotting a pass into the hands of a full speed Alastair Lewis. The Old C’s defence parted like the Red Sea and Lewis ran through to prod the ball down under the posts for his 2nd and Kingswood’s 3rd. Chris Rhodes added the extras and Kingswood were once again in control of the game. 25-23.

The final few moments of game were underway and Kingswood played the territory game in order to hold on for the win. Chris Rhodes sent a wonderful kick downfield, which was gathered by Old Colstonians’ No. 11. In the writers’ opinion, the away team winger was the away team’s Man of the Match, as his kicking caused Kingswood issues all afternoon. However, ironically, in this instance, the Wingers clearance kick was sliced wildly and the ball landed in the hands of Kingswood’s Fatheur Rahman. Rahman danced his way through cover tackles, and was unlucky not to grab a try himself. A ruck was secured and Ryan England scooped up the ball and drove down towards the line to grab a bonus point try for Kingswood. A delightful conversion from Chris Rhodes put Kingswood 9 points clear. 32-23.

There was time for one more attack from Kingswood. With the away team being forced to try and run from their own 22, a knock on occurred and a scrum was awarded to Kingswood. The ball was secured and fed back to Chris Rhodes who had the audacity to attempt a hat-trick of drop goals. Sadly, this one didn’t have the accuracy of the previous 2 attempts and the ball hooked wide. It didn’t matter though, as the referee then sounded his whistle for the end of the game which started long awaited cheering from both the sideline and the pitch.

It’s been a crazy time over the last few weeks, but a big thank you to everyone, both new and old, that have helped smooth the amalgamation process. We move forward as a unified and solid group, and with other relegation strugglers still left to play, we now have 4 games left in which to save our season. Starting with a possible relegation decider against Bishopston in 2 weeks time.

Due to technical issues, the video highlights from the game won’t be online until 6.30pm this evening. If you haven’t registered as a player/club member yet, make sure you do so in order to watch the match.

Final score: Kingswood 32-23 Old Colstonians

Director Of Rugbys Report

In victory against a spirited and talented Old Colstonians outfit, KRFC exorcised a menacing spectre of expectation, which has hovered since its recent acquisition of a cabal of players from neighbours Whitehall RFC. It is with delight that I can both celebrate the meeting of that expectation with a desperately needed five points, and also draw a line beneath an exciting yet challenging period in KRFCs rich history. I declare integration complete!

It is now time to look forward to the relegation battle which, let us not fool ourselves, is very real. That stark reality was brought to our doorstep by an Old Cs team that, while not sporting a lofty league position, played quality rugby through a very solid forward foundation underpinned by a prodigious kicking game, perpetrated by a towering wing, who appeared to have few weaknesses to his game. The game was lively throughout, with the lead exchanging hands a number of times. Old Cs played their traditional free running game, which frequently yields high scoring games. Kingswood, through sheer eagerness to make a point, tried to match Old Cs Corinthian ambition in the first half and much of the third quarter. While this made exciting viewing for the neutral, it was not until the fourth quarter, and a butterfly-inducing five point deficit to retrieve at 18-23, that Kingswood arrived at the correct game plan. Pragmatism conquered enthusiasm, and Kingswood, through their Leviathan-esque pack, tightened up and denied Colstonians possession. Topping a somewhat history-busting haul of two drop-goals (never before seen at KRFC), nuggety fly-half Chris Rhodes cajoled the forwards to convert possession, during a final fifteen minute spell, into an unanswered 14 points, and took the game beyond the reach of the visitors. Old Cs will be disappointed to not have come away with at least a losing bonus point, but, at the final whistle, Kingswood deserved the victory.

With the exception of the brace of drop goals to the credit of Chris Rhodes, which I did not feel entitled to overlook, I have intentionally left names from this report. This is not a time for individual plaudits. It is a time for collective purpose. That purpose is, from the Third XV bench through the First XV glitterati, to put our shoulders to the wheel of the relegation battle. And prevail.

Paul Meaden. Director of Rugby.