An improved performance today from the Under 15’s after an early season mauling at the hands of a well drilled Cinderford team last week.

The newly christened Kingswood Spartans traveled for a second consecutive away trip this weekend to the Cotswold town of Cirencester. A beautiful day for rugby with the sun over-head and soft ground underfoot. A spate of early season injuries and a couple of medium term layoffs left the 15’s with a depleted 13 man squad for the match facing a Cirencester squad of 20 with some seriously large units in their midst….Very kindly Owen and Joe from Cirencester volunteered to play for Kingswood so thanks to them.

The game kicked off in the manner that it was to continue with significant midfield attrition – both squads knocking chunks off each other trying to make a break-through. The first ten minutes saw K camped in the Cirencester half after a strong start. Crunching tackles from Billy and Elliott left the Cirencester team on the back foot. The Knights scrum was wheeling but functioned well in terms of retaining the ball and a move off the back of the scrum from Billy and Harrison almost broke through. Great carries by James and Elliott down the center and a good clear out by Max (ever present in the loose today) and Dan allowed Harrison to pick and go from the base of the ruck to open the scoring. Mac converted.

A missed tackle allowed a rare breakout into the K half and Cirencester leveled the scores. More pressure was put on the Knights line but a push down field from a good line-out taken by Lee drove Kingswood forward again. A clear out by Elliott and Joe produced good ball for Mac to feed Harrison for a second try to restore the K lead. Two great drives by Max took the Knights forward again and great work clearing out by Keyan allowed Mac time to chip through for Batu and Harrison to chase Batu crossing for a great try. The ref pulled the game back for a penalty for a hand-off to the face by a K player. A great run from his own half by the Ciren full back allowed them to cross to take the lead for the first time – another missed tackle being severely punished. The K team had had the better of the play. A good clearing kick from Joe relieved some of the pressure but K tired as the half went on and two late tries gave Cirencester a slightly flattering 26-12 lead at half time.

The second half was more of the same – a great take by Dan from the kick off resulted in a turnover due to a lack of support and Ciren drew first blood in the second half. After some great defence from Ollie and a drive from Lees and then and a counter attack by OIlie and Harrison, Batu got some space and scored in the corner with a 30 meter run to make up for his earlier disallowed score.

Some more aggressive play from the K forwards took the ball up to the 25 meter line and a great run from Harrison was held up 10 meters out but an excellent offload to Batu allowed him to score again. K got within 9 points but again numbers and fatigue told and despite having the best of the half to that point energy levels fell away and Cirencester completed three late scores.

A very enjoyable if frantic, competitive game played assertively but for the most part in a good spirit ended 48-22 to Cirencester.

The coaches picked up a number of points to work on in training on Tuesday – tackling drills, control of the ball and the pace of play and speed of entry to clear out in the ruck area. 6-15 for 6-30 training on Tuesday guys with a training session followed by video analysis of The All Blacks breakdown play.

MOTM for a great game in the loose and excellent listening to and implementation of the coach’s instructions went to Elliott.

Let me know if I have missed anything in the report or made any mistakes – 07813000889.