A short trip from Kingswood to Whitehall, a fine autumn morning, warm sun, still air and blue skies. Perfect conditions for running rugby and a rebound from the previous week.
The Knights didn't wake up for the first five minutes, though - missing the first opportunities to stamp their authority and leaking two easy tries in the initial exchanges. A sidestep from Ellis and a tackle from Archie reminded the rest that there was a game of rugby to be played, which led to a spell of quality possession culminating in space for George to dive in for the Knights' first try.
From that point onwards, the attacking play from the Knights was as impressive as the size and speed of their opponents. Charlie created a two-on-one and put Ellis in for the try on the right-hand side. Lincoln and Nicky led the defensive line by example, going low to topple the biggest of the Whitehall team. Whitehall were surprised by the defensive onslaught and started to make mistakes, going backwards and spilling the ball for Esmie to clear up and win possession. A face-to-face contact by Archie in defence seemed to spur him on and at the next penalty, he pushed straight through the guts of the Whitehall defence to score the final try of the first quarter, which the Knights ended 5-3 down.
The balance of the game was similar in the second quarter, despite Whitehall fielding an entirely changed squad. Nicky, Archie and Ellis put in a series of huge tackles to counter the massive Whitehall forwards. Physical confrontation between the players was matched by polite discussions between coach Alex and the ref. Three tries from the opposition were almost matched by George and Ellis, who each ran in tries from restarts, and Oscar made a strong run down the right touchline but couldn’t quite reach the tryline. The scoreboard gap inched out to 8-5 in favour of Whitehall.
The third quarter was characterised by a different referee whose interpretation of the laws resulted in a mauling game with little attention to the offside line. After gifting Whitehall a try from the restart, the Knights knuckled down to play their best rugby of the day: Lincoln sidestepped his way to the first try, and George beat six players on a mazy run from his own half. Aster got involved to win several ruck balls for the team, including one for Ellis who ran around the outside to score. Tomoya took the ball forward at every opportunity and Zac battled manfully in the loose. These efforts, however, were more than matched by the pace and size of Whitehall, who widened the scoreboard gap to 11-7.
The Knights were tiring as a team in the final quarter, but individual efforts were still noteworthy: Rees made a run from the ruck but was edged into touch; Esmie’s powerful driving forced a penalty and her deft offload to Ellis led to the only Knights try of the quarter; player of the day, George streaked across to make a try-saving tackle into touch.
This was a creditable performance by the team, both collectively and as individuals. Without the massive tackling efforts of Archie, Nicky, Ellis and George, it might have been a rout. The key to winning matches like this one will be better defensive organisation and line speed to close down the opposition. When the team engaged at the breakdown, they matched Whitehall’s bigger players, and their handling and attacking running is improving. George’s all round performance made him a deserving player of the match.
Thanks and kudos goes to the coaches for making more progress with this promising group of players.