Mud and tries galore

The reports get briefer, but the rugby gets better.

Saturday saw the firsts take the short drive to Hopwood to play Five Ways Old Eds. With the easy part of the season behind us, and sitting seven points clear at the top of the table, it was time to put the Christmas cheer to one side and make a start on the hardest part of any campaign, staying top when everyone has seen what you are upto.

Unless anyone has failed to notice, it has been slightly wet and windy recently. This has had its effect on the underfoot conditions which were somewhat wet, boggy and muddy.

So in the depths of a cold wet English winter what else does any Rugby supporter expect than 8 man ball up the jumper, close quarter rugby? However, this is Harborne we are talking about. The club that wears pink leotards in the March snows… and wants to throw the ball about! Despite the mud, rain, wind, cold, and inability to distinguish our shirts from theirs after ten minutes, we played like it was still August.

The bonus point and game were sealed by the end of the first half, during which time our pack had demolished theirs at scrum time and our backs had cut big holes in their defence. Five Ways’ only try coming from a period of sustained pressure and their own desire to try and move the ball around too.

The second half saw Five Ways opt to use the wind and try to put pressure on us by kicking the ball deeper. However, with our lineout securing metaphorically clean ball, and our backs comfortably controlling their passes, this merely allowed us possession to play. The scoreboard continued to tick over and would have been more had Joe’s excellent textbook offload after a forty yard break not been straight into the hands of their retreating winger, indistinguishable from any of our players due to the mud. Rugby stalwarts were not to be too upset either by the lack of close quarter play, as the forwards weighed in with a thirty yard catch and drive from the lineout. They were then robbed of another easier attempt when Hodgy managed to miss a “simple” touch finder from a penalty barely five metres infield from the five and touch line, delicately chipping it to their winger.

2014 has started well. 80 minutes in rotten conditions of excellent rugby, a superb display and everyone played superbly, brightening a horrid afternoon for all spectators. Kudos also goes to the number of supporters who braved the conditions to support our team and in the manner of our support too. I would love to name the scorers, but they were all indistinguishable under the layer of brown slime…so well done to everyone!