U15s MHRUFC Vs Nottingham Corsairs

Sunday 18 September 2016

A big game scheduled between two county champion sides. Corsairs are are a tough and well drilled team and playing them at their home ground was likely to be a serious affair.
Corsairs immediately put Harborough under pressure, positive rucking and a willingness to drive forwards gained them the advantage and fixed the visitors in their own half for much of the first ten minutes. Harborough showed grit and managed some small forays into Corsairs territory but were quickly rounded up and pushed back into their twenty two. Persistent pressure and some unsteadiness in the Harborough defence allowed Corsairs to press home for a well earned initial try, no conversion, but the home side were 5-0 up.
Harborough took this as a wake up call and countered heavily, Corsairs buoyed by their initial lead and perhaps a little over confident at times allowed Harborough to gain ground. The battle between the packs in the middle of the field was immense, ruck and counter ruck ensued but the slightly lighter weight Harborough pack were nimble in moving the ball away for trouble. Flanker Ollie Hoare ran his boots off intercepting the Corsairs pack. Spreading the ball wide brought the full power of the backs into action with Tom Wainwright springing through for an equaliser neatly converted by Scrum Half Bradley Crane. Harborough now with a slight lead started to find their strength, fast paced rugby with full use of the backs saw Corsairs under pressure. A classy move developed across the left wing through each player’s hands and out wide to winger Seth Vials who outpaced the fullback to score a second try converted by Crane. Following the restart Fullback Jack Rowlatt had to leave the pitch with a leg injury, although a quick reshuffle of the team held things steady with Wainwright stepping in at the back and covering a mighty Corsair’s kick over. Regaining their composure Harborough got back to basics and spread the ball wide again to Vials who's sprint and sidestepping through the Corsairs defenders was spectacular. He scored Harborough's third although a tricky angle saw Crane's kick fall short. Corsairs didn't even look like they were crumbling, keeping their heads up they pressed Harborough and gave as good as they were getting. Heavy pressure through the centre buckled the Harborough defenders and and drive through gained them a well earned second try and conversion, bringing the half time score to MH 19 – NC – 12

As the second half kicked off a further Harborough reshuffle was required when Centre Ben Marshall had to retire with a repeat of his ear injury. With barely a minute on the clock second row Josh Ford burst through from nowhere and sprinted solo to grab a try, the conversion was missed however but the lead was further strengthened. Corsairs came back immediately from this determined work by their forwards created space in the centre of the pitch, and seeing their chance barely a few minutes into the half they followed through with a try and conversion Seeing their lead being eaten away Harborough dug deep and pressed home the attack pinning Corsairs within their own twenty two. As they neared the try line Scrum Half Geordan Bedford sprang forward and delivered a superb last moment offload to Thomas Melody who crashed over the line for another Harborough try again converted by Crane. Keeping the pressure on following the restart Corsairs found themselves pushed against their line. A kick over from Captain Will Adams seemed like the most insane thing to try at this point, but as the ball skewed long and shallow to the right over the heads of the attackers, Crane, now on the wing, somehow managed to collect it, shield the ball, and offload to Sam Dexter who grabbed a try in the right hand corner, the awkward angle proved too tough to convert though. As Harborough started to pull away on points Corsairs needed to find something, and find something they did. Failure to get tackles in allowed them to drive up through the centre following the restart, some great offloads and no nonsense footwork had one player sprinting through the defenders to grab a try and conversion. As Corsairs began to regain their confidence the game started to get tough all over again. Break after break by both sides kept the game at full tilt and free flowing. As Corsairs capitalised on a gap it was flanker Dan Hands who tackled not only the first runner but also sprang quickly to his feet to intercept the receiver too gaining time for support to arrive and secure a turnover. The Harborough backs worked their magic once more and Wainwright grabbed another try from quick ball moving wide. Harborough pressed on, and quickly had Corsairs pinned in their own half. A patched up Ben Marshall scored a lovely try from a line out set piece and Fly Half Dawson put a further two points on the board with a quality conversion over what may qualify as the bendiest sticks in the country. As the game neared the end, and both teams started to feel tired, Corsairs secured a well earned try and conversion just ahead of the whistle.
A cracking game of rugby from two skilful teams.
Final score
Harborough 48 Corsairs 33