MHRUFC U15s Vs Nuneaton RFC

Firstly we'd like to thank Nuneaton for stepping in at short notice after our scheduled opposition dropped out, and extend our respect to stalwart coach Adrian Hoare who turned up despite his ankle operation sporting a fetching boot and carrier bag combo.
Wet conditions after early morning rainfall made for slippery conditions and potentially heavy going under foot, but just ahead of the kick off the rain stopped leaving things pretty much ideal for rugby.
Harborough and Nuneaton broke into action and began what was to be a very physical game. Nuneaton's forwards certainly had the weight advantage so Harborough had to make quick use of the ball at the breakdown. From the start Harborough's lightweight pack had the edge with quick rucking and fast distribution, by scrum half Geordan Bedford, moving the ball away from Nuns powerful forwards certainly made an impact early on. Harborough pressed hard trying to drive Nuns backwards, after a hard won ruck on the right wing Hooker Thomas Melody took a superb line through picking up a neat pass and found himself through the Nuns defenders at speed and into open ground, with support and defenders chasing hard Melody made the run of his life grounding the ball centrally to allow a tidy conversion from Fly Half Will Dawson. From the restart Harborough pressed again and Nuns battled hard to defend. All the action was in the Nuns half and Harborough brought their speed advantage to bear. Centres Ben Marshall and Tom Wainwright outflanked the Nuns backs and a slick pass to winger Seth Vials granted him the opportunity to power to the try line and score Harborough's second. The angle was a little too much for the conversion however. With their tails up Harborough started to pile on the pressure, but perhaps started to get a little too confident and Nuns started to make their presence felt. Out muscling the Harborough pack at the scrum and with some excellent counter rucking they began to steer the game and drove Harborough into their own half effectively for the first time and really started to pile on the pressure. Harborough kept calm and defended well, with superb physicality by back row forwards, Oli Hoare, Sam Dexter and Will Adams. Despite some pulverising drives by Nuns they couldn't find the necessary gaps and in turn some loose handling gave Harborough an opportunity to counter. Number two Connor Jenkinson stole the ball in a ruck and turned the tables on Nuns, finding themselves over committed in attack they had to scramble to contain the Harborough backs as Centre Ben Marshall accelerated form nowhere and drove on to score for Harborough. Nuns showed no signs of folding however and came back strong as the final minutes of the first half ticked away. A hard drive down the left wing had Harborugh scrambling and the half ended as number nine Geordan Bedford whipped the ball in to touch.
As the second half began Harborough knew they had the upper hand but also knew that against this physical team that they would need to play clever. At the same time it was clear the Nuns had their own game plan, keeping the play tight and working hard with their forwards they aimed to bulldoze through the Harborough team and it was starting to show promise. Harborough defended well, but it was very much all they could do for a solid ten minutes with Nuns refusing to give ground. The attack was relentless and Harborough refused to be beaten back but remained very much encamped in their own twenty two struggling to find an opportunity to counter. Nuns piled it on and Harbrough responded accordingly with some monster tackles being put in notably from Cory Riddell who was punching far above his weight and very effectively. Second row Matt Robinson took a yellow card for the team after the referee snapped regarding offside offences around the rucks. Finding themselves down to fourteen players it seemed likely that Nuns would at last have the gap they needed. After a prolonged bout of pressure a counter ruck and break from new player Ben Levy turned the tables. Breaking at speed with Vials in support Nuns found themselves wide open, a timely offload at pace to Vials split Nuns in half and Harborough grabbed another try and conversion. The prolonged period of attack from Nuns had taken it's toll on both teams, the game started to slow a little and a more physical period of play emerged. Harborough started to gain the upper hand as they got back to moving the ball away from trouble. Nuns were constantly having to kick the ball out of their own twenty two to keep the marauding Harborough backs at bay. However, following a powerful break by Marshall and quick support by Wainwright the defence was opened up for fullback Jack Rowlatt to run under the postsl for another try and conversion. The game ended only a few minutes later.
A good win for Harborough, but Nuneaton played a fabulous game the score didn't really reflect the effort they had put in. A great game of rugby. Thank you Nuneaton.
Final score MHRUFC 31 Nuneaton 0