Stroud beat tourists Old Brentwoods in a gale

By russell vale

It was the biggest day in the rugby calendar. It was the last day of the 6 Nations championship and a Grand Slam at stake. This was all going to be an anti-climax though after the real highlight of the day – Glos county cup finalists Stroud vs Essex Cup finalists Old Brentwoods.

The tourists arrived at a wind swept Fromehall Park in their flash coach. They had VIP transport for 60, we had the Samak bus good for 9. First victory to them. Then the players stepped off the bus in day glo pink and red. 2nd victory to them. At least there wouldn’t be a shirt clash.
Pleasantries and tour gifts exchanged and the scene was set for an epic battle of youth rugby at its absolute best.

Stroud were missing their 2 big 2nd rows who were on lineout duty at Stroud farmers market – holding the lines to keep the tents and stalls on terra firma as 40mph winds blasted through the Five Valleys. Harry had gone lame – just like the runners at Cheltenham Gold Cup. A few others were missing as well but a strong squad was primed and ready to defend the honour of Gloucestershire.

Forwards: Stoner, Liam, Bernie, Darion, Laurie, Euan, Perris, Mr T
Backs: Hilly, Will, Dave, Arthur, Billy, Big Mac, Alex
Subs: Callum, Bailey, Flash, Keyan, James, Jake

Old Bentwoods (OB) kicked off and Will quickly went to the aerial game with a diagonal kick but the wind took it past Billy on the wing. OB won their lineout in the Stroud half and quickly set up an attacking move of the back of the lineout. They carved their way through the Stroud defence and powered over the try line for the opening try. Wasn’t even 1 minute on the clock. A good conversion and Stroud knew they were in for a titanic battle all game long.

Stroud kicked off short into the wind. OB showed great hands to attack left and right through their backs with pinpoint passing in a tricky wind pressurising the Stroud defence. An infringement at the breakdown gave Stroud a penalty on halfway that Will took quickly and set Arthur off on a good run. Good rucking and more expert passing from Hilly gave Will space to attack. He then went for a gruber kick that bounced kindly for Big Mac and OB were again penalised at the resultant ruck. This time a kick to touch setup an attacking lineout cleanly caught by Laurie and then driven towards the line. OB were stout in defence and did well to hold up the Stroud forwards. Hilly set the backs attacking left and Dave crashed towards the line for the inevitable score. But OB were having none of this – they had done their homework well and set a good defensive line that held him up, formed a maul and earnt a scrum under their own posts.

A strong push from OB’s big pack won clean ball and in true Stroud style they attacked deep from under their own posts – backing their own skills. They made it as far as their 22 before being bundled into touch. Laurie again was the Stroud lineout winner and this time Darion attacked around the fringes and earnt a penalty. Another kick to the corner, another Laurie leap and another drive that was again expertly defended. The ball came out to the backs and they improvised to the right with Dave and Big Mac combining well. The Stroud backs then came back to the left and all the hands were used at pace to give Billy a chance to score in the corner. He was tackled just short by a great tackle but an alert Dave pounced on the ball and dived over in the corner for Stroud’s first try. The difficult conversion was missed and Stroud had closed to 7-5.

OB kicked off deep. Dave ran it back well. The ball came to Will and he kicked over the top and a good kick chase from Darion earnt him the ball. The ball came out to the left with Alex attacking and then onto Billy who flew down the wing. He was eventually hauled down but good rucking from the forwards kept the ball under Stroud control. Mr T crashed through with the ball. Then the backs got involved again with Alex crashing through from deep. More good rucking from Stoner and Liam gave quick clean ball to Will who kicked for the try area. OB fielded it well and ran it out again with their pacy full back. A thundering tackle from Stoner though forced a knock on.

Stroud won the scrum restart in their opponents 22 and more expert ball handling through all the backs hands gave Billy a run to the try line and a score in the far left corner. Another difficult conversion was missed but Stroud were in the lead for the 1st time at 10-7.

Alex returned the deep OB kickoff this time into contact. Will took the safe option and kicked upto halfway. OB lost their lineout in the swirling wind and Stroud were unlucky to knock-on. OB won their scrum and attacked again but more stout tackling from Mr T forced a knock-on. Perris pounced on the ball and attacked. The ball came to Bernie who crashed through a few tackles but with no advantage we went back for a Stroud scrum for an earlier knock-on. A powerful push and Mr T at #8 went on a good run and then released Dave to attack who then drew the defender and passed to Arthur who made more hard yards into contact. Mr T powered on again, then Bailey. Will kicked again for the try area and again OB full back ran it out well. He was turned over though and Stroud attacked back through Alex and Liam. More stout defense earnt a turnover and OB kicked over the retreating Alex who knocked on the swirling ball. A great kick chase from OB recovered the loose ball and they sprinted down the right wing with a try looking inevitable. A last gasp diving ankle tap tackle from Perris stopped the winger just short of the try line. Fair play to OB they had supported the breakaway well and secured the ball quickly and released another back to dive over and score a well earnt try. A good kick put OB back in the lead at 14-10.

Stroud kicked deep and OB ran it back well upto half way until they ran into range of a Stoner tackle and he duly dumped the player to ground. Quick recycling kept the attack alive and more good OB attacking play swiftly moved the ball left and right deeper into the Stroud half. OB then kicked diagonally for space but good defending from Billy forced the OB winger to knock-on. Stroud won their scrum on their own 22 and swiftly attacked right. More mesmorising hands unleashed Big Mac who sprinted down the right wing. Into a stiff wind he was slowed down to about 30mph but still squeezed past the last ditch tackler and ran it under the posts to give Will an easy conversion and re-take the lead at 17-14.

Alex again returned the OB kickoff. Then Jake went on a crunching run. Keeping it tight the forwards kept the ball under great control with Laurie, Liam and Bernie making good yardage. OB were penalised and Will kicked upto halfway. Laurie won the lineout and the forwards had a good drive. Hilly made a great call to send the ball out to the backs who quickly attacked right and this time Big Mac’s pace was neutralised by his opposite number. He’d found a vets needle left over from Cheltenham and tried to put down Big Mac. As he fell to ground a bit woozy he passed inside to Alex who found a small gap and crashed into contact. OB had defended well but Alex saw a blue blur racing towards him and as he was thrown to ground he managed to offload to the blue bullet who ran under the posts unopposed. Dave claimed the 5 points for the try but Alex wanted half marks for the assist. Wills good conversion stretched the Stroud lead to 24-14.

Laurie ran back the kick-off strongly. He was eventually taken to ground but Darion did a good pick run. Then Big Mac combined well with Jake to set him off on a long run. All the players were looking to get involved. Mr T, Arthur, Stoner, Jake, Bailey – and others – pounded up the pitch and kept the phase count climbing impressively. They broke into the OB 22 but ran into strong defense. With no obvious gaps Stroud went to Plan “B” – Backs unleashed. The passes were crisp and forced OB to drift across. Alex saw his chance and cut back inside against the grain and dived under the posts for another try. He claimed all 5 points but Dave claimed an assist so they called it quits at 1 try each. Will kicked the extras and the score was now 31-14 and a whirlwind of 3 tries in quick succession had swung the contest heavily towards the home team. Much like England did 4 hours later against Scotland – but would the 2nd half be just as exciting as the Scotland comeback?

Half Time: Stroud 31 – 14 Old Brentwoods

Stroud now had the wind and kicked deep. A game of kick tennis developed until Stroud earnt a scrum for a knock-on. Mr T picked at the base of the scrum and as the defenders converged on him he passed to Dave who crashed through the middle and scored under the posts. Good conversion and Stroud had stretched out until 38-14.

OB kicked off and Mr T returned it well. Then Jake and Darion had some good runs. Will took the ball on and as he was closed down he cut up inside and went to ground. He offloaded expertly to Dave who powered up the left wing to score another quick fire try. An expert conversion from out wide and the score looked ominous at 45-14. The tourists were in shock. They had done nothing wrong. They just hadn’t got their hands on the ball as Stroud showed great control to steamroller 5 tries.

OB kicked off and Stroud made their first error of the day. They knocked on deep in their own half and OB quickly took control of the ball. They pounded the Stroud defensive line with good forward play and short passes to punishing runners. They breached the blue line but Alex was alert to snuff out a try scoring chance. OB showed great control to keep the ball alive and threaten the Stroud line. Good tackling from Mr T, Euan and Callum kept OB at bay. Eventually they earnt their reward and good hands to the left gave them a well worked team try. A great conversion into the wind closed the score to 45-21.

Will kicked off and Keyan showed great skills to catch the ball at pace. The ball was kept alive left but an errant pass went into touch. OB won their lineout with more good lifting. Their backs wanted to show they were an equal match for the Stroud backs and showed great hands to unleash their centre on a destructive run upto halfway. Good support play kept the attack alive and the ball was moved left and their full back joined the attack well and squeezed down the left wing. As space looked to have run out he swerved back inside and showed a great set of wheels to score under the posts. A good kick and Scotland, sorry Old Brentwoods, were on the comeback trail at 45-28.

Stroud kicked deep again and OB again showed great technique and control to work their way up the pitch into the Stroud 22 where they eventually knocked on in a Bailey/Callum tackle sandwich. Stroud won the scrum restart and Keyan attacked down the right. Then Jake had another powerful run. Stroud attacked through the backs but Billy was left isolated and a dominant tackle forced him back a good 10 metres. The forwards were supporting well and went on some Rhino runs with Stoner, Jake and Laurie giving Stroud some breathing space. They earnt a penalty and kicked to the OB 22. Euan won the lineout and the backs attacked left. Flash went on a sniping run and nearly squeezed through. With the scrumhalf under about 10 bodies the pack went Rhino with Callum. Then the ball came out to Keyan who crashed up the middle. Good tackling stopped him short. Big Mac then went on a mazy run – 10 yards backwards, 40 yards sideways, and finally 11 yards forward to eventually find Billy who was denied a try. The backs came right and Keyan showed great hands in an offload and James did well to keep the ball alive when tackled strongly. . The ball came back left and Will was sitting in the pocket. A drop goal just squeezed outside the post. OB took their 22 drop-out and Big Mac returned it well. He passed to Dave who ran past the last defender and scored under the posts. A good kick and Stroud were back in control at 52-28.

OB weren’t going to go quietly though. Just like the noisy neighbours from north of Hadrian's wall they still had a lot to offer the game. They kicked deep and again Stroud erred with a knock-on. OB won the scrum on the Stroud 22 and their powerful #8 went on a surging run. Perris tackled him well but OB were ready to keep the attack alive. They quickly moved the ball right and their powerful centre exploited a gap and squeezed over the line for another good try. No kick this time with the score at 52-33.

The next phase of the game was dominated by OB. They forced turnovers and when Stroud had the ball they were knocked backwards with powerful tackling. Will improvising as he does so well kicked for the try area but the ball just went dead. OB took the 22 drop-out and Perris recovered it well. Will kicked for space but OB caught it well and attacked back down the left. Their powerful winger bounced off a few tacklers in true Dave fashion and kept his legs churning and scored a great individual try leaving Stroud bodies littered behind him. The conversion was missed but OB had moved to within 2 tries at 52-38. The comeback was still on with a few minutes to go…..

Stroud kicked off and this time OB were unlucky to knock-on in the swirling wind. Stroud won their scrum and attacked right with Keyan and Will combining well – just like in their school games. Stroud came back to the left and Billy was held up close to the try line. Darion then tried to power over but OB were showing great resilience in defense. Eventually their discipline earnt them a penalty and they kicked deep to touch but Will managed to keep the ball in play and Big Mac ran out to the right and earnt a penalty. Will kicked for touch at the OB22. Laurie won the lineout and the forwards had a great drive. Darion and Perris had good runs. Another ruck with great clearouts from Callum and Liam gave Darion plenty of space to pick his way past the guards and score the final try of the game that was duly converted.

Full Time: Stroud 59 – 38 Old Brentwoods

Both teams congratulated each other for a great game played in windy conditions but with great levels of skill and commitment from both teams. 97 points shared. What more could you want from a tour game. Old Brentwoods had come back so well in the 2nd half (just like Scotland) after the Stroud blitzkrieg and deserve a lot of credit for making the game the spectacle it was and forcing Stroud to step up to another level.

Stroud had played their best game of the season with great control in the forwards and quick hands through the backs. They always stepped up and played their best game against tour teams – anyone remember the Chobham game under lights?

Everyone retired to the clubhouse to be royally fed and watered by the catering and bar staff. Many thanks to the Mums who cooked up a feast and for the various kitchen and table helpers for showing Stroud hospitality at its best. Many a comment was made about the excellent silver service from the guy with the silver hair. Must be Jonathan we thought…..

The rest of the afternoon and evening consisted of the anti-climax of 6 Nations rugby and plenty of good natured banter between the parents. We even managed to claim one of theirs as ours. A Glaws rugby season ticket holder that travels 3 hours from Essex to take his place in the Shed. What a man of good taste! Don’t be tempted to give into the Sarries temptations.

Many thanks to Old Brentwoods for visiting us and giving us a cracking game of rugby and another memorable day at Stroud RFC. Enjoy the rest of your tour and rest of the season and best of luck in your County Cup final. Might well see you next year for another tour.

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