London Media v Haslemere, not to be confused with Hazlemere, which is the opposite side of the M25! On what had to be one of the hottest days I’ve ever played rugby the typical media start of turning up pitch side 10ish minutes before kick off could actually have been viewed as a great tactical ploy… if it had been intended. None the less we got there, hot sweaty but ready to rumble.
The opposition looked a serious outfit with some nifty warm up t-shirts and some intense pre-game drills. In the first 15 minutes they lived up to this, having changed from their warm up tops to Argentine-esque jerseys. They came out of the blocks fast with some close running and the cultured boot of their 10 kicking in behind at almost every opportunity which eventually saw them down in our 22 and with hands on the ball. Some decent pick and go from Haslemere and some perhaps sleepy heads on the part of Media let to an early try for Haslemere… but that was to be the end of that!
For the rest of the first half Media put on all the pressure. Hard running chasers on the kick off, big clear outs at the rucks, big first up tackling and well returned kicks saw Media spend the whole of the rest of the half camped out on the opposition 22. In spite of the heat Media kept up the pressure for the second half which saw some scintillating rugby, some incredible line breaks, big hits and neat off loads. Real champagne rugby from a Media side starting to look very sharp indeed.
I’ve no idea of the scoring sequence but with another impressive score of 45-12 we saw BGD, Jacques, Simo (lady’s man) Cannon, Benny (the caterpillar) Crowder, Matt (line’s to die for) Armstrong, Mongo, and The fuzzy bear himself (Wayno) get on the score sheet, as well a handful of conversions by the fuzzy one.
Special mentions: First and foremost to the forwards as a pack, this was an immense effort in some serious heat, all oppo lineout’s were challenged while ours was solid and the scrum was a rock that gave a great platform for the free running backs (more to come) and the work at the breakdown put serious pressure on the oppo, disrupting any plans they might have had for doing anything other than a hoof to the ball, well done lads.
In the backs Wayno was playing like a man possessed, it was as if someone told him he could cool down and get some relief from the hot hot day if he smashed through at least 2/3 defenders every time he took the ball on. Benny (of all star family fortunes fame, if you’ve missed it http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/
And finally to our man of the match, debutant Jake Goodman. With hard running, big hits and some lovely steals at the breakdown Jake was everywhere on the pitch and showing some seriously good skills. Great to see some fresh blood in the 1s.
