Match Reports 15th and 16th January 2022
First XV vs Bank of England RFC – 22 -19
The Vees traveled down Roehampton for the first fixture on of the year. Conditions were perfect, mild weather, no breeze and the pristine pitches look for a fast game of rugby. The reverse fixture had seen a tight contest, with the Vees failing to hold onto the lead in the dying moments of the game.
First Half
With the slight worry of the turkey, mince pies & cheese consumed over the Christmas break affecting the speed and fitness of the team, these worries were quickly dismissed as our first try saw a perfect example of set piece and phase play rugby. A well-executed line out followed by 2 phase plays lead to an easy though the hands rugby, with the first try being scored by Ben Moralee in the far conner within the first few minutes of the game.
The tempo did not fall with the Vees, creating an almost like for like copy of the first try, with some incredible Fiji-esque hands on the wing, a miss pass followed by a looping pass over the defending winger, back inside to Conor Moore lead to a magnificent second.
The onslaught from the Vees did not waiver, with some huge line breaks from both Tom Spratt and Oscar Brando-Holahan, it left the newest member of the Vees pack Lachlan McComb, to take the ball crashing over the line and dominating 3/4 defenders with ease to score both the third and fourth tries in succession
Second Half
The second half saw the Vees in good spirits, knowing the next try would surely secure the game. However caught on the back foot, Vees conceded within 5 minutes of the first half. With the pressure on and Bank growing in strength, possession and scoring a second try. The Vees conceded 2 yellows, with the penalty count only growing.
Throughout the 13 man period, The Vees stellar defense only lead to conceding a single try, with the opposing winger dropping the ball over the try line, which surely would of lead to the pervious fixtures end result.
The final minutes were from a Vees kick off, great connection and communication from the boys lead to great tackle from Callum Porter ( C ) forcing the maul, which was going nowhere and resulting in the final whistle
22-19 the Final score
Colts Cup Hertford v Verulamians 10 - 21
Great win for the Colts especially coming back from a 10-0 deficit at half time to a 10-21 win.
U16s County Cup Plate Hertford B v Verulamians 0 - 56
Solid result against a well drilled, solid Hertford B sees Vees progress to the Semi-Final of the U16 County Cup Plate.
First half
Vees arrived on a fresh and foggy morning to take on one of Herts big clubs B team in the County Cup Plate Quarter Final.
The first action saw Will feeding the ball to Barney out wide who fended the would be tackler with an awesome hand-off, with only one man to beat Barney stepped in and out but the last line of Hertford defence made a fantastic cover tackle to deny Barney as he works back from injury. Vees pressure forced and infringement and from the 5m penalty, Olly P blasted into the tacklers making ground but not quite the full quota of 5m. From the ruck, Austin picked and bundled over with his finisher’s instinct. Conversion missed for 0-5.
The next action saw a great break by Luka, spotting no one at home on the blind side from a ruck but another great cover tackle forced a Vees knock on as Luka attempted to feed the ball to Will.
Vees then won a penalty kick on the 22 following a good Vees forward jackal saw Hertford pinged for holding on. The usual reliable boot of Jamie F couldn’t convert on this occasion.
Another attack by Vees was denied by a forward pass. Shortly Vees made the pressure count. A penalty was quickly tapped by Jamie F, always alert for some easy yards, and he fed Sam FB to Charlie who made one of his trademark great breaks. Vees forwards recycled and Jamie F dropped a chip over the goal line which Will beat the despairing cover to touch down. 0-10 as the afters missed.
A melee broke out as tensions overflowed in the tense encounter, Sam FB being held. Will was supporting (first to every breakdown / dust up) and as the coaches and players tried to stop it an amusing moment arose as Olly P sprinted full pace and absolutely buried Will with the best tackle we’ve seen from him, protecting his mate from both the opposition and the ref’s attention. Great to see the boys sticking up for each other.
The half time whistle soon followed seeing Vees hold a slender 0-10 lead.
Second half
The second half got underway and great rugby from Will and Barney on a counter attack created the next opportunity. As the ball came back from the ruck it went through hands from Will to Jamie F to George who showed his unique combination of stepping and power to make ground before feeding Austin for his second try of the day. 0-17 as Jamie F added the conversion.
Vees piled on the pressure and a Good break by Will got to 1m short of the line. This left and easy pick and crash over from George. We have a number of forwards who are near unstoppable from short range. 0-22
From the kick off, Herford didn’t get the ball the 10m seeing a scrum on the half way line. A solid break from Jamie F to Will to Barney saw 35m gobbled up. Red ball hit ups from Olly P and Hugo made some hard yards before the ball was spun out to Sam FB who showed inside, freezing the defence and sprinting over for the try. 0-29 with the conversion tacked on.
Vees were relentless now, taking their opportunities and from the kick off, Austin secured the ball with sure hands. From the ruck, Luka kicked into space and beat the full back to the ball showing deft control as he controlled the ball with his feet all the way for the try from inside our half. Great vision and intelligence. 0-36 as Jamie F found his rhythm with the boot.
The next score came from more good interplay between backs and forwards. Excellent ground was made by Reuben, then Barney and then Reuben again. From another couple of metres out, Austin seized his opportunity and barrelled over for his well-earned hattrick. 0-41.
Following Vees 56-0 win the previous week, they were determined not to concede and two back to back huge hits late from Sam FB personified the whole team’s effort. Reuben and Hugo charging out following a 5m penalty thwarted another attack and with Hertford seeing a sustained 10 minutes of pressure the Vees defensive stand was as impressive as anything we showed in attack. Great determination to hold out Hertford.
More or less the final action saw another great break by Barney as he made 30m of ground stepping 3 or 4 players in the process. The final whistle followed soon after.
An excellent win against a well drilled, solid team that would be a match for most teams in our league. The score not reflecting the physical difference between the two sides which was more even than suggested. The Vees have shown they have fire power in attack and stoicism in defence over the last few weeks and that extra sharpness and determination showed through and bolstered the scoreboard. Not perfect and some areas to improve on (notably lineouts), but Vees are a handful for any team at the moment.
Final Score: Hertford B 0 – 41 Vees (Tries: Austin x 3, George, Luka, Sam FB, Will. Conversions: Jamie F x 3)
Players of the Day
Austin: Would have won forwards player of the day without his hattrick as he had his best game for Vees. A menace in the breakdown stealing multiple balls, robust in securing clean Vees ball and solid as ever with the ball in hand. Fantastic display and earned the hattrick with his work rate.
Sam FB: Tackling was supreme again as he thwarted Hertford attacks with big hits and now starting to form a dangerous attacking midfield with Jamie F and Charlie. Rewarded with a try following an outrageous dummy.
U14s Verulamians 45 Bishop Stortford B 12
Vees completed their 3rd win in 4 league games, but were made to work harder than the score line suggests. After a tight first half, the Vees’ fitness told as they ran in four tries without reply in the second half.
Stortford started the game strongly, dominating the breakdown and giving Vees a stronger test than they’d seen in recent weeks. Vees took the lead against the run of play with a try by Quinn, but Stortford quickly hit back with their first try. As Vees came more into the game, Arthur scored two tries in the first half either side of another Stortford try. With Arthur kicking two conversions to Stortford’s one, Vees had a 19-12 lead at half time.
Vees dominated the second half - Arthur adding two more tries, and Freddie S out-sprinting the Stortford defence from half way. Tommy completed the try scoring in the last minute, which was just reward for his excellent running lines. Arthur kicked two more conversions, and Freddie C scraped the crossbar to add a fifth conversion before joining up with Oliver to win the post match boat race.
Special mention to Neel on his return after 3 months out with a broken wrist, with a fully fit squad now looking forward to the local derby with OAs next week.
U13s Verulamians v Finchley 5 - 40
This was the first game since the begining of December for the U13s. This is the first time we have played Finchley and they were great opponents. They were great at rucking and scrumaging and had some superb backs who they managed to get the ball to on numerous occasions.
The cobwebs were there in abudance for the home side and some early injuries did not help. But we rucked well and could of scored a few tries if it was not for numerous last man tackles and the odd divert that our players stumbled on.
That is not to take away though from the great opossition who were fit and feerless in there application.
Players of note for this game from our team were Max Seb and Jayden with some good ball carrying from our forwards.
We also had several new players playing and players returning from long term injuries. This was also our first game on a near full size pitch with fully contested scrums also being a new rule as of January for the team to learn. So well done team.