Firsts turn on the style against Eastbourne

It was a glorious sunny afternoon on the last day before the clocks went back and the pitch looked in good order for the visit of Eastbourne. A good crowd at the pre-match lunch had seen various cheques given to our sunshine sevens charities and the match was eagerly anticipated. We have not started well in the past few games so a few tweeks to the warm up were made to try and amend this trend. It seemed to work as after thirty second or so we were awarded a penalty in the Eastbourne twenty two which Swadling converted. Straight from the kick off we were on the attack again as the forwards set up a good platform, Swadling moved the ball wide to Waite who drifted outside his opposite number before putting a chip kick in, at the time he looked like keeping it in hand was the better option. However, Montagu chased with great pace and with a kind bounce the ball popped up into his hands and he beat two defenders to get the try. Swadling converted. 10 -0 after three minutes. A few minutes later Montagu added his second of the day. A strong scrum gave a solid platform to set the backs away. Swadling again fed Waite and he beat his man before feeding Montagu on the twenty two. He stepped and shimmied and gassed his man on the outside to score his second of the day. Swadling converted. We were looking good with ball in hand with strong carries from Andrews, Perry, Sandys, Hulst to name a few. But we were also moving the ball much more crisply and with more intent and accuracy. A strong carry from Andrews set up possession deep in the twenty two. The ball was moved out to Swadling who spotted a gap and went for it, as the gap closed he looked to offload to the supporting player but the Eastbourne players head got in the way and headed the ball back over the try line. The on rushing Skipworth was quickest to react for the touch and try. Swadling converted. We continued to look a threat and some great hands from backs and forwards in short channels looked to have got Skipworth his second of the day but he was adjudged to double moved. However, it wasn't long before the next try. A set piece line out move saw the ball moved off the top to Swadling who fed Andrews in midfield. A great line saw him coast past the defence and with the full back to beat he threw an outrageous side step and stood him up, something he will dine out on for years. Swadling converted. We continued to dominate at set piece and this platform gave us excellent opportunity to move the ball. Sandys straightened the line well and made excellent carries all day in the back line and Swadling and Waite continued to make good decisions. Just before the break we won a scrum against the head from which we moved the ball wide and Tucker almost got in. The ball was recycled well and big carries from the forwards dragged defenders in. The ball was moved to Swadling who had big forwards outside him, he used these as dummy runners and fed Waite who still had plenty to do. He ran a beautiful arching run dummied the pass to the two guys outside and watched the defence run straight past him before coasting home. Swadling converted to make it 38-0 at half time.
With the try bonus point already in the bag we talked at half time about being clinical in attack and keep doing the simple things well. Not to be complacent and have some pride in keeping a clean sheet in defence. After five minutes of the second half an excellent break from Sandys, showing strength and speed, was almost wasted by a poor offload. However, the energiser bunny Champain managed to get the ball back and set up a great attacking position. We worked the ball one way before moving it back the other through several pairs of hands for Montagu to seal his hattrick in the corner. Swadling missed the conversion. From the kick off Eastbourne enjoyed a short spell of possession and kept the ball for a while. However, when they then looked to move it wide great anticipation from Waite saw him make the interception and stroll in from the half way line for his second of the day. Swadling converted to bring up the fifty points. For the next fifteen minutes or so the game went a little flat with a few errors and no scores. Good defence saw us keep Eastbourne out during their best part of the game. From an Eastbourne line out in our twenty two we managed to turn the ball over. Good carries from Andrews, Perry, and Bridges got the ball up to half way. We moved the ball wide from Swadling to Waite at pace and he fed Tucker. He took the ball to the edge of the twenty two before feeding Carr. With an old fashioned swerve he beat his man on the outside and ran around to score under the posts for what was probably try of the day. Swadling converted. Eastbourne now had to go uncontested at the scrums having lost a couple of front row to injuries which took a bit of the sting out of the game. However, from an attacking scrum of the ten metre line we worked the ball well through the hands and Tucker beat his man to score our ninth try. Swadling missed the conversion. That was the last score of the day and the final tally was 62-0. A fantastic result against a good side.
Head Coach Rhodri Lewis was a happy man after the game and said, 'We have been waiting for that all season. It has taken us a while but today we finally clicked. It was great to see the guys playing with confidence and showing what they are capable of. It started up front, we were very solid at set piece and had some huge carries from the pack, but the backs were excellent today and finished off in style with eight out of the nine tries. The understanding and decision making in the back line is starting to develop and the real EG turned up today and it was great to see. I have been told I actually smiled today. I didn't realise that it was that noteworthy but apparently so! We now need to back up this performance with another next week at Burgess Hill.'

Next week we are away at Burgess Hill and the kick offs are now 230pm. We hope that you can come and support us.