London Irish Landrover Competition at Reading Abbey RFC

We were attending the festival with two teams, each team only having one sub so the players were going get a lot of rugby over the morning.

One of the great things of going so far to take part in a festival is the players had to take on teams which we had never played before, which is an interesting challenge.

Coach Angus took the Hurricanes and Coach Ben took the Warriors which left Head Coach Andy free to actually watch the games for a change which was a real treat.

As both teams played at the same time giving a full and concise report is not possible, but here goes with an overview:

The Warriors

The Warriors had 4 pool games to play to Hampshire rules against:

Reading Abbey (hosts), Farnborough, North Dorset and Bridport.

The first game against Reading Abbey was a case of the players just not being in the right frame of mind. We started slow ( our curse) and just didn't really get into the game with some poor tackling and inconsistent alignment and structure. We lost the match, but not our spirit.

Second game was against North Dorset, much better performance from the Warriors, but still looking for certain players to hit their normal game and again we just didn't play the way we could. Unfortunately the game was lost by us rather than won by the opposition. However signs of improvement were there.

Third game was against Farnborough, our case wasn't helped that we were on a poor pitch but I suppose it was the same for both teams. At last we saw some of the attitude and effort we expect from the players and they fought really hard, with 2 or 3 players starting to lead by example and the fire started to return. We were definitely on the "up" !

Fourth game was up against Bridport. This proved to be an epic encounter. Bridport were the more structured and mobile team, but we just tackled and malled like crazy and when we won possession we just smashed into their lines over and over again. The players should take the plaudits for the performance which was endorsed by the referee who pulled both teams together at full time and congratulated them on a great game of rugby, which was the best game he had ref'd in the past 2 years.

Well done Warriors, the end performance after a poor start was great and thanks to Coach Ben for guiding and inspiring the boys to step up in each new game.

The Hurricanes

As with the Warriors 4 pool games against:

Reading Abbey, Tadley, Beaconsfield and Banbury

Against Reading Abbey, the Hurricanes had no issues about starting slowing or needing to warm up, playing some exceptional rugby. The team just swept the opposition away in the first game, running in try after try and winning quick possession with quick aggressive ruck play and setting the backs free. They came out 11-0 winners , incredible champagne rugby.

Second game against Tadley, sterner test for the guys, but they stuck to their game plan and rucked and tackled well and when they had the opportunities setting the back line free. Another strong win and the team was going well.

Third game against Beaconsfield was a much tougher game. Unfortunately the team lost Sam Gilliland to an ankle injury and his absence had a huge impact on the team's ability to win the breakdown and without quick ball the team wasn't able to use the backs as they had done in the previous two game. This turned the game and the team lost out in a very close game with a couple of decisions not going our way being the difference between the teams.

Fourth game against Banbury, the Hurricanes just didn't seem to get going. The disappointment from the previous game seemed to suck the energy and impact from the team and although in the second half they went through attack. The structure wasn't good and the basics like aggressive rucking and winning the quick ball weren't there so the opposition's defence was ready and the game was lost.

Well done Hurricanes and thanks to Coach Angus for running the team so well.

So both teams came up short and didn't make the final in each group, but we had played some great rugby and had had a really good morning.

So once we had packed the coach it made it's way to the Madjeski Stadium where the squad and parents sat and watched a high scoring LV Cup game between London Irish and Northants Saints.

The trip home on our luxury coach was interspersed with singing and speeches and all in all it was a great day.