Taunton Warriors 102- Keynsham II 0

Taunton Warriors 102 Keynsham 2ndVX 0

On a beautiful sunny afternoon, a pitch suitable for premiership rugby and the club Chairman flag in hand ready to run the line, the Warriors kicked off their first home game of the season. Keynsham who had a much larger pack fielded the ball and started to keep things tight against the Warriors however, the Warriors turned the ball over and in the process knocked the ball on. This was going to be the first test how Jo Atkins, Charlie Harris in the middle and Will Ramafomo were going to deal with a big Keynsham front row. It was technique that won the day with the Warriors front row supported by the rest of the scrum pushing Keynsham back and so disrupting Keynsham ball that they conceded a penalty. The kick to touch gave the Warriors a lineout which they won and the ball came back to the threequarters who ran directly at the defence and only some very good defence from Keynsham kept the Warriors out. Eventually that resistance broke and after 8 minutes full back Jo Sharp was able to race in and score the opening try which James Collins converted.

Just a minute later and by some very good awareness by the Warriors second row Viliame Kotobalavu who offloaded the ball for Charlie Webber to race through and score for Collins to convert. Again, straight from the kick off Warriors number 8 Beau Wareham rose to catch the ball above his head, landed and pivoted 360 degrees out of the tackle shrugged off further defensive attempts and with two defenders to beat handed off one and dropping his shoulder barged though the other to score a third try for the Warriors which Collins converted. The Warriors from having no score on 8-minutes in that three-minute spell had gained a 21-point to nil lead. In the lead up to the second try unfortunately Jack Burnett stretched his back too far and had to retire which brought Ned Burlingham on to replace hi. Ned was soon using his pace and sidestep to break through and pass to Dan Tremlett to score the fourth and bonus point try. The Warriors then went into a bit of a lull probably being a little complacent and conceding 4 penalties giving Keynsham respite and the ability to attack themselves.

It was only the mindset of the Warriors who were determined not to let them score that Keynsham were kept out. The Keynsham purple patch came to an end on 26-minutes when they conceded a rare penalty for them. The kick to touch resulted in a long throw in the lineout to which Beau Wareham rose to win the ball at the tail to break through and score the try. Just three-minutes later and 2nd row Viliame Kotobaluvu made the break and when stopped in his Fijian style was still able to offload to Charlie Webber to score the try. Try number seven was a result of the scrum pushing Keynsham off their own ball and Wareham picking up to feed winger Ethan Norris whose pace took him to the line. Try eight was a break by Ned Burlingham and try nine was again Ned making the break for James Collins to score both of which he converted. This left the halftime score at Warriors 59 points Keynsham 0.

Ned Burlingham seemed to be able to leave the opposition defence wanting as on 46 minutes he made the break again to pass to Leo Walker to score the try before just 3-minutes later breaking through again to score himself. Keynsham were not giving up and when they had the ball, they tried to make the break and it was only some very good defence by the Warriors that kept them from scoring. Tries from Malin Tyson, Wareham again, Tremlett and scrum half Lee Cash in a ten-minute period took the score to 96 points for the Warriors and so when Charlie Webber scored his third of the afternoon which Collins converted taking the score to 102 points the referee called the captains together. With a handshake the referee ended the game with 65-minutes gone.

Nothing from this heavy defeat should be taken from the spirit and way Keynsham conducted themselves throughout the game. They played until the last whistle with real effort it was just on the day they were unable to match the all-round pace, strength and fitness of this Warriors side.

Next week the Warriors are on the road again in a visit to Minehead. If they are able to keep the team and play with the same enthusiasm, they have a good chance against Minehead who have had an exceptional start to the season.

Kick Off 2:30 om at Minehead.

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