Taunton Warriors 41 Huish Tigers 15

The Warriors kicked off and from the catch by Tigers it was fairly obvious that they were going to keep the ball as tight as possible.  For the first three minutes they retained possession using their very large pack.  However, they knocked on and the so came the first scrum.  Charles Brock the eighteen years old Warriors prop was really going to be tested and that test resulted in him being adjudged to have taken the scrum down to give Tigers a penalty.  That was the one and only time that happened and, in the game, they changed props twice to combat him. This is especially relevant as it was his first time of ever having to play 80 minutes of rugby as until last week when he played for the Warriors, he had only ever played school rugby.  What a prospect.  The kick from the Tigers penalty did not go far and the Warriors managed to continue to pin the Tigers in their own half. On 7 minutes the Tigers were penalised and probably out of frustration the Warriors Ben Alvis kicked the penalty to give the Warriors a three-point lead.  Tigers were giving away a lot of penalties and the patience of the London Society referee ran out on 20 minutes when he sent the Tigers second row to the bin.  Still tigers defence held out against some determined drives by the Warriors but more penalties and a Tigers wing was sent to the bin reducing them to 13 players.  Just 4 minutes later and the Tigers are reduced to 12 players with their hooker in the bin for an extremely high tackle on Taunton wing Oli Guest playing his first game for the Warriors.  The penalty was tapped and moved to the opposite wing and it seemed Ollie Brown would score but an outstanding tackle by the Tigers centre Gailey brought him down short.  The Warriors won the ball and Charlie way was in for the first try of the afternoon.  From the touchline Ben Alvis added the extras and the Warriors had a ten-point lead.  The second try was a great reward for the young prop Charlie Brock which Ben Alvis converted to take the score to 17-points to nothing going into halftime.

Huish kicked off for the second half and the Warriors showed there intent by going on the attack putting Oli Brown clear but a fantastic chase back by the Tigers centre Gailey brought down Oli and they were able to win back the ball and kick well into the Warriors half.  A mix up in the Warriors defence let the ball go in to touch for a Tigers lineout.  Tigers won the ball and mauled over for the try.  Taunton went back on the attack and Oli Schuster wood playing in the Warriors centre made the break But Gailey was back again to make the tackle and prevent the try.  The next break by Oli they could not stop and his shear pace took him away from the Tigers defence to score under the posts.  Ben Alvis converted and the Warriors now had twenty-four-points.  Tigers centre Gailey was then rewarded for all his hard work and he showed his pace and ability to score a try for the Tigers which again was not converted.  From the re-start Taunton again went on the attack and Oli SW made another break and drove for the line only to be deemed held up.  The Tigers were still giving away penalties in their desperate defence and on 64-minutes the ever opportunist Charlie Way took a quick tap dodging through the defence and outpacing them to score his second try of the afternoon which Ben converted to take the score to 31-points to10.  Tigers kicked off and with the ball falling into space and no one on the Warriors team putting their name on it, Tigers gathered and scored theirthird try which again was unconverted.  This did not deter the Warriors attack and it was only a matter of time before their fitness and pace behindthe scrum was going to come through and Warriors centre Henry Webb burst through the middle to score his first try of the game taking the points tallyfor the Warriors to 36 and their season total to 1100 points.  With little time in the game left Henry Webb was able to bring down the Tigers wing, get tohis feet and strip him of the ball to go in for his second and the final score of the game.

Huish Tigers had done their homework on the Warriors and used all of their skills to slow the game down and in the process giving away twenty penalties in the game.  The Warriors front row was outstanding against a heavier and more experienced Tigers and their was some extremely good carries by all three of them.  It is a pleasure to see Andy England getting back to fitness and some of his play and commitment was outstanding.  Oli Schuster Wood showed his versatility and pace in the centre, demonstrating that front row forwards have ball handling skills as well.  Oli Guest showed a different game to his brother showing his dancing feet in evading tackles.  Whilst highlighting a few this does not take anything away from the rest of the team whose commitment was outstanding.  Imperial in Bristol next week which will be a very tough match in Bristol so we look forward to a good result.

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