Hooker Wright Bags a Devon Double Double!

Another week in the build up to this seasons U23s Inter Services competition and another West Country venue to test the skills of the players and for the coaches and management to work through selection dilemmas.

Despite the rain being responsible for cancelling other fixtures in South Devon on the day, Brixham RFC did a tremendous job in getting Astley Park ready for the fixture and their squad of U23 players were keen to give the RN a hard game.

Although the day’s persistent heavy rain had eased somewhat by kick off it did still lead to difficult conditions both underfoot and for handling, especially early on. But despite there being no score in the first quarter of the game there was plenty of defensive action on show. Both sides were determined to carry hard into the opposition with the defending team equally determined to stop them. Some excellent one on one hits from the RN as well as group tackles pegged back the Brixham attacks and led them to kick their way out of their own half.

The defensive deadlock was broken in the 21st minute when a penalty and kick to the corner by the RN gave them their first real attacking opportunity of the game. This was taken with aplomb with the perfectly executed catch and drive maul pushed over the line at some speed from just inside the 22m line for hooker Jack Wright to score the game’s first points. Fly half Jenkins landed the tricky conversion to extend the lead.

A few minutes later try machine Wright would go in for his second in quick succession, a feat he also achieved the week before at Devonport, a similar catch and drive broke up short of the line and a break off saw the RN over the line again to take a 12 - 0 lead.

Another 10-minute period of huge endeavour from both sides in the middle third of field with few scoring opportunities was broken by the home team just before the halftime whistle. A towering ‘up and under’ kick from the Brixham number 10 was caught up in the swirling wind and a mis judgement from the RN side saw the ball roll over their try line to be dotted down by a chasing Brixham player. The successful conversion was the final action of the half.

Some real plusses for the RN side in the first half, particularly the stoic defensive effort from the whole team and the lineout which functioned brilliantly in difficult conditions.

HT BRIXHAM RFC 7 – 12 RN U23s

Despite a few changes by both sides and a completely new strip for the Brixham team, it didn’t take the RN long to hit the ground running after the break. Another catch and drive line out, which is fast becoming a real asset for this squad, was followed by some concerted phase play which saw winger Sam Javes slice through a gap to score his side’s first points of the half.

There would be a fair wait for the next points of the game as a period of handling errors and untidy play saw both sides being frustrated in not being able to take a real grip of the match. This wasn’t helped by a yellow card for the RN’s Robbie Hawkshaw.

However, that would change about half an hour into the second half when the Navy side went up a few gears and took a firm hold of the game to finish in style.

Vice-Captain and centre Freddy Elliott was the first over the whitewash after finding a gap through the Brixham defence, he still had several defenders to beat. Using both finesse and brute force he went around a couple and straight through a couple more to score a great try, with the conversion by Javes successful the RN now had some daylight, 7 - 24.

With the Brixham defence tiring and the RN side in control of both possession and territory, the final 3 minutes saw the Navy go in for 2 more tries, both converted by Javes. The first by left wing Harry Johnston who had deserved a try after earlier being stopped short a few times with typically strong carries, and the

last right on the final whistle by prop Charlie Davis who took several defenders over the line with him. His huge smile and the referees whistle were the final acts of a game from which both teams can take a huge amount of credit for their efforts.

Another huge thank you to Brixham RFC for enabling the fixture to go ahead.

Watching from the stands was RN Director of Rugby, Tom Blackburn, who said, “It was great to see the U23s in action against a Brixham U23s team with a few guest players from local clubs. The RN team have struggled with consistency in the squad up to now, while they look at players ahead of selecting their IS team. I was hugely impressed with the defensive effort, in stark contrast to their first fixture at Bristol Uni. Head coach Ben Priddey has been working hard this week on the chop tackles, which the team delivered in spades tonight, preventing Brixham making any gains with ball in hand. It’s this hard work on the training ground and time together as a squad that will build the trust required to win games. I am really excited about this U23s team as we go into the Inter-Services Championships. There is plenty of talent in this young squad and if we can get the right team together, I am confident we can do a job on the RAF and Army.”

FT BRIXHAM RFC 7 – 38 RN U23s

U23s: A Einchcomb (C), ⁠J Wright, ⁠J Turnham; ⁠T Horne, ⁠T Ashton; ⁠S Boardman, ⁠C Hancock, ⁠R Neagle; ⁠R Campbell, ⁠G Jenkins, ⁠H Johnston, ⁠L Clayton (VC), ⁠F Elliott (VC), ⁠S Javes, ⁠K Barclay.

Replacements: ⁠S Brittle, ⁠C Davis, ⁠J Paterson, ⁠L Evans, ⁠R Hawkshaw, ⁠T Moss, ⁠B Loga, ⁠J Donaldson, ⁠C Collins, ⁠N Anderson, ⁠J Perry, R Owen.

Words by P Clark

Images by Jarrad Hulm