Old Elizabethans v St. Bernadettes Old Boys
5th October 2024

Saturday 5th October Hallen saw Es participate in the first round of the Bristol Combination Vase (Bristol Combination Vase is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organised by the Bristol and District Rugby Football Combination) and had been drawn against St. Bernadettes Old Boys RFC a club that we have not played for many years and can’t recall playing them at Hallen. They play in the Somerset leagues and so little was known about what to expect on the pitch over the 80 minutes.

A sunny afternoon and a good crowd welcomed the two sides onto the pitch for a 2:30pm kick off. In particular it was good to see amongst the Es support, old Boys, Steve Barker and Tom Verber. The young Referee was being assessed and he had the assistance of two official linesmen.

1st XV SQUAD: Greg Foord, Fergus Blyth, James Brooke, Tom Bendall, Adam Skyner, Matt Bailey, Jake Perry, Will Tobin, Tom Cole, Monty Nash, Finn Holden, Alex Lee, Pat Dore, Ollie Lunt, Arthur Mills, Jack Houlder, Rhys Sweet, George Burnie

MATCH REPORT:
From kick off Es earned an early lineout after having been awarded a penalty and from here the forwards had a superb catch and drive with the Eight, spurred on by the calls of back row Matt Bailey, saw them trundle forward over 20 metres for Greg Foord to touch down with Monty Nash adding the two extra points (7-0).

The Bernadette’s kick from the restart went straight into touch and slick hands from Alex Lee in the three quarters saw the ball end up with Finn Holden who nearly made the line but shortly after Es’ lead was increased through a try from Arthur Mills and another successful conversion from Monty Nash (14-0).

Es once again tested the Bernadettes defence straight from the restart with strong breaks by both Adam Skyner and Will Tobin supported by an ever improving Fergus Blyth and the pressure led to a debut try for Finn Holden, with Monty securing the extras (21-0).

Always important the Es’ scrum, shored up by James Brooke was working well as was the lineout. St. Bernadette’s had a brief spell of pressure before Will Tobin broke out of defence and this eventually led to a 4th Es’ try this time following a speedy run down the wing from Ollie Lunt, conversion missed (26-0).

On the 22 minute mark Bernadette’s managed to get themselves into the Es’ 22 but a good dummy and then a steal at their lineout from Tom Bendall, allowed Es to clear their lines via a good kick from Tom Cole. Approaching half time Es made a number of mistakes and the game became a bit messy for a while. However, patience from Es was rewarded and a move out to the left saw Finn Holden run in his second try, not converted (31-0).

Es still had time for one more score before half time and a great solo try it was with No.8 Will Tobin running from his own try line all the way to touch down under the posts giving Monty Nash an easy task for the extras (38-0).

Half Time score (OEs 38-0).

OEs' Skipper George Burnie on, Finn Holden switched to scrum half Rhys Sweet onto the wing. Es started the second half as strongly as they did the first with a great run from Monty Nash before unleashing the speed of Ollie Lunt for him to score his second try, Monty Nash racking up the points with another simple but good conversion (45-0), and then from the restart fullback Arthur Mills kicked through the Bernadettes defence skinning everyone to pick up and score again +Monty Nash conversion (52-0).

The Es’ supporters were really being treated to some great running rugby but Bernadette’s defence was indeed a little flaky to say the least!

Fergus off and welcome on field to popular player Jack Houlder.

St Bernadettes were certainly not letting their heads drop and for a good ten minutes had their best spell of possession and territory. Some of this was due to a high penalty count against Es and indeed Es were making hard work of it. However, the Es’ defence stood firm and Arthur Mills broke free and a good kick and chase saw him stopped just short of the line but the recycled ball found its way to Jack Houlder who bounced over under the posts and with Monty Nash’s conversion kick the score increased to (59-0).

St Bernadettes got their reward though after some further hard work scoring an unconverted try (59-5).

Es’ scrum was then penalised but the Bernadettes kick didn’t make touch and again Arthur Mills punished them with a great kick chase out of defence popping the ball up to Tom Cole for yet another try, converted by Monty (66-5).

Es finished the game strongly through a good run from Rhys Sweet, a try from Lock Adam Skyner, a piece of excellence from Arthur Mills setting up a try for Ollie Lunt both tries being converted by the reliable boot of Monty Nash giving a full time score of (80-5).

In conclusion, and as we have always known there’s not a lot to be learnt from such a one sided game, but it at least gave Es an opportunity to try out what had been learnt at training. Probably a stronger opposition will be waiting in the second round and indeed we face a much stronger test next Saturday when we play Bristol Saracens at home in the League. Get down to Hallen and cheer on the lads!

FINAL SCORE: Old Elizabethans 80 – 5 St Bernadettes Old Boys

Man of the Match:  Arthur Mills

SCORERS:
Tries: Greg Foord, Arthur Mills(2), Finn Holden (2), Ollie Lunt (3), Will Tobin, Jack Houlder, Tom Cole, Adam Skyner
Conversions: Monty Nash (10)

Full League Table and Fixture List below

Report by: Paul ‘Blakey’ Barrington

CLICK for the Old Elizabethans RFC website