1st XV v Packwood Haugh Lost 22-10

Courtesy of Sedbergh, who were playing in the headline match against Wellington College.Welford Road, Leicester Tigers home stadium was the venue for an exciting floodlit game on a gargantuan pitch. This was a mammoth game and the team bristled with anticipation in their pre-match briefing, held in the changing room that last hosted the South African National Team! Having watched the Packwood Teams maraud huge score lines past the 2nd and 3rd XV earlier in the day the 1sts were dismissive and stoic.
The S.Anselm’s side were undaunted as they jogged from the players tunnel, dwarfed by the scale of the stadium. The game opened with an immediate barrage of savage tackles, with S.Anselm’s immediately making their mark. Alfred H, Rufus L and Max H made some ferocious hits on the opposition in the first crucial minutes. An early break by James B was sadly denied by a knock on. With perseverance the 1st XV eventually managed to obtain a penalty 10 metres from the try line and a sneakily performed penalty, left Freddy R-S a fairly short run to the try line. Sadly the width of the field presented too bigger ask for Ollie N to add the conversion.
S.Anselm’s held off the opposition for 10 minutes, keeping their lead until a hole in the three quarters allowed a swift footed Packwood player to reach the goal line. The furious battle continued with Jacques T and Dominic A making their best tackles this season. The half ended with a second Packwood try, which despite some superb defence, became inevitable. Rufus L made a breath taking 30m dash to annihilate a player within a metre of the line, in a display that would not have looked out of place in the headline match of Sedburgh vs Wellington that was to follow.
The second half began with a 10 minute lull where, Packwood managed to breach the right wing several times to notch up a significant lead. The S.Anselm’s side seemed to suffer the first doubts about their ability to win the game. Tremendous resolve was required and with the earnest cheering of the crowd Freddie and Rufus were able to rally the team. The closing quarter of the game put S.Anselm’s back in dominion, but struggling to secure points. Finally Harry R-S was able to charge through and place down the final try of the game. Once again the width of the field was just too great for Ollie too reach with his boot.
Well done chaps a brilliant performance all round. Player of the match was once again Rufus, who looked thoroughly at home in the Tigers stadium!

Tries were scored by: Freddie R-S and Harry R-S

The tackle count:
Jacques Taylor 4
Alfred Hingley 7
Ben Edwards 1
James Bourn 1
Harry R-S 2
Dominic Annable 2
Max Howard 9
Freddie R-S vc 4
William Attenborough 4
Rufus Litchfield © 15
Elliott Woolhouse 5
David Clarke 8
Seth Amos 6
Montagu Clapham 9
Ollie Nolan 3
Charles Barton 2
Matthew Beeby 1