Nomads carry on winning

This keenly fought friendly match was in the balance right until the final whistle. Nomads started at a fast rate and were soon given the luxury of an early try when hooker Sam Cook burst through several tacklers and scored the first try converted by scrum half Joe Ashenford.

Play then was very even with the bigger Cirencester forwards making good progress in the loose and at the scrums. As always Stroud backs looked dangerous with the ball in hand, with fly half Luke Peer especially threatening with several good runs. From one of these Sam Cook again broke through and with the try line beckoning the final pass went to ground. Cirencester backs came more into the game and from one of their attacks Stroud were penalised for offside and the resulted penalty was kicked. This reversal stung the Nomads into action and a good threequarter movement involving full back Aaron Raath, wing Alex Powell and Mark Peer gave centre and captain Chris Toon the opportunity to score Stroud's second try.

The second half was a slog for both sides with the conditions becoming very sticky and heavy. Nomads continued to try and play open rugby, with good passing movements coming to an end through poor handling and wrong decision making. With both sides unable to break through defences it took a fine piece of running by Nomads full back Aaron Raath to break the deadlock and score their third try. With the second half nearing the end Cirencester's forwards threw everything into their attacks and were rewarded after several scrums near the Stroud try line with a converted try scored by their fly half.