Thornbury Thumped by a Powerful Stroud Display

It was County Cup Group Round 3 stage. The GRFU had done a random draw again so we were paired with teams of varying abilities. Unfortunately Thornbury were short of players due to school inset days and long weekends away but they were good enough to find a pitch and host the fixture. It meant we would lend some of our players to Thornbury to allow the fixture to be played – and would be prefixed in the report as Thorny xxxxx.

There was a constant churn of 3 or 4 of our players joining the Thornbury team and playing their hearts out but the upside was everyone got a good long run around and Phil and Mark had less subs to worry about.

The downside was I didn’t have a clue at which stage of the game which player was playing for which squad so there might be quite a few errors in this report – but then whats new and I’m sure Arthur will spot the errors and provide a corrected report by end of week ;-)

Forwards: Liam, Orgy, Stoner, Mr T, Laurie, Keyan
Backs: Flash, Will, Dave, Arthur, Joe, Finn, Alex
Subs: Lucas, Jedd, Sauce, Darion, Archie, Josh, Hilly, Edgar

Stroud kicked off and Thornbury ran it back aggressively. They were held up in a maul and Mr T and Liam combined well to strip the ball and turn defense into attack. The ball came out through the backs to the right, aided by a deft low catch from Alex who then managed to pass to Joe who scampered down the right wing and scored first try for 5-0 lead.

Thornbury kicked off and Mr T ran it back – over a brave tackler who bounced off the ground. Thornbury managed to slow down play in next few phases and stole the ball and Thorny Hilly playing for Thornbury sprinted down the right wing and threatened to score but he was stopped by Finn and the ball subsequently turned over. The ball quickly came right and Dave ran the length of the pitch to make it 10-0.

Thornbury kicked off again and Liam took the catch and run. He was pushed out of play and Thornbury attacked from the line-in pass with a number of phases left and right. Eventually Liam forced a turnover and it was Strouds turn to attack with Flash providing good passes from base of rucks to allow Laurie and Stoner to take it in turns to pound their way forward. Stroud were awarded a scrum that gave the backs chance to get involved. Alex took the crash ball but was held up in a maul but Liam supported well and took the ball on and it came out to Dave who ran straight to score under the posts and 15-0 lead.

The sub rotation started on both sides of the pitches with the Stroud players also taking it in turns to pull on the red bids and join the Thornbury team – especially good if they wanted to practice their tackle technique against the rampaging boys in blue!

Another deep kickoff pinned Stroud back in their own half for a few minutes. Stroud won a scrum and Flash sniped down the blindside and saw new player Josh waiting on the wing so gave him a great pass. Josh pinned back his ears and set off on an amazing weaving run that Thornbury were unable to defend and he was rewarded with his first try of a hopefully fruitful Stroud rugby career. 20-0 to Stroud.

Thornbury kicked off and eventually Stroud knocked on. Thornbury won their scrum and their big back attacked but Keyan was ready with a powerful tackle that forced him backwards. Keyan was then alert enough to pick up the loose ball and run the length of the pitch and just as we thought he would score he was chased down by a great cover tackle and denied at the death. Thornbury were showing great resolve to not let Stroud run all over them and did their own attacking moves to relieve the pressure. Stoner was the next to show great skill with a turnover and off-load from the ground that Orgy benefited from with a strong run.

Eventually Thornbury won a scrum and kicked the ball out of play to give them a breather. It didn’t work though because a quick line-in pass and an attack to the left gave Keyan the chance to score in the left corner for 25-0 lead.

Laurie took the next kick-off back with a direct run-through-people approach. Stroud kept the attack alive but were then turned over but as soon as Thornbury attacked Keyan was ready with big tackle #2 followed by another run. Good support at the breakdown gave Will the chance to get the ball out to Dave and he scored in the right corner for a 30-0 lead. More Thornbury injuries and sub-rotations were needed.

Thornbury kicked off and Keyan caught it and before you knew it he’d scored the 7th try and made it 35-0. Another kick off and another Keyan run back threatened a score but Thorny Alex was ready to shut him down. Stroud recycled the ball well and Lucas attacked but Thorny Mr T was ready to stop him making too much progress. Thornbury forced a turnover and attacked down the right wing but were unlucky to kick the ball out of play when kicking for space.

Half time whistle was blown. The red shirted Stroud players were really putting the effort in for Thornbury which was nice to see – memories of Finn denying Keyan a £1 try bonus at Weymouth festival came flooding back when he chased him the length of the pitch in a dead-rubber game to stop him from scoring a breakaway try.

Half Time: Thornbury 0 – 35 Stroud

More subs were taken with Keyan getting the rest of the game off and Will making way for Alex to get some more #10 time. Thornbury kicked off and won a line-in. The game slowed down while both teams made mistakes with their handling or breakdown infringements. The next highlight was Thorny Jedd getting tackled by Dave. Thornbury were still making a game of it though and attacked quickly to the left and thought they had scored but Josh had managed to force him out of play just in time. Darion took the line-in pass and went on a powerful run and was unlucky to be forced out of play. Thornbury attacked from the line-in pass and this time did manage to power their way over the line by the left corner for a well deserved try and make it 35-5.

Stroud kicked off and Stoner forced a turnover. Hilly at scrum half quickly passed out to Archie who made some good moves and then Edgar took the ball on at pace and made his own swerving run. The ball was kept alive for a few more phases with Sauce enjoying some good runs. Eventually Thorny Finn forced a turnover and Thorny Jedd took another opportunity to run over his team-mates. This time Liam took great pleasure in tumbling the towering 2nd row. Still Thornbury attacked and it was left to Arthur to put in the next strong tackle that forced a turnover that Liam expertly picked up and ran back. Arthur was quick to support and took the ball on but was thrown out of play. Thornbury took the line-in and Darion stopped the attack and Orgy showed more black magic skills to win a turnover at the next ruck. Lucas was the beneficiary with a powerful run that somehow Thornbury managed to repel. It just delayed the inevitable with more quick ball from Hilly and Will got the ball out to Arthur and he scored in the right corner for 40-5 lead.

Thornbury kicked off high and Will caught it cleanly under pressure but was adjudged to have passed forward. Thornbury won their scrum and attacked left and thought they had scored but great tackling in the try area held up the player and forced a scrum reset. Thornbury won the scrum on 5 yard line but quick tackling forced a turnover that Archie ran out of our 22 well. Thornbury were penalised and Mr T and Lucas took it in turns to barrel their way forward into the Thornbury half. Archie took the attack left and the backs kept the attack going back to the right with more quick hands from Will and Alex to stretch the defense. Arthur straightened his run and only had the full back to beat but he unselfishly passed back inside to Will who was in perfect supporting position on the shoulder to score the best team try of the day and a 45-5 lead.

Another high kickoff and Will catch and run back. The game was halted for injuries and Stroud won the restart scrum. Will returned the favour and passed inside to Arthur who was taking ‘Jonathon Joseph’ style lines to confuse a tiring Thornbury defense. Jedd and Finn back wearing the blue of Stroud took the next 2 attacking moves. Thornbury slowed the game down a bit but it was restarted at frantic pace with Stoner and Joe combining well to make more yardage. Sauce and Orgy were winning the clearouts which gave Jedd and Laurie a good platform to attack from. A maul formed and Stroud kept it moving forward and Laurie burst out with the ball but was alert enough to then pass out to the backs with the ball ending up in Archies hand on the right wing and a walk-in try to bring up the half century.

Thornbury kicked off again and Arthur ran it back. Thornbury were penalised and Stroud quickly attacked to the right and Edgar was unlucky to be forced out of play. Thornbury knocked on in the tackle with Darion and Laurie forcing the error. Stroud won their scrum and Will opted for variety and kicked the ball high but Thorny Finn caught it well and attacked back. He was held up in a maul and a swirling mass of bodies merged together. Out came Arthur though with the ball to the surprise of everyone. He was stopped though but Liam kept the attack going and as he was closed down he passed left to winger Joe who sprinted to score the last try of the game with a spectacular Danny Care swallow dive.

If the Vunipola brothers had seen that they would have been very impressed that their home town rugby club was involved in a match celebrating England's spectacular result over Scotland.

Final Score: Thornbury 5-55 Stroud

Players formed tunnels and shook hands. Thornbury had been very brave to keep playing with all their injuries and not let their heads drop. They had been ably supported by the Stroud players that joined them for varying phases of the game and were equally committed whichever team they were playing for and were thanked for their efforts. Players then retreated back to the rugby club to eat their well earnt food.