Buckinghamshire V Oxfordshire U15s Match report
Oxfordshire RFU U15
Buckinghamshire V Oxfordshire
15th May 2022 – Aylesbury RFC
On a bright sunny Buckinghamshire morning the Oxon U15s embarked on their County rugby journey. All of the players were gaining their 1st County cap.
First on the agenda was the X10s a relatively new format of the game which is very fast paced & open.
Oxon came away with wins in the 1st two games. All of the players showed great handling, passing, pace & teamwork to beat two well drilled Bucks teams.
In the 2nd round Oxon won one & lost one.
The highlights of the X10 games were….
E.Wilson (Captain) (GAB) scored a wonderful intercept try.
L.Peirsegaele (GAB) scored a couple of great tries with very powerful carries.
C.Marsden (Wallingford) scored a try from her own half & finished with a fantastic step.
G.Harrison (Wallingford) scored a hat trick of tries showing her pace & agility.
Unfortunately I.Pomroy (Banbury) was injured in one of the last plays of the game, we wish her a speedy recovery.
Next up was the main event – our first ever 15s game with this squad.
FIRST HALF – The squad was lead out by skipper E.Wilson (GAB). The game was very tight & the girls had lots of nervous energy. E.Wilson (GAB) was controlling the game at fly half & was able to vary the attack.
In attack & defence J.Harris (Chinnor) & O.Sheriff (GAB) both looked dangerous. O.Sheriff (GAB) was chasing every kick & tackled anybody in front.
The scrum started to gain the upper hand & win a penalty. Unfortunately an error from the penalty prevented a certain try from being scored.
Oxon did not let their heads down & pressured everything.
After a long period of pressure with excellent work from the ever present A.Grapes (Chinnor), M.Coates (GAB), J.Harris (Chinnor) & O.Sheriff (GAB), E.Wilson (GAB) made a fantastic break & Bucks gave away a penalty which was taken quickly by E.Wilson (GAB) & L.Peirsegaele (GAB) crashed over. The conversion was narrowly missed.
This seemed to spark Bucks into life & their big ball carriers in the pack started to make ground, in particular their outstanding 2nd row, No.8 & 13.
Some strong defence from J.Harris (Chinnor) A.Grapes (Chinnor) & M.Coates (GAB), stemmed the flow of attacks.
I. Hendon (Bicester) Produced a try saving tackle but unfortunately a couple of offloads later Bucks went in for a score. This was followed quickly by a second try successfully converted.
Half Time – 12-5
SECOND HALF – Saw the orange squad led out by skipper R.Fincken (Chinnor) & I. Carter (Backs leader)
The changes of our forwards started to control with strong carries. This led to a quick try following a powerful run from L.Peirsegaele (GAB) The forwards started to make ground & control the territory.
The forwards worked together with excellent carries from V. Sedwards (GAB) T.Allum (Wallingford) & M.Phillips (Chinnor)
The backs were lead by I.Carter (Didcot) who started to put S.Empson (Didcot) & E.Smith (GAB) into spaces.
Sterling defence & strong ball carrying led to Oxon having 70% of the territory after sustained pressure from the team. T.Allum (Wallingford) collected a loose pass & dived over the line for a match winning try.
With 10 mins to go Bucks was starting to look dangerous in attack with some nervous moments in our 22, however our back row won crucial turnovers & our strong defence continued.
The full time whistle blew much to the relief of the coaching team, players & supporters.
Full Time – 12-15
Bucks nominated our PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
O.Sheriff (GAB) was nominated as our Back PotM
She was outstanding on the wing, dangerous in attack & solid in defence.
R.Fincken (Captain) (Chinnor) was nominated as our Forward PotM
Her leadership & skills were to the forefront in the 2nd half of the game.
It was a fantastic victory against a good Bucks side. It has given us foundations to build on & we can only improve in the next games.
This Sunday we are home to Berks at Bicester RFU Whitelands Leisure Centre. KO 2pm
Russell White (Head Coach)