Rugeley were well beaten but put up a spirited resistance in a friendly at Hanford.

Rugeley were greeted with an immaculate playing pitch and a request to kick off early to accommodate one of their players who needed to leave early.

This denied Rugeley a full warm up which was evident in the first few minutes as they struggled to get out of their own half. Hanford deployed a direct running approach and it wasn't long before they were able to bounce of a few tackles and score under the posts.

Undeterred Rugeley eventually were able to get some field position and after a succession of penalties Jacob Graham fed the returning Liam Morrison who scored in the corner. A conversion evened up the score.

Hanford quickly regained the upper hand and following a lineout were able to power over the line shrugging off some tackles from Rugeley which were too high. They went further ahead when a ball hacked on by the Hanford centre bounced neatly into his hands.

The scrums were an interesting part of this game. Daniel Howe returned to his traditional position but 2 stones lighter he stuggled against his heavy weight opponent. Bizarrely despite Hanford's dominance in the push, Rugeley were able to steal a few against he head due to the hooking skills of Stuart Whittal.

With half time approaching a succession of penalties saw Graham continually recycle to leave Newton with 5 metres and two players to beat only to score in the corner. Rugeley were unable to convert and the half time score was 19-12 to Hanford.

The second half was something of an anti climax. Hanford abandoned their running game and began kicking every possession away. Unfortunately Rugeley were unable to take advantage of the increased posssion. The returning Sam Elwell was unlucky not to force his way over and Dan Bickley was also unlucky.

The game was decided when a Hanford back ran the ball in after sloppy play by Rugeley on the ten metre line.

Rugeley couldn't argue with the result but Hanford are one league level above Rugeley so it was a useful learning experience.

Next week Rugeley 2s take on Essington in their first merit league at home. 3pm kick off.

MOTM Evergreen Malcolm Ainger who must have made 50 tackles.

Rugeley Rugby Club

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