Cobham B (32) vs (12) KCS

Tries: Charlie Allen, Connor Green
Conversions: Will Legge (1)

Kings Squad: Aidan Ryce, Jamie Edwards, George Ludlow, Charlie Allen, Calum Heather, Rory Williams, Finlay Russell, Tom Weston (Capt), Connor Green, Harry Rickards, Nick Craike, Max Woodward-Smith (vice Capt), Will Legge, Hugo Birch, Charlie Bartlett, Tom Palmer.

A tough start to the New Year for Kings as the boys came up against a determined and well-drilled Cobham B side. In the first half Cobham played the conditions well and used their kicking game to good effect. Cobham had the lion’s share of the possession throughout the first half, but thanks to some valiant defence from Kings, only went into the half time break with a 10-0 lead.

The second half proved to be a different story as Kings took advantage from the start of the strong wind at their backs to take a 12-10 lead through two well-worked tries. The first try came from a clever chip kick from fly-half Harry Rickards (playing his first game for Kings), which was gathered by Max Woodward-Smith, and following some great interplay between forwards and backs, finished off under the posts by a rampaging Charlie Allen.

The second try was score by Connor Green diving over from close range after some typically robust driving play from the Kings forward pack. Unfortunately, that ended the scoring for Kings. The match continued as a tight affair with momentum swinging regularly between sides. However, inevitably in the final quarter of the game the big defensive effort of the first half and the heavy field started taking its toll on the boys’ legs and Cobham ran in four unanswered tries in the last 10 minutes to clinch the game.

The front row of Aidan Ryce, Jamie Edwards and George Ludlow performed well in the set pieces dominating the Cobham front row for large portions of the game. They were all also prominent in the loose; hitting rucks and carrying the ball aggressively.

The locks, Charlie Allen, Callum Heather and Tom Palmer (another who was playing his first game for Kings) had solid games and were also prominent in the loose. They contributed to a good lineout display with Charlie in particular dominating the front of the lineout.

The back row of Finlay Russell, Rory Williams and captain Tom Weston tackled strongly throughout and competed well for the ball on the ground, often slowing down Cobham’s ball and effecting a number of turnovers.

Scrumhalf Connor Green was his usual robust self, putting in some crunching tackles around the field. His sniping breaks around the fringes of the ruck were a constant threat to the Cobham defence.

Harry Rickards at fly-half had a very strong game. He was strong in defence, carried the ball well and varied the play to good effect.

The centre pairing of Max Woodward-Smith and Will Legge were dogged in defence. Max was always a threat on attack and made some telling breaks, ably supported by Will, who also showed some good touches in attack.

The wings Hugo Birch and Nick Craike were both full of running, showing great pace when they got their hands on the ball. They also chased kicks well putting the Cobham receivers under pressure.

Charlie Bartlett, on his return to the Kings side, showed some good positional play at fullback, and ran the ball back strongly when kicked upon.

There were a lot of positives to be taken from this game and credit must go to the boys for the tremendous character shown to get back into the game and lead for long periods of the second half. Unfortunately, however, fitness levels let us down in the end and we were unable to maintain our intensity for the full 70 minutes.

We now look forward to our next league game and the opportunity to apply the lessons learned from this defeat.