Blackwood Away

We were on the road again today. Our hosts were Blackwood RFC. They gave us a terrific welcome and were brilliant hosts. The rugby lived up to the welcome too. Blackwood warmed up well and came flying out of the gates. After observing a minute's silence for Queen Elizabeth II, the game got underway.

Blackwood started strong; stunning us with three unanswered trys, which they took brilliantly. Their winger was on fire! We knew they were a good outfit and they made us scrap for every bit of possession. It looked early on, that it was going to be a very long day. They won the battle on the floor and their massive pack took its toll. We stayed in it, though and dogged it out upfront.

Blackwood scored again twice towards the end of the first half and we were 25-0 down going into the sheds.

We had a good chat at halftime and told the boys to keep at it. The second half was a more even affair and turned into a massive arm wrestle. Both sides went hard at the other but Blackwood were the first to cross the line for a try.

We kept battling, though and never gave up. We kicked off after they scored and worked hard in the forwards to make ground down the left wing. After six or seven phases involving both forwards and backs, we worked the ball back to the centre of the field and Iestyn ‘picked and went' to score under the posts. Sam slotted the conversion and it was 7-5 to Dunavnt in the second half.

The battle continued, and both sides went at each other for the remainder of the game. The second half was much better for the boys in red and green as they settled into the game.

We lost 32-7 in the end, but it was a fantastic game of rugby. The coaches and ref came over to the boys and thanked them for sportsmanship and for putting up a decent fight. The coaches stated that Blackwood hadn't lost a game for three years.

For his incredible work rate and a master class in tackling, Koby was awarded Man of the Match.

That was an incredible game of rugby against l, what I think, is one of the best sides that I’ve seen. We are looking forward to the return fixture when we welcome Blackwood to Broadacre.

Well done both sides 👏