As with the 10am kick-off, a short drive to Tunbridge Wells ensured a full team sheet, and so on the same boggy pitch 13 lads stepped forward to take on our nearest rivals an hour or so after their squad-mates (first match report here).

Uphill in the first, soak up the pressure and then make them pay in the 2nd....
...perhaps!

TJs won the toss and chose to go up the slope at the opposition. And go at them they did with a bright start, well led by Captain Cobb, TJs dominated the early exchanges and set up camp in the oppo half, probing away with powerful runs from the likes of Hendricks from centre, Bains at 8 and of course Mitchell playing at prop. And it was Mitchell who was first on the scoresheet, a bullocking run on the right off a short ball, sitting down defenders and crashing over for TJs first. In conditions as they were, this seemed to be the blueprint for a winning effort. Tunbridge Wells were determined to make this a competitive half but scything tackles from McIvor (a real strength of his game) stopped their momentum, and we turned up the hill again. In the conditions, the game was bound to be punctuated by infringements of one sort and other and so our scrum got plenty of practice - a battle that swung this way and that, but Davies on the other side to Mitchell, started to make his grunt felt and squared us up and we started moving forwards in the contest, Foulkes in the middle always threatening an against-the-head hook, alongside his willingness to mix it in the carry. TJs troubled the scorers again via the hard running Hendricks, after forward penetration from Bains and some wholehearted rucking from the pack. Hendricks took the ball on the unders line from Bathurst-Taylor and rampaged his way to the line. Bathurst-Taylor himself was the next one on the scoresheet, again, after shared graft between forwards and backs and some great use of our patterns, TJs were in striking distance of the line, and a show-and-go from our versatile 10 sent the defence the wrong way and brought the score to 0-3. Which is how the half ended.

A game of two halves...

After an inspirational half time team talk(!), TJs found themselves immediately under pressure as the opposition seemed to have found the smelling salts and started with a bang, doing to us what we'd been doing to them and TWRFC opened their account with a well worked try after getting behind our defence and exploiting the resulting scramble. TJs seemed to struggle to find the rhythm of the first half, and although we'd introduced Cornish into the fray, who'd been stalking up and down the touchline like a caged lion during the first half, TJs struggled to gain consistent forward momentum. We'd carry hard in the forwards, and then either we'd be too slow or limp wristed at the ruck, get jackled, or make some minor infringement and cough up possession. This was especially hard on new lad Warran-Smith, who improves with every outing - he really found his mojo and drove the team forward, only to get pinged for playing on the floor. A particularly harsh decision and scant reward for this particular effort. Nevertheless, his running play showed up well and his efforts in defence also helped keep the team in it during this half. Frank 'the tank' Barrowman also chimed in here - showing immense strength as players who attempted to run through him might have just as well run at the side of a brick WC. Griffith on the left wing was a little more subtle, but just as difficult to pass also. McIvor we've already mentioned, but consistency in the tackle is what he gives, and in the 2nd half he was no different. Bains also stuck his hand up in D, and although not the ground for the fleet-footed McTernan, he put in a shift at 13.

However, TWRFC had the momentum, and were in a purple patch. They carried hard into our forwards, then put the bust on our midfield off the next phase and although the attacker was dragged down, they recycled and made the line off the subsequent ruck. TJs continued to make life hard for themselves, calling for expansive backs moves off free kicks while playing on something akin to treacle, but it was TWRFC who over-extended themselves next, ambitiously flinging it wide just outside their own 22, but the ball wasn't caught and Bathurst-Taylor pounced on the error, hacking the ball on and touching it down rather against the run of play. TWRFC bounced back and again started to exert pressure on TJs, scoring next via a kick return with some slick interplay they defeated the defence on our left wing and scored in the corner. TJs went back at TWs, McTernan giving penetration at 13 that belied his physical size on a number of occasions, but missed support from others in the backline when it mattered most and Campana was unlucky to be pinged for the seeming offence of 'running a bit backwards' while attempting to move off the touchline - the only mysterious decision from an otherwise excellent referee.

TWRFC renewed their pressure, and via some hard running and slick handling made it over the line once more only to be denied by the tenacious Cobb who flung himself under the would-be try scorer in a show of captain's determination. Cobb is a player who has brought it this season - a huge example of someone who has through guts and hard work really improved the defensive nature of his game. And it's without question that without this determination TJs would have lost the game. Currently at 3-4, TJs were obviously fatigued having had some players play a part in the previous fixture and TWRFC looked the fresher side as they mounted what was their best attack of the game, attacking our right hand side and making yards up that edge before going through the hands to exploit the extra space on the left and touch down to score on the edge.

It was clear at the final whistle that the TJs lads rued the result and for some it felt much more like a loss than a draw, but in these moments character is forged and all the coaches were extremely proud of the effort from all the boys. With a bit more fire in the rucks (our own particularly) and a bit more steel in defence, we'd have overcome what is a rapidly improving TWRFC side, but in any event, TJRFC can hold their heads up high - we were able to field 2 full sides and both remained unbeaten on the day!

Thanks must go to TWRFC for being great hosts, providing an excellent referee and for making the whole experience a great example of Junior rugby, parents for bringing players and staying to support them James Vincent for the logistics and to my fellow coaches for all their efforts on the day.