Writtle Wanderers RUFC

Writtle Wanderers RUFC
(Founded 2002)

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Scorers:
Tries: Titch, Mike Berry, Batty 2
Convs: Batty 2
Pen: Batty

Scorers:
Tries: Havill 2, Pins, Redfern, "Fullback" Dave
Conv: Batty
Pens: Batty, Edwards

Unbeknown to the Wanderers, Millwall's home ground is a public park in Bow which shuts at 6.30 sharp every evening. So when we turned up late for the arranged 2 p.m. start the referee and the home team were not best pleased! Therefore, having run straight onto the pitch with barely time to stretch a hamstring, the Wanderers immediately found themselves up against it! The Millwall side, who had been drilling for about an hour before the game, were straight into their stride and after about 10 minutes had broken down the Wanderers defence to go over for their first try!

Fortunately, this seemed to have the effect of waking up the Wanderers, who were now starting to warm up - thankfully without any injuries - and began to compete! Once again, there was far too much indiscipline in the Wanderers ranks - in particular the constant chatting back to the referee for which there can be no excuse, especially once the referee has made it quite clear that he is not going to stand for it! This chatting back and further infringements for killing the ball or going over the top in the ruck led to an opportunity for a further Millwall try and the Wanderers were trailing 12 - 0. However, a penalty by Batty opened the wanderers scoring and helped to calm things down - this was further helped by a try by regular scorer Jack Redfern who dived over from short range following good work by the forwards.

As the Wanderers got into gear, a further try from a former regular Robin "Forest" Havill (making a special guest appearance before taking time off the game to have shoulder surgery) took the Wanderers into the lead 12-15 - Batty converting.

In the second half, a try from Jo Pins extended the lead with Havill also adding his second. Further indiscipline by the Wanderers let Millwall back into the game, but a penalty by Edwards and a try on debut by fullback Dave (sorry, haven't got his second name at present) secured the points in this BL Merit Table fixture!

Special mentions to Dave who had an impressive debut at fullback, Mac at scrum half and Sam Hermann at fly half who tackled everything that came his way!

Scorers:
Tries: Rawlinson 3, Owen 2, Nathan 2, Arnold, Horne, Taylor, White, Bidwell, A N Other
Convs: Cook 13

For the first time the Wanderers put out two very competitive sides for home and away fixtures against Millwall II and III respectively.

A very welcome injection of new blood came into the side with a number of fit and fresh faced student's coming into the side (you're not included FC in either the fit or fresh faced department !). It was always going to be an unknown outcome with this being the first game for the visitors side as well.

Happily for the hosts the team quickly gelled under the expert guidance of the veteran scrum half, Mark Rawlinson. Scoring was opened after only 4 minutes with Horne going in for the early settling try, expertly converted by Wayne at Stand Off who had a perfect game with the boot and an inspirational game with ball in hand.

What followed can only be described as a try fest. The Wanderers could never have dreamed that the 2nd XV would hit the ground running with such enthusiasm and vigour, nonetheless they did. Sadly the scorers are too many to mention however notable hat-tricks from Nathan and Rawlinson put the cherry on the top of this fine and strong performance. Tries from FC and Taylor respectively were displays of strength, pace and skill which would normally not be expected from players of their size.

Worth a final note is Patrick Bidwell who had to leave the field with an unsightly gash up the middle of his forehead. Happily he returned shortly after having received treatment from the Wing-cum-Nurse for the home side.

Surely the Wanderers selectors must be looking forward to the headache of selection later this week and this performance must have given a significant boost to their aspirations of League Rugby next season.

The Wanderers faced an unusually strong Maldon 2's side in what was a difficult game for many of the visitor's new imports. It came as no surprise, seeing the side fielded by the hosts, that there was no Maldon 1's game last weekend.

That said the sides were fairly evenly matched throughout with the occasional break from either side's backs resulting in massive positional advantage. This was largely due to the pace shown by both sides in their respective backlines with the Maldon outside centre having a marvellous game and showing the sort of running not seen a Drapers for some years.

The hosts opened the scoring after a 20 minute deadlock with a rolled maul from a line out on the Wanderers' 5 metre line. The fact that the Maldon side trained and drilled together was not lost on the visitors who realised that they had to perform more cohesively than they had in previous games if they were to come out of this encounter with a win.

The Wanderers responded immediately with retrieved ball from the kick off and a surge up midfield through Owen, the fresh-faced Writtle man playing only his second game for the club. This resulted in a penalty award for the visitors within easy range of Battye's experienced boot. The teams went into the interval with a 5-3 scoreline to the home side.

The visitors began the second half strongly and were clearly in the mood to spin the ball. Unfortunately the occasional handling error led to spilled ball and advantage to the home side. In the scrums however the visitors had nothing to fear, even from the bull-like Maldon tight head prop. Many was the time the Wanderers pushed the hosts off vital ball or managed to disrupt the scrum to the extent that clean ball was a rare commodity for the Maldon No. 9. Likewise in the lineouts the Wanderers' athleticism showed through with Broughton taking a number of Maldon balls at 2 in the line without meaningful opposition.

All this hard work was for naught however as handling errors left the visitors pinned in their own 22 for much of the early part of the 2nd half. On the back of this the home blindside flank powered through a gap from 10 yards out with the following conversion taking the score to 12-3.

The Essex new-boys replied in stoic fashion with a number of surging runs masterminded by man of the match, Sam Hermann. The pressure was straight back on the home team as Wallbank, moved from prop to flank, pounced on loose ball to take it over the line. Batty converted.

It was at this stage in the game that the Wanderers should have been in the ascendancy. Perhaps two questionable refereeing decisions with tries ruled out for Evans and Wallbank held them back, or perhaps they had expended their reserves in the early Herculean effort against this experienced home side. Either way the gaps opened up and were exploited by the hosts with a break away from the Maldon 13 for a long range effort, again converted.

The encouraging thing for the visitors is the amount of pressure they were able to apply against this experienced Maldon outfit. There will be concerns at the inability to convert that pressure. Make no mistake, however, this was a good result for the Wanderers and they must continue to test themselves at this level if they are to seriously consider Eastern Counties Rugby next season. The selectors will be pleased at the way the newer Writtle players are responding. The outlook for the club is a sunny one.

Our second fixture of the season against Braintree - and there is yet another to come! However, the first one was a fixture exchange game, which we won in the last minute!

Braintree seemed a little concerned in the build up to this fixture, having contacted me in the week to ask if we could travel up to them as they had various players who couldn't travel to an away fixture! Then, when they arrived, they were worried that their young team would be up against it with a Wanderers side including at least 8 substitutes! The Wanderers 2s game having been cancelled when our opposition cried off on Friday morning, we had a number of players keen to at least have half a game!

Braintree's fears were quickly proved to be unfounded as the game got off to a quick start! The Braintree side were eager to atone for their previous defeat and their apparent youth belied a fair amount of skill and determination! They were clearly a well drilled side who were used to playing together - something that the Wanderers have a problem with due to a lack of training facilities. This is something that will have to be addressed before we can seriously contemplate Eastern Counties rugby next season!

The game ebbed and flowed from one end of the field to the other - but some great defending by both sides meant that the game remained scoreless for the majority of the first half. The Wanderers main area of advantage appeared to be the scrum - winning a number against the head and driving Braintree back at a rate of knots on a regular basis! However, Braintree eventually opened the scoring with a converted try from short range following a number of Wanderers infringements. The score then remained unchanged through to half time.

As the second half got underway the Wanderers began to mount more threatening attacks on the Braintree try line. Eventually, following a series of good carries by the forwards, fly half Sam Hermann was bundled over for his debut try. Batty was unable to convert in the stiff breeze, so the Wanderers remained 2 points adrift for much of the rest of the half.

A brief skirmish around a ruck resulted in Culleton receiving a yellow card - along with one of the Braintree pack. Sean was noted to say he realised the error of his ways in trying to take on a 20 stone man who was still lying on top of him!

The game continued to move up and down the field with neither side able to break free of the defence - until with around 5 minutes to go FC managed to dive over the line. Batty landed a superb conversion from far out on the left hand side to give the Wanderers a 5 point margin, which they held through to the end of the game for another win over Braintree! The next game against them will be the Merit Table fixture - so here's to a successful hat-trick over Braintree!