The ground was frozen hard in Hoek van Holland. Winter had finally made an appearance. The coaches instructions were to, “stay on your feet” and not to commit to diving tackles.

There were three games against the Hookers, HRC and DIOK; three games won by BSN. William and Rory scored seven tries each, but there was great play in every position with a number of excellent try-making passes by Alexander, bullocking runs by Luc, Jamie and Lachlan and good organisation from the rucks. Nevertheless, it was the captain and scrum half, Joaquin, who took home the man of the match medal with his fine all-round play.

Frozen in action

Frozen in action

The first match against the hosts was 4-1 at half time, thanks to three tries from Rory the wrecking ball. The margin would have been wider if BSN had released the final ball quicker from promising positions. The team listened to the coach at half time and put in a fine second half performance.  It started with a free-flowing move; Duncan made the tackle; everyone handled the ball as it moved at pace across to the left wing, where Hugo ran in the try. Another passing move saw Aiden step inside from the wing to score, with the Hookers running backwards. A couple of tries from breaks by William and one from Joaquin stretched the score. Rory added two more with bulldozing runs and added another picking up the loose ball from a great positive run by Jamie. Another break by Jamie and pass put William through and William was put through again by a pass from Alexander to end the game 14-1. The best of BSN’s play came from the team lining up from the ruck.

Rory breaking past a diving frog?

Rory breaking past a diving frog?

HRC proved tougher opposition and the only reason that BSN were 2-0 up at half time was thanks to their good pressing play. HRC were also defending well, forcing BSN into a number of knock-ons. In the second half BSN moved the ball better. William played Mac in for the third try and then good rucking set William up for the fourth. Lachlan made two great runs and was only just caught by their last man. Alexander nearly added a fifth, when he intercepted in the HRC in-goal area, but was moving too quick to get the ball down running across the dead-ball line; and so it finished 4-0.

Will sizing up the opposition

Will sizing up the opposition

The last game was against DIOK, who had been the strongest opponent this season. The last game in January had ended as a tense and narrow 1-0 win for BSN. Today, BSN started well with Rory in at the corner to open the scoring. The next try was a gem, with William winning the ball in the tackle before a fantastic pass by Alexander put Mac in. Luc made a great run through the middle and nearly set William free, but the score was only 2-0 at half time. DIOK had been playing well, with some strong counter-rucking and the second half was tight with only two more tries. BSN made the first try. William passing the ball to Duncan on the wing. DIOK pinned BSN back on the try line and they made it over with the last play of the day for the game to finish 3-1.

Lining up to tackle Mac

Lining up to tackle Mac

BSN
Coach: Daran
Captain and man of the match: Joaquin
Team: Aiden, Alexander C, Duncan, Hugo, Jamie, Lachlan, Luc, Mac, Nicolas, Ronan, Rory, William

The captain and his team

The captain and his team