3XV win away at Ignatians

The 3XV played Enfield Ignatians in their opening game in league 3 on Saturday. We had been promoted up 2 leagues from last season and after a week of constant changes in team selection there were a few people who quite rightly suspected that we may struggle.
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The team however looked well balanced and I could see we had some good players but it was a tall order as we hadn't trained together and due to travel issues the captain, scrum half and fly half (along with all the kit) didn't arrive until 15 minutes before kick off. With memories of the cup final last season , kick off was delayed by 15 minutes , cut to 10 after pressure from Ignatians; just like the cup final, and this was the scene of the 2012 cup final when the 4xv were robbed by Southgate. So things were not starting well. To the credit of the rest of the team who arrived on time, when we turned up they were running drills and nobody was fazed by the late arrivals. My positivity increased and we all agreed to reset when the whistle goes, game heads quickly on.
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The overall stats of the match read we scored 3 tries , they scored 3 tries, we converted 2 , they converted 2 , we kicked 2 penalties , they missed 2 penalties. Igntians held the lead until the last 15 minutes, but there was more to it than that.
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Our tries were from Connor Leavey who scored a pacey wide try , Mike Murrin playing fullback for the first time joined the line nicely and touched down at full stretch on his back, and Jack Davidson who dodged his way through the defence to touch down for the decisive try.
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Jack Davidson's boot was on good form and he slotted a tricky 3 pointer from a long way out to put the first points on the board. 1 conversion (Es Brown kicked the other) and 2 penalties in total kept the pressure on.
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It was a tough looking challenge when we saw the Ignatians pack, they were big boys. Much bigger than us. Jack told me after the match that he feared for us in the scrums before kick off. The outcome of the scrums however was that Chiltern held solid, we have good technique at Chiltern, and no ground was given (or taken).
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With Ignatians lineout going astray , their set pieces were not giving them an advantage. Our lineouts were going well with the 'silent' ball working well. I think our defensive lineout pod was awesome (Wheeler, Claridge and Coldwell). We were going high at the front forcing them to throw 2 balls and then getting 3 not straight lineouts. Pressure leading to mistakes.
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Ignatians had a number of colts in the backs and big old dads in the forwards , their young backs looked like they were trying to play 7s with us and they did have some pace but our back 3 held tight. The back row worked hard in the loose and their tackle count must have been massive , so many big men to bring down but Jonny Keen , Jack Claridge and Tom Lawrence ran lines off 10 and were at the breakdown first. Man of the Match Simon Coldwell in the second row was also in a lot of the action carrying, tackling, turning over ball and was a massive contributor in the scrums and lineouts. Well done mate !
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Jack Davidson joined the squad late with a last minute change of plans making him available and along with Ed green were a busy and dangerous half back pairing.
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In the centres Es Brown and Andy Wilson put in a hard shift , crash balls and some great breaks up against centres half their age !
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And of course our front row , solid hard shift by the brotherhood in the front row . Cookie an old dog of war loving it at hooker and a new brother in Sam Wheeler who has now joined the 3xv front row union who is a handy loosehead and likes to show a ball.
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More memorable moments from the match include:
Rob Baxter's dummy and 20 yard break
Jack Davidson's drop goal conversion of his own try
Ignatians player complaining to the referee about having his shirt pulled and the ref saying 'I think you'll find that's allowed'
We stopped their rolling mauls
Their 1XV player initiation was quite intense after the game in the bar.
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This was a battling performance , I loved it ! Such a hard game that when the final whistle went and we had won we were still saying thank god that's over. The last 5 minutes were intense , penalty charges from Ignatians 10 yards out , 5 yard scrums and a held up no-try. But our quality came through in the end and we got the win , Tring 3s next up at home. Hello Merit 3 we have arrived.
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Match Report words: Doug Smith
Match Photo: Sarah Hammond