A very hot day to play rugby.

Although there were a number of no-shows, those that turned to play, up put in decent shifts in the playing blocks.

Well done to all.
It was agreed to play 20-minute blocks, with plenty of water breaks and rolling substitutions, when necessary. The first block was an equal affair, although 1871 produced more opportunities than Wasps, but either fell at the last hurdle, due to rushing an effort, or were prevented from scoring by some sound Wasps defence.

In the second block, 1871 started harder and faster and piled on pressure. Unfortunately, 4 minutes in, Kayci Bernard was having a great rundown the wing, when a Wasps player performed a high tackle and no arms, to Kayci’s head, earning the player a yellow card. No Bunker review for this one, so the card remained yellow.

After a Wasps kick ahead, 1871 through Jack Hobbs, ran the ball back in, off-loaded to Leo Codrington-Lambert, who caused Wasps a headache all day with his aggressive running and tackling. Leo offloaded the ball after making good metres then offloaded to ball to Jack Hobbs who kicked ahead. He chased his own ball and like a good scrum half should, Dan Dixson was in the right place, at the right time and he also chased to ball, catching the bounce before the Wasps defender could get hold of it and he ran the ball in almost under the posts. Andrew Quick duly converted the extras.

Wasps scored 7 minutes later from a maul after a lineout penalty, which came as a result of what was deemed a dangerous tackle by Leo Codrington-Lambert and him being shown a yellow card. The conversion was missed.

The third block showed that both sides had settled into their routine, with most of the game being played in the middle areas of the field, the ‘Battle Ground’. It was very much a ‘tit for tat’ battle with both sides giving away territory and trying to force plays. At 12 minutes in, 1871 won a lineout on the Wasps 5 metre line and created a decent maul for Tim Hitchcock to go over. The conversion was missed. 3 minutes later after 1871 won a lineout on their own 5 metre line, 1871 had the ball stolen in contact by Wasps who then crashed over to score. The conversion was missed.

In the last block, Wasps applied the siege pressure on 1871 and threw all that they had into a long last 5 minutes to play. 1871 choked and were unable to get a decent enough exit to relieve the pressure, even when a perfect turnover was accomplished by Charlie Forgacz-Cooper. Wasps just kept coming and were eventually able to score from a pick up off of a 5 metre scrum. The conversion was successful.

The new tackle height laws were very evident in this game, with 9 penalties for high tackle (4 by 1871 and 5 by Wasps) and 3 penalties for the ball carrier being ‘Late and Low’ (2 by 1871 and 1 by Wasps).

David Brathwaite