1st match v's Singapore Schools Representative Teams

2nd XV

Ethan Simons scored after some good work by Bradley Etherington who burst through the line and gained 40m. 5-0

Singapore team took the lead despite some resolute defending on our try line but they did benefit from some interesting refereeing decisions. 5-7

Matt Foster dived over the line to complete several good phases of play off a penalty. Once again Bradley Etherington was powerful with the ball in hand before the ball was moved quickly out to the wing where Dan Cotton fell agonisingly short before Matt picked up the presented ball and went over to put us back into the lead. 10-7

Following the restart being kicked straight out by the Singapore Schools, Arriyan Wells picked up at 8 from the resulting scrum drew several players towards him before offloading to Ben Pryor who hit the ball at speed and made a lot of ground down the wing before offloading expertly after cutting inside to Tyler Akerman-Mond who went over to increase the lead. 15-7

10 minutes after the restart the Singapore Schools worked a good try from a scrum on the 22, moving the ball through hands and scoring in the corner. The kicker then drove the ball for the conversion in more of a football free-kick style to get them within a point of TBSHS. 15-14

From a TBSHS line-out the ball was turned over and the Singapore Schools showed some excellent ball skills moving the ball through hands. TBSHS were once again resolute in their defence but their scrum-half showed good awareness to move the ball away and a good dummy allowed the centre to score under the posts, which was duly converted. 15-21

Once again some good work from TBSHS with the ball in hand from Arriyan Wells, Bradley Etherington and Jack Stewart. Unfortunately a poor pass undid all the good work and the Singaporean backs took full advantage and exploited our lack of defence as they ran the ball in under the posts which made for an easy conversion. 15-28

The humid conditions started to play to the home teams advantage as our boys started to wilt a little. Another try was conceded as they rumbled the ball over which was then converted. 15-35

Another period of positive play from TBSHS saw us work through several penalties by keeping the ball in hand. This worked well from the half-way line as Brad Etherington continued to want the ball and carry it through several tackles before offloading to Matt Foster who was tackled just before the line. TBSHS were then awarded a penalty which Brad Etherington took in hand and charged over the line. 20-35

The Singapore Schools once again ran over a try as a result of mistakes creeping into our game due to the conditions taking their toll. 20-42

This was further emphasised in the final minute when another good break was converted to leave the final score 20-49

1st XV

TBSHS were up against right from the start as the U19 Singapore Schools team took an early lead after rumbling the ball over from a line-out. 0-5

It was tough going for the next 15 minutes as the game was in the balance but after Jon Readshaw capitalised on a poor line-out the ball was moved across the pitch to Jimmy Dalton who was able to duck in the corner to draw the game level. 5-5

Teddy Oliver broke through on a fantastic line and suddenly the pitch opened up for him. He drew the two defenders and was able to offload to Jimmy Dalton to get his 2nd try under the posts for Dom Lilley to convert. 12-5

Great start for the 2nd half as Ollie Fortune showed a fantastic turn of pace to burst through a couple of tackles before having the awareness to offload to Will Powell to score in the corner. 17-5

TBSHS were unlucky not to increase their lead when Jack Tulloch put a grubbing kick through for Ewan Rockell to chase and touch down only to be ruled off-side by the referee.

Almost immediately Singapore Schools kicked a penalty to touch in the corner. From the resulting line-out they rumbled the ball over the line to reduce the score to 19-12

The game then became far more open with both teams showing a desire to finish the game off. The Singapore Schools managed to take full advantage of an overlap and with a clever kick back inside from the winger for the centre to score an unconverted kick. 19-17

It led to a very tense final minute but a knock-on from their outside centre led to the final whistle and the first win of the tour!

MOM 2nd XV - Matt Foster

MOM 1st XV - Dom Lilley