1st XV vs Birmingham Exiles (A) Midlands 4 WS

1st XV Away vs Birmingham Exiles RFC

The day of reckoning was upon us.

Sound pre-season training and good ‘warm-up’ wins over Trinity Guild, Copsewood and Earlsdon ensured that the Wheats were well prepared - but the first league game following promotion always brings uncertainty.

Birmingham Exiles, whose members include a certain Daz Hall and Gez Thompson, were our opponents and they kicked off into a strong breeze and up the slight incline.

The first 3 minutes of the match were utterly forgettable from the Wheats point of view – we dropped the kick off, conceded 2 penalties, conceded ground and went 3-0 down.

SH*T!

The Wheats kicked off and responded immediately with Andy Thomason charging down an attempted clearance kick from the Exiles fly-half and the ball dropped straight into the hands of Loachy who FLOPPED over the line for a try. Lowey converted and the Wheats were 7-3 up.

The Wheats began to dominate play with; Chunky, Jack and Dom were HUGE at scrum time against the heavier Exiles front-row, Jacko and Andy Thomason BOSSING the lineout and the back-row triumvirate of Hero, Kai (aka jobless) and Ben Craig literally EVERYWHERE – even with Kai on a walking stick (D*CK!). This provided an excellent foundation for Lowey and Rob T to start controlling the game at half back and unleashing the three-quarters.

Exiles were struggling to cope with the frequency and speed of the Wheats attacks and the tries started to come – BOOM.

Ross Harrison capped some impressive running on the left wing with a try in the corner, before injuring himself on a metal pole – D*CK.

Ross then fielded a kick in centre-field and Dan Nolan immediately provided an option from full-back. They changed the angle of attack and put the supporting D-Day into space to cross for a 5 pointer, which Lowey converted.

Ben Craig was making impressive carries from the base of the scrum and when he found himself with ball in hand inside the Exiles ‘22’, there was only one outcome – TRY-TIME - again converted by the GILF chaser Lowey.

Loachy BASHED over for his second and Skipper Hero found himself at the back of an impressive rolling maul to dot down in the corner. By this time, a particularly alluring 70 year old Bosnian had appeared on the touchline. Lowey’s mind was elsewhere and he was unable to register anymore points in the first half. HALF-TIME SCORE – WHEATS 36 – 3 BIRMINGHAM EXILES

Skipper Hero departed for Marco (wearing boots not trainers at last – D*CK), Pacey Lacey came on for big Andy T, Baz replaced Jack at hooker, Josh came on for Ross and Billy came on for Lowey (see above for reason why).

The chat at half-time was very much about the elements and conditions. The breeze had increased (the slope had stayed the same despite Rob Thomason running on it) so good communication between the back 3 and driving play by the forwards was the order of the day.

The second-half was more fiercely contested but the Wheats, with dangerous runners all over the pitch still very much had the upper-hand at all times.

The Wheats finished the job in the second-half running in tries from Nolan, a superb individual effort from Dru and Loach BOSHING over to complete his hat-trick. Billy added one conversion on his Wheats debut. Exiles only reply was one well worked try.

Overall it was a good performance and a great result for the Wheats with lots of attacking intent and options all over the pitch. The pack competed fantastically against a heavier more experienced Exiles pack and the back division worked incredibly well together recognising and exploiting space – GOOD DEPTH! Equally as impressive was the impact from the bench – Marco tackling everything that moved, Baz hitting his man in the lineout, Pace nicking lots of lineout ball, Josh (and others) keen to impress his watching girlfriend and Billy being impish, energetic and passionate. Lots of competition for places is always a good thing.

The best thing about the performance – there’s lots to work on and much more to come.

The final score: WHEATS 58 – 8 BIRMINGHAM EXILES

Tries: Loach x 3, Harrison, Craig, Day, Nolan, Drury, Wright & A N OTHER?

Conversions: Lowe x 3, Smith x 1

Written by Mase