1st XV vs Harbury (H) Midlands 4 WS

After the heroics and celebrations of last week’s Midlands Junior Vase Final victory it was back to reality and back to the league for the Wheats in a Vice-Presidents Day fixture at the Stade against a well-drilled Harbury side with the potential to pose serious threats.
The forwards packed down with Donald, Jumbo and Rich in the front row followed by Dumbo and Pace in the second row with the Arab, Casper and Jo Ward's bloke creating a lean and mean back-row.
Backs made up of Lowster at 9 followed by a familiar backline of Stu Barnes, Chunky, Oliver with Sto and Snake on the wings and Chippy at 15.
A fine looking bench made up of JT, Pubes, Whitey, Clarkey and JB (Summer Specialist).
The Wheats started facing into the sun and were fairly quick in getting off the mark in the game. After some early phases of play there was the opportunity for quick ball in a central position which enabled Nolan to break away feeding to Chip who finished well in the right hand corner. An unsuccessful conversion meant the Wheats led the game 5-0.
After a good start, ill-discipline from the Wheats lead to a strong Harbury pack piling pressure on the Wheats defence which eventually led to a try out wide pulling the game level.
The next points in the game came from strong running from Chunky, sitting down the attempted tackle and offloading the ball to Barnes who made it through the Harbury line whilst fending off the tackle from the chasing full back to comfortably touch down under the posts. Lowster converted 12-5 Wheats.
The last notable action in the half came from a Harbury penalty. 12-8 half time.
The pace of play brought to the game by the Wheats in the 2nd half lead to more tries. More quick phases and some superbly intricate hands between 9 and 10, enabled Snake hips to get on the scoreboard. The conversion made it 19-8.
The lead was extended further following a quick tap penalty which resulted in Snakey crashing over to make the score 24-8.
The final points of the game came from some strong forward play from a Wheats lineout in the corner which was finished by Rich sneaking over for another 5 points off the back of a well-executed maul. The game finished 29-8 to the Wheats.
This was by no means an immaculate performance by the Wheats. However, considering the huge efforts of last week it was important to focus on a victory to keep the pressure on at the top of the league and a bonus-point victory did just that.

Report by Lowster