Kingsbridge U 15s 50 - 7 Exmouth U15s

Exmouth U15s start this season following a major reorganisation of the squad with 10 players transferring to other clubs or ceasing to play rugby. This resulted in much uncertainty for their visit to Kingsbridge. This has always been a difficult ground to visit and secure a win but with a large proportion of the team expecting to play their first full match of rugby a determined effort was needed. From the start it was evident that the Cockles would have to be very resilient in defence and this they achieved with each player making their tackles and competing evenly with their hosts at the breakdown.

Although Kingsbridge ran in eight tries to Exmouth’s one, it was not until the last play of the game that Kingsbridge managed to break through the Exmouth Defence. Unfortunately Exmouth were being sucked in occasionally leaving the wings exposed and they were able to score down the fringes and into the corner too frequently. Kingsbridge are a quality outfit and kept Exmouth pinned in their own half for much of the match. But as the game progressed Exmouth grew in confidence and started to gain some territory, but by then the game was lost. Exmouth probably matched their hosts in possession but need to work on turning this into territorial advantage to place them in the right areas to score points.

New/recent recruits Thomas Croal, Louis Lees & Jamie Mason made exceptional starts to the season. Jared Palmer was very strong and put in one of his best ever performances as did the other players who have stepped up to the new challenges this year being praised by the coaching team and they received a rapturous reception from the travelling supporters.

There is a lot more to come from this team although with only 16 players registered they will need to boost numbers to ensure they are always able to put out a full team and cover replacements. If you are in year 10 and would like to give rugby a try please contact the club or telephone Coach Mike Sprague on 07860 330143.