Southampton Men's Rugby Bounce Back in Style

The third league game of the season saw the visit of Bristol 2nd XV to the fortress, Wide Lane.

Clear, blue skies gave Wessex the green light to do what they do best, give the ball some air! Looking to make up for last weeks defeat, the boys did just this, and the result was a very convincing win with some mesmerizing tries scored in the process. Executing such a style of rugby is what the club seek to achieve week in week out. This was undoubtedly achieved, much to the pleasure of the ‘Sir Porters’ club roaring the boys on from the touchline.

Good starts seem to be inherent in the matches of late, and this trend did not cease on Wednesday. High pressure in defence led to flanker David Jordan charging down the opposing fly-half, allowing Adam Davies to dot down and then subsequently convert. A Bristol penalty made the score 7-3, but Wessex did not look back from here on in.

The second try came from debutant prop George Taylor-Walker, after some fantastic forward orientated work at the line-out. Attack upon attack ensued, and although the score at the interval was tighter than the dominant Wessex would have liked, there was plenty to look forward to in the second half.

Aggressive defence allowed the back three to flourish after the break. Forcing Bristol to kick hurriedly, wingers Leo Smith and Max Hobbs invariably linked up very well with the elusive full back ‘JC’ Thompson. Claiming the deep kicks in our own half, JC twice made use of his pace and put Max Hobbs in for two tries. Score of the day however has to go to JC himself, after some wonderful work from Davies, who seduced members of ‘Sir Porters’ to scream chants of ‘Sonny-Bill!’ over and over again. Patient build-up play saw the ball come to the fly-half in the middle of the park, who with an explosive step and an offload similar to that of the Kiwi, put the full-back in for a simple sprint over the whitewash. Harry Burn soon after finished off a good set piece try off the back of a scrum, and Leo Smith completed proceedings with another try straight from the set piece.

Hard work in training has allowed Wessex to hit some of the heights they are capable of. Scoring 2 tries directly from set pieces is every teams dream; implementing and executing the patterns designed certainly paid off on Wednesday. Players are slotting in to positions all over the pitch with ease. The boys are really buying in to the clubs ethos – the season is set to be a thriller. Both ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Hit of the Day’ was awarded to Davies – a rare feat to get both on the same day!

Final score was 41-3; much to the pleasure of the gentlemanly and well dressed ‘Sir Porters.’ Gloucestershire await us next Wednesday. Much more of the same is expected, Wessex mean business.