Yate RFC travelled down to Somerset to play Nailsea and Backwell RFC 2s in our first game after the festive break. The unavailability and injuries to most of the senior members of the squad meant it was a very inexperienced team that took the field and several players having to step into new positions. With the home fixture being a heavy defeat when up to strength we knew that if they put on the field any team close to that it would be a very hard and difficult game.

This would be the first game this season where due to front row player availability we needed to go uncontested from the start and the bench consisted of 2 players one of which, Simon Merritt, has only been playing rugby for less than a month and had less than 5 minutes previously on the field.

As expected Nailsea started strongly playing 15 man rugby and using their big forwards to punch holes and then using strong running backs to exploit the gaps. They very quickly notched up early tries and were 4 tries up before a penalty gave Yate RFC a chance to put points on the board. Bernard McMullen stepped up to take 3 points to ensure we did not draw a blank on the score sheet. At this time we fully expected that to be our only points, but after a break from the blind side from an uncontested scrum Jack Dutton broke through and offloaded to Craig Archer, last season’s top try scorer making his return, to go in wide out. A missed conversion and some hope at 28 - 8. This thought lasted fleetingly as Nailsea continued to attack both close in and wide out using their rapid wingers to cause damage. At half time the score stood at 52 -8.

The second half became very much the same as the first and Nailsea continued to put try after try on us. This may seem like Yate offered nothing in return but when we got ball in hand we looked dangerous without ever looking like we would score. As the game progressed into the final minutes it was Yate who were camped on Nailsea’s try line trying to score and showed the effort and commitment that this inexperienced team showed all game. When the game ended it was a huge defeat of 106 – 8 but this does not reflect the effort put in. It was pleasing to see afterwards comments from players and supporters of Nailsea, the referee and later on social media the praise for a team that never gave in, never crumbled and never started to argue or turn on each other.

Some points from the game, Liam Summerville stepped in at fly half for his first ever game in that position and as usual tackled everything that moved but was also noticed for his constant communication and encouragement to his teammates. Tom Scott stepped in to the forwards having been a back for the last 20 years and with his recent weight gain may be more suited to this position; he also now knows that the forwards do the hard work for the backs to look good. Jack Dutton and Matt Davies after being totally munched continued to battle through. Gary Cornish played his first ever game at fullback and Simon Merritt, our very own Mako Vanipulio, played 10 minutes at the end.

Afterwards man of the match was awarded to Liam Summerville who received high praise from Nailsea players and supporters, his teammates and watching Coach Paul Organ for his all round play in a huge defensive match. Next week we face league leaders Barton Hill so expect another very hard game and with a few returning players we expect to be a lot more competitive. Thank you to Nailsea and Backwell RFC for their hospitality in the bar and on the pitch, despite the big score, not taking the Michael as some sides would be inclined to do.