Romsey eased their way to a 66-15 victory over Poole in their opening pre-season fixture ahead of the 2026/27 season.
A 12 try victory saw new signing Ricky Drewitt scoring a hat-trick on debut, alongside two tries from Oli Coburn and a try apiece from Ryan Daly, Admire Munenga, Josh Clark, Jay Hodges, Ollie Soundy and Dylan Scott. The two Poole tries came through their fly-half and their openside flanker either side of the half-time interval.
1st XV coach Jason Berry had a pool of 32 players to choose from for our seniors first pre-season fixture, splitting his selection into quarters, allowing minute-management, and positional changes across the playing XV. The side for the first quarter saw new signing Ricky Drewitt start at tighthead prop with 1st XV captain, Harrison Scott at loosehead. Summer signing Josh Clark would make his Romsey debut in the second quarter, starting in the centres alongside Ed Davies. The squad also included last season’s Colts players, Tom Finney, Will Gray, Alfie Fenemore.
Romsey started the stronger of the two sides as they looked to impose themselves on the encounter. Within the opening three minutes, the home side had won two penalties, resulting in an attacking lineout on the right flank, ten metres from the Poole line.
The Roms made their pressure count with number eight, Ryan Daly crashing over to give the home side the early advantage. Fly-half Dylan Scott’s conversion was unsuccessful with the score staying 5-0 to Romsey.
The pressure from the home side continued, with the play predominantly in the half of the away side. The Roms thought they had doubled their advantage when scrum-half Will Davies looked to have dotted over, however, the referee adjudged Davies to have knocked the ball on in the process.
The home side continued to impose themselves on the fixture and reaped the rewards of their hard work during pre-season training, as Ricky Drewitt found outside centre Admire Munenga who broke the gain line and strolled over to give the Roms a ten-point advantage. Scott once again failed to add the extra two.
Inside centre, Dan Yabia was running the show from the midfield, forcing another penalty, this time five metres out from the Poole try line. With the Romsey scrum overpowering the Poole forward pack, a certain try looked in order for the Roms, however, a knock-on from full-back Will Gray, five metres out, squandered the opportunity.
As the second quarter began, a change of shirts was in order for the home side, but that didn’t change the momentum of the contest, as the Roms kept piling on the pressure and showing their qualities in attack. Following a penalty, the Roms were over for the third time in the 23rd minute as Ricky Drewitt found fellow debutant Josh Clark who walked over to leave the scored 15-0. The conversion was again unsuccessful.
Poole found their first meaningful attack in the 27th minute, however, the defense from the home side was too strong. The Roms took full advantage of their defensive set, took the penalty quickly, and attacked down the left through Drewitt, Clark and Ed Davies. After forcing another penalty five yards out, just to the right of the posts, the Roms attacking line spread the ball wide where Oli Coburn was waiting on the left flank to dive over. Jack Murrant failed to add the extra two, with his conversion attempt from the left touchline.
Minutes later, Coburn had his second of the game on the left flank as the home side shipped the ball wide off a scrum. The ball found its way to Coburn, who finished strongly after crashing through the the Poole winger on the way to the try line.
Poole finally registered their first score of the encounter in the 39th minute thanks to some fine footwork from their fly-half, who cut through the Romsey defensive line and dotted over underneath the posts. The try scorer then stepped up to take the conversion and successfully slotted the ball through the posts.
As half-time approached, Romsey added their sixth try of the game, thanks to fast hands from the back-line with the ball finding Jay Hodges in acres of space of the left flank. The winger strolled over and dotted down to open his try-scoring account for the season. It was third time luck for Jack Murrant from the conversion as the ball sailed through the uprights to leave the score 32-7 at the interval.
The second 40 started in the same fashion as the first, with the Roms fully in control, with the home side stealing the ball from a Poole lineout before winning an attacking penalty ten metres out from the visitors try line. After a break in play following an injury to Romsey fly-half Jack Murrant, the home side added their seventh with Ricky Drewitt strolling over for his first try for the club. Josh Clark was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt.
The pressure on the Poole defensive line continued as gaps appeared in the middle of the park, and the home side took full advantage. Having been reduced to 13-men, thanks to the referee brandishing the Poole inside centre and full-back yellow cards, the away side saw the scoreline increase once again as winger Ollie Soundy crashed over in the corner for Romsey’s eight score of the game. Clark’s conversion narrowly missed the uprights, to leave the score 42-7.
The Romsey scrum was once again a class above the away side, with the Roms forward pack driving the Poole forwards backwards, securing the ball attacking wide down the left through Will Davies. The winger chipped in behind, and Josh Clark was on hand to dive on the ball and secure Romsey their ninth score of the game. Clark converted his own score to increase the advantage to 42 points.
The away side’s first points of the second-half came in the 62nd minute when a penalty, just inside the Romsey half-way line was knocked through the posts to leave the score 49-10 to Romsey.
The Roms tenth score of the game came thanks to individual brilliance from fly-half Dylan Scott, with the number ten slicing through the Poole defensive line and dotting down under the posts. Scott then added the conversion to leave the score 56-10.
With the game heading towards the final ten minutes, coach Jason Berry started to manage the minutes of his players, with a number of substitutions in quick succession. These changes, however, didn’t affect the momentum of the contest. The away side’s woes continued as Ricky Drewitt found the try line for the second time as Romsey crossed the 60 point mark. The conversion was once again unsuccessful.
Poole finally had their second try of the game following a strong counter ruck just outside the Roms 22. The openside flanker took control of the ball and carved his way through the Romsey defense and dived over in the corner. The conversion was missed by the fly-half.
Ricky Drewitt’s hat-trick came in the dying moments as he was found by Will Davies down the right, before crashing over the white paint to score Romsey’s 12th try of the game. The conversion was
This was the final action of the encounter as the referee called an end to proceedings with Romsey running away with a 66-15 win.
Romsey Starting XV: Scott (C), Lawrence, Drewitt, Light, D. Murrant, W. Murrant, Finney, Daly, W. Davies, Scott, Beasley, Yabia, Munenga, J. Davies, Gray
Replacements: Argent, Thomas, Greathead, Pike, Fenemore, Johnson, Elliot, J. Murrant, Hodges, Clark, E. Davies, Soundy, Coburn, Bath, Coleman
Tries: Daly (5′), Munenga (12′), Clark (23′), Coburn (32′, 34′), Hodges (40′), Drewitt (47′, 70′, 80′), Soundy (56′), Clark (61′), Scott (64′)
Conversions: J. Murrant (40′), Clark (61′), Scott (68′)