In freezing cold conditions, Romsey made the trip to the south coast against newly promoted Christchurch.

 The opposition comprised of a big forward pack and big set of backs, too, but this suited Romsey’s style of play. Right from the start, the Romsey intensity in defense and speed in attack, nullified the strength of the opposition.

 Staying with their game plan, Romsey kicked deep and kept the pressure on Christchurch to find a suitable counterattack. The pressure soon led to the first opportunity for points when Romsey earned a line-out close to the Christchurch line. A secure platform provided the backs to run a set move leading to the first try. Captain, Caine Latham, ran through the opposition defense to score under the posts following Dan Penn-Newman’s initial burst from the set play. Aiden Cleland converted, and Romsey took a deserved 7-0 lead.

 The Romsey set piece continued to dominate. The youthful front row pairing of Micheal Streicher and Elliott Johnson gave Romsey a solid scum. Man-of-the Match Will Latham and Brad Hughes were both outstanding at second row putting in huge tackles from start to finish.

 As the game progressed, Romsey’s structure and decision making began to take it’s toll on Christchurch. In addition, a quick defensive line negated the Home teams chances to get any food hold in the game. Winning turnovers led to Romsey being awarded a couple of penalties keeping the score board ticking over. The score at half time was 13-0.

In the second half, Romsey kept turning the screw. Jim Lamont at scrum half, hassling is opposite number leading to a dangerous pass to the Christchurch fly half inside his try line. Ashley Snow pounced in and jumped on the loose ball to score the second try of the game to great celebration. The score was now 18-0 and was edging Romsey towards a comfortable victory. 

The home team did come close to gaining some consolation towards the end of second half, but valiant defense led by Vice Captain, Harrison Scott and Ben Hoad prevented the threat of a Christchurch score.

Another late penalty in the last few minutes of again from the accurate boot of Cleland moved the final score to 21-0.

Head Coach, David Grosse commented “This was our best performance of the season so far. We were disciplined; we stuck to our game plan and our energy levels were maintained”.

Romsey’s next game is at home against Fareham Heathens on Saturday at 2pm.