Lost - 5 - 35
Lost - 5 - 30
Lost - 10 - 45

Many thanks to Jeff and his Stevenage team for making the journey to Donkey Lane, and showing the rest of us what happens when a team does the basics well. Stevenage proved to be a team that played simple, direct rugby, and when a team runs straight, passes well and work together in defence, it’ll always be a tough day for the opposition, and so it proved….!!

The first game started well for Enfield with some aggressive attacking lines being run and some good offloads to supporting players. One of these runs saw a fine try scored by Austin Lutwyche who spotted a rare hole in the Stevenage defensive line and went through it at pace. Louie Rodman, Max Getling and Bailey Borg-Thomas also looked dangerous in the backs when the ball made it’s way to them, but as the Stevenage defence toughened up as the game went on, so their chances to shine with the ball in hand diminished. However, the Enfield defence was too loose and combined with the genuine pace of the two Stevenage wings, this was a game that quickly got away from Enfield.

The second game saw Enfield improve in some areas, especially at the set-piece and the breakdown with Cameron Kennedy picking up a well deserved try. Jack Newbury, Liam Dixon, Nathan Clifford and Elliott Ullah also competed well at the scrum and lineout and produced plenty of recycled ball at the breakdown, plus a couple of much needed turnovers. However, the line-speed of the Stevenage defence meant that our passing game suffered, our running lines became lateral, and once again Stevenage proved that you can’t defend against sheer pace as they ran some great tries in to claim their second win of the morning.

The third and final game followed a similar pattern to the previous ones. Although Anthony Corbett and Louis Sellick were always busy at the set-piece and breakdown, the gaps simply weren’t there for them to exploit, and whilst players like Joe Sear always beat the first tackler, they never had enough space to work in and therefore the Stevenage team found it easy to close them down. More direct running from Austin Lutwyche and Cameron Kennedy saw them each pick up a try, but our defensive frailties continued to undo what good work we did elsewhere on the pitch

In summery, Enfield played some great rugby at times, but defensively, we were simply outplayed by a very good Stevenage team. There’s a old rugby saying that “you can’t beat pace” and that held true on Sunday. However, our performance at the set-piece was good with some accurate throwing in from Elliott Ullah at the lineout enabling some quick ball for the half-backs. Added to that, our work rate at the breakdown meant that we competed well on the floor and in the maul and either recycled our own ball or, on occasion, even produced some turn-over ball. Once we work out how best to use this possession, we’ll be a dangerous team to play.

Players:
Anthony Corbett - Austin Lutwyche - Bailey Borg-Thomas - Cameron Kennedy - Elliott Ullah - Jack Newbury - Joe Sear - Liam Dixon - Louie Rodman - Louis Sellick (Capt) - Max Getling - Nathan Clifford