The Hague Barbarians: great moves in Maastricht
The Hague Barbarians (our Junior side made up from players from Wassenaar Warriors, WRC Te Werve and Voorburgse Rugby Club) travelled to sunny Maastricht RFC on the 9th October for their last away game in the first part of the Junior Bowl competition.
The first 20 minutes of the game was evenly matched with the Barbarians attacking well but suffering early game nerves. The pressure built up by the Barbarians paid off on the 20 mins mark with one of our Hookers crashing over the line to score the first try. 5 minutes later the Barbarians Winger Tollo Wachira put in a great run over half the pitch to score again. Both tries were converted by Tijmen Pronk. The Barbarians scored another try just before half time through a run by our Prop Deven Donk. A difficult angle meant that Tijmen missed the conversion kick.
Half time score: Maastricht RC: 0 Barbarians 19
The second half was the Barbarians drop a little in their concentration. There were a lot of scrums coming from spilt balls or infringements and while the scrums went well, the team were unable to continue building on the first half performance. Maastricht to their credit never gave up, and scored a try through a great run by their winger in to the corner. The Barbarians came back and Deven Donk scored his second try 57 mins in to the game after a good scrum on the opposition 22. Indiscipline cost the Barbarians with the referee awarding a penalty try to Maastricht just before the final whistle.
This was a much improved game by the Barbarians as they put together some great moves on the pitch. The set pieces worked well but they suffered due to basic mistakes and some ill-discipline. It was good to see the confidence back and them winning their second game of the season and the team is looking forward to the final game of this pool next week.
Final score: Maastricht RC: 12 The Hague Barbarians 24
Stephen Brown
Match reporter