The sun was shining and the weather was lovely as The Hague Barbarians (the combined junior team from Wassenaar Warriors, WRC Te Werve and Voorburgse Rugby Club) played RWC/Zaandijk at Voorburg VRC – one of our home grounds – on Saturday 26th March.

The last time we played each other was at the beginning of the Phase C competition with The Barbarians winning then 17-26. This was the first game in the 2nd half of the pool and both sides couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.

RCW/Zaandijk kicked off and The Barbarians immediately showed their intent and ran the ball back to the RCW/Zaandijk 22. The Barbarians were recycling the ball and running forward with every opportunity. There were a few mistakes and the team could have been pushing it too quickly at the beginning. After 7 mins The Barbarians were awarded a penalty in the RWc/Zaandijk 22 which was quickly taken and Matt McCoy ran in the first try of the game just under the posts. Tijmen Pronk converted taking the score to 7-0. The Barbarians continued to put the pressure on and could have increased the score further but Bo Hoobroeckx was unable to ground the ball properly.The second try did come quickly though with Matt McCoy scoring his second try after 13 mins. The score stood at 12-0 after a missed conversion.

There was another opportunity from Matt after he chased his own kick from The Barbarians half, but he was unlucky with the ball just bouncing backwards over his head and he was unable to regather. The Barbarians closed off the first half with a try from Bo Hoobroeckx running in from the midfield to score under the posts. Tijmen Pronk converted taking the half time score to 19-0.
The second half started where the first had left off – Matt scoring his hat trick after 2 mins. Tijmen converted again bringing the score to 26-0. Matt scored again on the 15 min mark but Jesper Verbeek was unlucky to miss the conversion as it bounced off the crossbar.

The Barbarians didn’t let up and continued to put the pressure on. Andre Langlois scored an unconverted try in the corner after 17 mins and Matt McCoy stormed up the middle of the field and managed to touchdown the ball with several RWC/Zaandijk players hanging off him. Tijmen Pronk had the unusual experience of having his conversion attempt charged down after that one.
Andre Langlois scored again in a similar way to his first, running the ball up the wing and touching down in the corner and he scored his hattrick after 28 mins as he intercepted a pass in The Barbarians 22 and ran almost the whole length of the field touching down under the posts. Tijmen Pronk converted and the final score was The Hague Barbarians 53 RWC/Zaandijk 0.

This was a great result for the team and showed some great teamwork and awareness from the lads. They attacked at nearly every opportunity, disrupting scrums and putting pressure in rucks and at the breakdown. Defensively we couldn’t have asked more than what we got. RCW/Zaandijk unable to get over the tryline showed how much effort the team put in here. The pod play that was practiced in the week was utilised well and the team supported each other around the field. All of the team played as a single unit, communicated well and took their scores well. The tries may have been scored by a couple of the boys but all of the team played an important and key part in the game plan and they should all be very proud of their achievement!

Final Score: The Hague Barbarians 53 RWC/Zaandijk 0

The Barbarians now lie 3rd in the table on 15 points, 4 behind 2nd place and 5 behind 1st place – but they have a game in hand. Next game we take on the 2nd placed Waterweg Warriors side!

Stephen Brown
Match reporter

Posted in General, Juniors

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