The Hague Barbarians (the Junior cluster team comprising of players from Voorburgse Rugby Club and Wassenaar Warriors) played The Hawks in the last game of the 3rd phase of the season at Wassenaar.

A very windy day at Wassenaar meant that it would be tricky going for our kickers. Hawks won the toss and decided to play with the wind at their backs. The first 10 mins saw both sides testing each other out physically. The Barbarians slowly coming out on top and edging closer to the try line. There were a series of scrums on the Hawks 5m line and then The Barbarians started passing the ball out wide towards the left wing. Krijn Elfrink crossing over for the first try of the day. The wind proved too strong for Tijmen Pronk and the conversion went wide.

A couple of minutes later Lucas Aitken ran ¾ of the pitch beating several defenders to score the 2nd try. What was good to see here wasn’t just the dancing feet of Lucas as he evaded the defenders but also the amount of players that he had running in support of him. Tijmen nailed the conversion taking the score to 12-0 after 11 minutes.

The Barbarians kept the pressure on and Tijmen Pronk scored 2 tries in quick succession breaking through the Hawks defence close to their lines. Krijn Elfrink managing to convert one try bringing the scores to 22-0 after 24 mins.

The Hawks didn’t let everything go our way though and scored their try just before half time crashing over from close range.

Half time score: The Hague Barbarians 22- Hawks 5

The second half saw the weather conditions worsen. The wind picked up and a cold drifting rain fell. The Barbarians started the second half nervously and were pinged by the referee several times for repeated infringements. They did calm down and started to re-establish themselves and set up the attacks they started in the first half. Lucas Aitkin scored the first try of the second half, pouncing on a split pass and touching down under the posts. The Barbarians continued to exert pressure and it paid off again with Iason Plaisier scoring in the corner.

Ful time score: The Hague Barbarians 34- Hawks 5

A good score from The Barbarians and a great game to watch. The weather conditions didn’t make things easy for them with tactical kicking off the cards due to the swirling wind. The Barbarians executed the game plan well, spreading the ball out wide quickly to the wings and making ground from there. The support play and the communication between the players on the pitch was good to see.

That was our last game of the 3rd phase of the season. In Phase 2 we stepped up a level and started playing more competitive teams at a higher level. That phase saw us winning 2 of the 5 games. In Phase 3 we have won 3 out of 5 and have been more consistent and competitive in the way that we have been playing. Congratulations to all of the players and the coaching team for taking The Barbarians to the level that they have achieved!

GO BARBARIANS!

Stephen Brown
Match reporter

Posted in General, Juniors

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