England vs Wales a great success for BARFC
Local rugby fans turned out in force to to watch England Under 16s beat Wales Under 16’s by 41points to 22 at College Way on Sunday afternoon where despite the wet weather, the big crowd swollen by a large contingent of away supporters was in excess of 2000.
Wales kicked off and within two minutes of the start they were in the lead as the England defence was caught napping and Bradley Broderick broke through to score a try between the posts that Sam Costelow converted.
On the quarter of an hour mark Alfie Barbeary made a good break down the left wing before off loading to Lennox Anyanwu who went over for a try to get the home side on the board.
Almost immediately England took the lead when Raphael Quirke scored an unconverted try on the left making the score 10-7.
The home side extended their lead when James Botterill went over for an unconverted try on the left hand side of the posts.
The lively Quirke, who plays his rugby for Sale, was proving quite a handful and showed his pace one again when he chipped ahead and gathered the bouncing ball before touching down for a try which Botterill converted to make the score 22-7.
On the stroke of half time Costelow kicked a penalty for Wales straight after which the referee blew his whistle to bring proceedings to a halt with the score 22-10.
The first 10 minutes of the second period was evenly balanced, with both sides mounting attacks that were thwarted by the opposition defence, however it was England, who looked dangerous coming forward who added to their score when Jack Reid scored a try between the posts that Botterill added the extras to.
BARFC Chairman Steve Smith, RFU Juniors Vice President Chris Kelly and BARFC President Mike Berry
Shortly afterwards the hosts scored another try, this time when Will Sinfield picked up a loose ball in his own half and ran down the left wing to score an unconverted try.
Going into the last 10 minutes Wales created pressure and were rewarded when Sam Williams crashed over on the right for an unconverted try. The visitors weren’t done with and five minutes later Dan Hiscocks went over for a try on the left which Ioan Evans converted.
England bounced straight back and as the clock was counting down Harry Hill charged down the left hand side before releasing Alfie Barbeary to score a try which Sinfield converted to make the final score 41-22 to the home side.
This was a special rugby occasion and one that everyone associated with Bridgwater and Albion Rugby Club can feel very proud to have played their part in making the day such a success.
Afterwards Chris Kelly, the England RFU Juniors Vice President said: “We have all had a wonderful time here and Bridgwater and Albion Rugby Club could not have been better hosts to all of us.
They hosted a lovely lunch upstairs before the game that was enjoyed by all our legends who were here celebrating the last ever schools international. There has been an absolutely fantastic crowd here to watch and the pitch was excellent so it couldn’t have been better.
He added: “I was last here to watch the South of England play Australian Schools about 20 years and the club is just as good now as it was then. I used to accompany a rugby club when they toured down here in the past so have got many happy memories of Bridgwater and Albion.”
Steve Smith, the Chairman of BARFC said: “The day has been a great success all round and despite the weather we couldn’t have wished for it to have gone better.”
“We would like to thank everyone who has supported us in anyway at all, especially EDF our match sponsors and all of the local rugby fans who has braved the elements and come along to watch the match.”
Written by Richard Walsh
Category: Club News
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