Kenilworth RFC

Kenilworth men’s squad travelled down the M40 and M5 to Worcestershire, just over the road from Worcester Warriors ground at Six Ways, writes Richard Bennett. They were playing in a Regional 2 Midlands West fixture against Worcester RFC who were sitting proudly undefeated at the top of the table. The Kenilworth build up to the game itself was aided by a lot of travelling supporters who witnessed a top performance from their team. The grit, resilience, determination and mainly effective execution was there for all to see, ending in a thought process of ‘really well done’ and ‘if only.’

Both teams from the off wanted to play with the ball in hand, near enough from anywhere, which meant it was fast and physical. Worcester really came out of the blocks and put Kenilworth under pressure immediately with slick handling, productive running lines and offloads. When Kenilworth did have the ball in these early exchanges, they too attacked with panache and fortitude, but couldn’t quite finish productively.

Therefore, on eight minutes, Worcester managed to score the opening try through their number 8 George Boyle, who went over the Kenilworth line after being on the end of effective continuity by his Worcester team mates. This score was unconverted. These opening salvos really tested the Kenilworth defensive organization and all the players knew they were now into a humdinger of a match.

After twelve minutes, the effective Worcester continuity clicked again after Kenilworth could not deal with a ball over the top of their defensive line. This resulted in inside centre Bed Waddington gratefully going over the try line to score. This made the score 12-0 to Worcester as the conversion had been pushed wide by Ben himself.

The next fourteen minutes saw both teams trying to gain ascendency in the match and the game ebbed and flowed only broken up by penalties. One such penalty to Kenilworth, resulted in a lineout drive with the ever-present, rugged number 8 Lewis Hall, going over. Charlie Wollaston nudged the conversion wide, to make the score 12-5.

Kenilworth put points on the board again within the next five minutes after a period of concerted pressure, continuity and physicality from the whole team. Several good jinking runs, especially by winger Dylan Bevan and centre Tommy Hunter resulted in territory gained. They eventually scored through skipper Ted Bromwich, Ted going over the line after a forward drive and several pick and goes. Full back Charlie Wollaston converted to make the score 12-12, and still all therefore, to play for. The Kenilworth travelling supporters were now heartened and reassured that the team could wholly compete.

The next period of play saw both teams being regularly pinged by the referee from Oxfordshire for several misdemeanours, and this slightly broke the game up from its previous pace and panache. Just before half time Worcester scored again, from a penalty kick to touch, another forward drive off after securing the lineout, and the Kenilworth forwards unable to stop the momentum. The conversion was missed again and at half time the score was 17-12.

Kenilworth’s squad in the second half now played up the slight incline, this did not phase them as they continued to show spirit, courage, impactful game management, half backs Elis Green and Sam Herniman were especially to the fore in this respect. Everyone watching knew that this was going to be a close contest.

Worcester’s stoic team took advantage of an early yellow card shown to Kenilworth winger Sam Williams for an alleged high tackle. Worcester therefore scored next with the numerical advantage and the try scorer in the act of scoring actually releasing the ball as he applied downward pressure. However, the score was allowed and the conversion was again pushed wide to put Worcester ahead by 22 points to 12. Worcester scored another five points quite quickly afterwards through their forwards to put the score at 27-12. Could Kenilworth dig deep and come back at Worcester? The answer was a resounding “yes”.

Twenty minutes into the second half replacement Finn Nicol scored an opportunist try when Worcester were unable to clear their lines and relieve the pressure applied by Kenilworth. Charlie Wollaston nudged the conversion over to claw back more points to 27-19. The following ten to twelve minutes was mainly Kenilworth’s, as they fought back showing lots of endeavour and character. This resolute, determined approach by the Kenilworth squad saw replacement Matt Gibson score a try, again from a lineout drive, several pick and goes and a score. The try was converted by Charlie Wollaston, 27-26, nip and tuck.

In the final minutes Kenilworth went through the phases and were looking for the crucial winning score into the Worcester half and red zone. Alas, time was called as vice-captain Max Brain was forced into touch by Worcester’s defence after fine build up work to gain ground.

This was a fantastic game of rugby for the watching crowd and a great advert for the community game. It was well worth the trip for the dedicated travelling supporters; Kenilworth secured two league points from the narrowest of defeats. The squad were understandably disappointed, as they could have gone on to seal the match. With this result, they now lie fifth in the league and Worcester remain top and still unbeaten.

Next week the Kenilworth men’s 1st XV have a week off, the women’s 1st XV are at home on Saturday 7th November to Cheltenham Tigers with a kick off at 2.00, your support is always appreciated.