The Tornadoes come together for what was to be the first festival of the season, as everyone was playing to the new rules Upminster had decided that there would be no finals just pool matches.

Match 1 – BSRFC 25 V Stanford 5
Typical of their first match of the day there was the odd handling error but the lads managed to keep Stanford under pressure with some high impact tackles and a great line defence. On the rare occasions when a Stanford player did get past the blue line by going out wide our flankers Ryan and Dominic were more than willing to tackle them into touch. There was certainly a hunger for the ball from the team and Dominic set new standards in securing possession when the ball went loose. Eventually Stortford won comfortably and there was high optimism for the match which was to follow.

Match 2 – BSRFC 5 v Braintree 5
The lads entered the match fully warmed up which is just as well as they were playing the current Essex county champions! Both teams were quite equal in play and once again our defensive line was superb and at one point pushed Braintree back over 10 metres when they tried to do a switch from a re-start. With some great tackles from Morgan, Murray and the entire team they managed to keep an organised and relentless Braintree attack at bay for a well earned draw. The game did highlight bits we need to work on but it produced lots more positives than negatives.

Match 3 – BSRFC 30 v Romford 5
The Tornadoes started the match attacking and the first play was fantastic, they mixed up the style of attack with some crashing it up the middle and then passing the ball down the line and getting it out wide for that first try of the match. The defensive line worked as it should with Grant leading the charge on several occasions and put plenty of pressure on Romford which resulted in several turnovers. The lads continued their attacking flair and twice scored tries from intercepting some floated passes.

Match 4 – BSRFC 35 v Upminster 0
The first half of the match saw Upminster look every part a good attacking side with plenty of ability to pass the ball about and the score line didn’t really do them justice but once again the Tornadoes cracking line defence was up to the job and numerous times turned the ball over from constant pressure. Will, Teddy and Murray looked more than comfortable bossing the line and making some great tackles which pushed Upminster back. Morgan was keen to show his new salsa dancing skills (learnt from his dad) and at one point side stepped and swerved around the entire opposition before scoring in the corner.

Match 5 – BSRFC 15 v Brentwood 5
The first half proved to be a fairly even encounter with Stortford taking an early lead through an interception try. Once again the blue line stood firm and kept driving the opposition back phase after phase. The second half was mostly uneventful and it was obvious the players were starting to tire. Brentwood intercepted a slightly sloppy pass and the speedy lad tore off down the pitch, Herbie, Ryan and Morgan gave chase and the latter made a ruthless tackle which took the player into touch 1 metre from the try line.

Match 6 – BSRFC 40 v Thurrock 0
As the last match of what had been a great morning of Rugby the players had to dig deep to see the day out on a win. Thurrock had several new players in their squad which became evident as the match went on. Thurrock would have had a try within the first minute if it hadn’t been for a great cover tackle by Eddie as a speedy player broke through the defensive line. From that moment the Tornadoes stepped it up a gear and after turning over the ball they quickly shipped it out to Morgan who was only too happy to hit a broken defence at speed to score the first try of the match. Archie Racey came on in the second half and instantly made an impact with some great interlinking play which saw him hitting the ball at speed and burst straight through the defensive line to score.

Overall a great day of rugby for the Tornadoes which saw them score 30 tries whilst only conceding 4.

Report for the Hurricanes to follow shortly!