South Battle against wind and rain

In appalling conditions at Mortimer Park last Saturday the 1st XV held at bay, a large South Leicester pack, for a 40 minute period of almost entire defence in the second half to secure the hardest-earned of victories.

Having played the 1st half with the elements, our lads had built a 13 - 5 lead, that always looked as if it would be tested, particularly with South's fondness of scrummaging. With their restart bouncing out on our 5-metre line, so began the onslaught of our line. Not being able to get out of our 22 due to the wind negating any kick, and the incessant rain making handling nigh on impossible, meant that we just had to keep tackling, scummaging and stopping lineout drives, whilst trying to minimise penalties. For any who are fans of the Super 15 and that expansive brand of rugby, this type of attritional battle would have been nauseating to watch but for the purist, whilst you probably couldn't feel your hands or toes, exhilarating.

On the pitch there was certainly a feeling of apprehension for the first 20 minutes of the half, but as the game wore to a conclusion, we actually started to feel comfortable, to the extent where it felt we could handle that form of assault to our line all day long.

Report from Luctonians web site