As the two teams warmed up you could see their had been many changes to the Moderns team since last time we saw them, and by all accounts Mansfield must have lost the toss as they were playing into a low bright sun.

At the start there were a few fumbles by both teams but Moderns appeared to be pushing Mansfield back.

Mansfield won the ball in a ruck and began moving the ball forward, slow and steady but they were making ground, pushing Moderns back and for the 10 minutes or so Mansfield were camped down in Moderns 22 ,yet they could not make that final play for the try.

Moderns defence was good they had to work hard to keep Mansfield out.

Then the inevitable mistake came as Moderns turned the ball over, and they moved the ball well out to there wing and to say he was fast would be an understatement. Sean Wallis came in hard at him but missed timed his tackle and only managed to clip him but not enough to slow him down, Harry Brough and Zac Simpson put up a chase but could not catch him. Try plus conversion 7-0.

From the restart Mansfield again pushed forward forcing Moderns onto the back foot again then another silly mistake ,leading again to a try this time no conversion, 12-0.

Mansfield kept playing good rugby, matching Moderns play for play. The only difference between the two were Moderns exceptionally fast backs. A problem that caught us out a few times was the backs clearing out at rucks against Moderns forwards and the miss match meant Moderns were almost certain to win the ball. Moderns ran another three tries in with two conversions.

Score at half time was 31-0 to Moderns.

Second half started and no one is to sure what happened but Moderns ran in a quick try with conversion, 38-0.

It seemed like the heads of the Mansfield boys had dropped a little, again Mansfield got caught out by the fast Moderns boys,where they ran in two more tries with added conversions, 52-0.
Mansfield opted to play on with 15 minutes still to play, it seemed to surprise Moderns.

From the restart there was a fire to Mansfield again they were a different team. They were on the attack again which took Moderns by surprise, recycling and moving the ball well and ended with a rewarding try to Mansfield, Isaac Harris taking it over, 52-5.

From the restart Mansfield took the ball well and began pushing forward, again keeping the ball in hands forwards all working hard together as were the backs and the reward came again with Isaac Harris taking the ball over for this second, 52-10.

Mansfield certainly were a different team coming at Moderns again, keeping the ball tight and pushing forward with Moderns putting up a strong defence but not enough as Sam Troop broke out taking the ball over for Mansfield third try, 52-15.

All through the match the Mansfield scrum held strong giving no ground to a much bigger pack losing only two scrums.

With around 2 minutes to go an unfortunate knock on resulted in a Moderns scrum in Moderns half. Mansfield worked hard get the ball back but it was not out as the scrum wheeled 90 degrees, play carries on which allowed Moderns to pick the ball up and move the ball to their backs. Tackling was not great from Mansfield and Moderns ran in the last try of the game with added conversion.

Final score 59-15.

The second half was much closer and the score does not reflect the match. It was the first time Moderns had beaten Mansfield so well done to them.

The Mansfield boys look forward to the rematch later in the year.

Mansfield Rugby Club

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