Cinque Ports RFC 12 – 55 Oudenaarde RC

This was a friendly encounter with Asterix and the Gauls also known as Rhino Rugby Club from Oudenaarde in Belgium.

All tour matches are a lottery in respect of equality between teams, but are opportunities to play without the pressure of the league. This means they are more about fun than results. This match was no exception; the result reflects that The Rhinos were a well drilled team that worked well together in support and defence, and took their scoring opportunities well.

From the start Cinque Ports took the ball forward and mounted the first of many attacks into the visitors’ half, only to see the move stopped and having to defend the resulting counter attack. Play moved from end to end with Cinque Ports dominating the lineout and negating the Rhinos scrum, but Rhinos had the edge in open play. Rhinos first try came from quick lineout ball to their fullback coming in at speed to score under the posts. Their second came after Cinque Ports had moved the ball back into their half and the final pass to potentially score was intercepted and then run the length of the pitch to score. CPR didn’t give up give up and camped in their half and were rewarded by a try by Murray Whittington going through three tackles to score under the posts. The rest of the half went the same way with another score for Rhinos and Cinque Ports attacking well but not quite finding the scoring pass.

The second half started well for Cinque Ports as they spent much of it in the visitors half putting Rhinos under immense pressure but not able to stop the Rhinos scoring breakaway tries. The second Cinque Ports try came from a ruck where the ball went through three pairs of hands to Dale Whittington who went through a gap to score. This was converted by Paul Smart. Cinque Ports were tiring and Rhinos stepped up the pressure to keep CPR trapped in their half. The defence was strong and determined but occasionally leaked. All in all despite a good performance from Cinque Ports the Belgian side proved to have the edge and ran our winners.

Coach Bill Langley said "Overall we did well in a very physical match. Although we lost I think it was a good warm up match for East Grinstead next week. They are not an easy side to beat so a tough game is what we needed to set us up for a very important one in the league next Saturday".