Hungerford RFC

An absolutely thrilling encounter as the Hurricanes got top billing at HRFC, hosting a very strong mixed Bracknell As and Bs team. The weather played its part – a glorious day and the resilience of our pitches again proved an incredible backdrop for our sport.

The Hurricanes are afflicted with the HRFC curse of failing to realise the game had actually started. After 2 minutes they were 12 points down, with Bracknell striking fast off strong running through the middle, their 10 with a 50% strike rate. Another minute later, Bracknell had added another try for 0-17, and the coaches decided to leave the water bottles down behind the dead ball line. A minute later and it was 0-22.

Anyone queuing for the exits would have missed what happened next. 5 minutes in and 4 tries down, the boys would have been forgiven for letting their heads drop. However, there was not a bit of it. They became impenetrable and competed very effectively at the breakdown. For 10 minutes, it was attritional going one way and then the other. Bracknell’s scrum was mighty and clearly bested Hurricanes, but the defence from ensuing phases was something to behold. 5 minutes from half-time, Hungerford got the breakthrough they deserved with Bracknell pinned back in their own 5m. Scrumhalf Leo Horwood got the ball out wide from a close quarter ruck to winger Joe Varley who cut inside 3 players and used great strength to get the Hurricanes off the mark. 5-22 and game-on. Another 5 points added soon after by George Hastle for 10-22. A perfectly executed lineout maul with quick ball out to Leo, tackled and ball secured by quick thinking flanker pairing Sam Leslie and Jack Johnson. George picking and going from 5m out - his long reach helping him score on the line – unstoppable.

With referee Stefan Wrzesinski blowing for half-time, the boys grouped and celebrated their stoicism and tenacity and talked about second half game plan. Releasing Seb Bridge for the classy Joey Lawrence at 10 and Harry Wilding for a battle-hardened Jamie Hordern (several thumping tackles) at fullback, the Hurricanes took the field for the second half. Bracknell’s giant number 8 thumped through quickly and was unstoppable running in a try from about 40m for 10-29 with their 10 adding the two. The team’s grit returned and after some physical battles in the midfield, the half-backs combined after some aggressive and well-disciplined rucking. A few positional switches shored up the Hurricanes’ scrum and gave Leo the platform to distribute nicely to Seb and onward. This time a few phases in, the boys breached the 22 and developed quick ball from rucks before slowing it down for the forwards to soften the defence further. A quick pop to Joe from one such ruck and over he went for his second for 15-29. Minutes later, Leo picked and went and went bringing Seb into play to distribute through the centres. Frankie Marangio carried and set captain Oscar McBride barrelling strongly through two tackles before releasing Finley Beecher on his right to beat two defenders and dot down for the Hurricanes’ fourth try to bring the prospect of a thrilling final quarter to bear at 20-29.

Oscar took the restart masterfully and ran it straight back at them. The centres combined well in attack with some beautiful passes down the line and aggressive running to hit Bracknell’s 22. Training ground picks-and-goes and a nice round of ruck phases set them up for a final assault on the goal-line. The forwards licked their lips and got involved and finally managed to barrel over with Samuel taking The Hurricanes five points closer at 25-29. Fullback Harry Wilding took us to a 2-point game by kicking the conversion. 27-29. A truly exceptional comeback.

The restart was again profitable for The Hurricanes with Jack Johnson catching cleanly, stepped a defender and ran it back deftly offloading. Bracknell recovered well and played a knock-on advantage and launched their own counter-attack, but a fast-thinking Finley had spotted the danger and ran off his wing to provide cover and put in a thumping tackle to dilute the threat. He did the same again seconds later to buy the Hurricanes some time to regroup. The ball found its way back to Seb deep in our 22 from a great turnover in the ruck and Seb’s exit was mercurial, really sharp thinking to get the ball out of danger and into Bracknell territory.

With minutes to play, the Hurricanes were keen to go again. Some poor discipline at the breakdown from Bracknell gave Hurricanes the penalty advantage and Frankie took the quick tap winning territory and another penalty as Bracknell had not retreated 10m. Another quick tap from Flynn Richardson showed some pleasing decision making to make more metres and the boys were able to get the ball out wide. Bracknell scrambled well and recovered fortuitously after a knock-on and leathered the ball away for a fine exit under pressure. The resulting lineout saw hooker Zak Edwards find his mark and quick distribution to scrum-half Leo saw the snaked-hipped 9 zigging, zagging and goose-stepping his way around the midfield. The ball was sent to the openside and they played the phases before Leo switched it up and hit a quick pass left to Harry. The fullback had a lot of work to do but broke through three tackles and lit the afterburners to cross the whitewash to put the Hurricanes in front for the first time at 32-29.

Seconds left on the clock and the re-start was favourable for Bracknell who ran it back with aggressive determination and a lot of support. The Hurricanes defence was heavily tested with the ball over the 5m line and Bracknell patiently exploring their route through. They crashed over, but the Hurricanes were expecting it and in a last-ditch try-saving attempt got about 4 bodies under the ball to give the ref an easy decision – held up. The visitors denied the victory that looked in no doubt after the first five minutes. Final score, Hurricanes 32-29 Bracknell. Tanks emptied and celebratory emotions poured out.

An absolute masterclass in grit, resilience and game management from the Hurricanes who were overcome with emotion after this huge scalp. The many home supporters were treated to an excellent, well contested and highly physical match.

Hurricanes’ head coach Matt Allard said, “I am really proud of this group of young men and honoured to be part of the team that get to coach them each week. We saw a real risk of their heads going down after the first five minutes, but they stuck at their plan and clawed their way back into game to claim an exceptional victory. We’ve been working a lot with them on decision quality and on behalf of the coaching team, we are humbled to see this pay off. They were mighty. A special mention for George Hastle (known as ‘The Thief’ for his jackaling and ripping threat) for his thunderous performance and also to Finley Beecher who had his best ever game- three momentous tackles and a well worked try to his credit”. Captain Oscar McBride led the celebrations and offered huge compliments to Bracknell’s physicality in his magnanimous clubhouse post-match speech.