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Thu 24 Aug 2023
Wasps
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31
7
Pre-Season friendly away to Wasps
Steve Partridge29 Aug 2023 - 09:40
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Wasps 31-7 Actonians
Actonians returned to action for the first time this season, making the short trip to Wasps for their opening pre-season fixture on Thursday evening.
The game started in positive fashion for the As, with the pack showing their power to shove the hosts off the first scrum of the game, allowing Ben Bell to hack the ball upfield and force Wasps to concede a penalty deep in their 22. While we were unable to convert the 5-metre lineout into points, we didn’t have to wait long for the first score.
A powerful carry in midfield by Adam Dombayeva, forced the Wasps defence onto the backfoot, with quick ball from the ruck fly-half Gabe Bland found a lovely inside pass to Will Rogers who burst through a hole in the defence. The winger still had lot of work to do, but he skipped round the fullback and showed great speed to score from 60 yards out. Ben Bell added the conversion to make it 7-0.
The remainder of the first quarter saw both teams stuck in an arm wrestle for field position and quick ball, but the visitors held on to take a the 7-0 lead into the second quarter.
Coach Andy Barrington used the next quarter to introduce some fresh faces and new combinations, and while they had to withstand waves of pressure from the huge Wasps pack they stuck to the task. The pressure eventually told with Wasps scoring to close range pushover tries, but it certainly could have been worse, had it not been for some stout As defence.
The half ended with the score 12-7 to the home side.
The third and fourth quarters followed a similar pattern as Actonians continued to try new combinations and players. While Wasps rolled on fresh players, with their power told on a few occasions with more short range tries. But once again some excellent hits in defence from the As kept them at bay. A couple of late scores added some gloss to the score line which finished 31-7.
Actonians returned to action for the first time this season, making the short trip to Wasps for their opening pre-season fixture on Thursday evening.
The game started in positive fashion for the As, with the pack showing their power to shove the hosts off the first scrum of the game, allowing Ben Bell to hack the ball upfield and force Wasps to concede a penalty deep in their 22. While we were unable to convert the 5-metre lineout into points, we didn’t have to wait long for the first score.
A powerful carry in midfield by Adam Dombayeva, forced the Wasps defence onto the backfoot, with quick ball from the ruck fly-half Gabe Bland found a lovely inside pass to Will Rogers who burst through a hole in the defence. The winger still had lot of work to do, but he skipped round the fullback and showed great speed to score from 60 yards out. Ben Bell added the conversion to make it 7-0.
The remainder of the first quarter saw both teams stuck in an arm wrestle for field position and quick ball, but the visitors held on to take a the 7-0 lead into the second quarter.
Coach Andy Barrington used the next quarter to introduce some fresh faces and new combinations, and while they had to withstand waves of pressure from the huge Wasps pack they stuck to the task. The pressure eventually told with Wasps scoring to close range pushover tries, but it certainly could have been worse, had it not been for some stout As defence.
The half ended with the score 12-7 to the home side.
The third and fourth quarters followed a similar pattern as Actonians continued to try new combinations and players. While Wasps rolled on fresh players, with their power told on a few occasions with more short range tries. But once again some excellent hits in defence from the As kept them at bay. A couple of late scores added some gloss to the score line which finished 31-7.
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