Lewes RFC

Sun 2 Feb 2025, 11:00

Lewes RFC U15M

0 - 10

Jersey U15s

Lewes RFC U15M

Jersey U15s

The Lewes Lions U15 Warriors played at home on Sunday, in their sixth match of the season. Having so far remained undefeated, they knew they were going to face a tough match against Jersey, who were an excellent side who had lost only one match in their season so far.

Jersey started with the kick off and the Warriors were quick to chase and gained the advantage when Jersey were penalised for being off their feet in the ruck. Lewes maintained an excellent line speed and were able to hold Jersey outside of their 22 and began to push Jersey back towards their half.

Over the next five minutes possessions continued to change, with both sides parked around the half way line. The Lewes Warriors maintained pressure with quick ball and effective rucking and were looking dangerous on both wings.

After seven minutes of play both sides were evenly matched, but coming into the first scrum, the significant size advantage of the Jersey pack began to show and combined with the conditions, this meant Lewes found it challenging to make ground in the scrum, allowing Jersey to gain possession and move into the Lewes half.

The Warriors were able to regain possession after a Jersey knock on, and again gained a scrum in the Jersey half, Jersey were quick to regain possession and for the first time in the match, after twelve minutes of play, moved into the Lewes 22. Jersey decided to take the opportunity to kick for goal after a penalty was awarded, but were unable to place the ball between the posts.

Over the next four minutes the game remained in the balance, with possession changing multiple times, and neither side finding space for an attack. After sixteen minutes of play, Jersey were able to break the stalemate and pushed into the Warriors 22. The Lewes defence remained strong, and after a number of phases the Warriors were able to kick to safety and return the ball to the Jersey half.

With ten minutes of the half remaining Jersey finally found some space in the Lewes Warriors line, and took the ball over the line. After a failed conversion this put the scores at Jersey 5, Lewes Warriors 0.

After this first score, both sides continued to push for dominance, with both sides coming close to crossing the try line. After some quick ball Lewes came close to making a break through space, but were frustrated when the advantage was not played and they had to restart.

At the end of the half, no further scores had been made, and both sides were still looking dangerous and evenly matched.

The Lewes Warriors kicked off the second half and were quick to make gains into the Jersey 22 and focused on keeping the ball moving quickly. After a number of infringements play was slowed by a number of scrums in the Jersey 22, and the Warriors continued to battle against the momentum of the Jersey forward pack to ensure that the pace of the game did not slow down. Over the next ten minutes the Warriors continued to maintain pressure in the Jersey half, but each line break was successfully absorbed by the Jersey defence, and the pace of play was slowed by successive scrums.

After a period of defensive play, Jersey were able to make their first break into the Lewes 22 and put Lewes under pressure on the try line. With some quick thinking and great defensive play, the Warriors were able to kick the ball towards the half way line to regain territory only for the ball to quickly be moved by Jersey back into the Warriors 22. Over the next three minutes the Lewes defence was tested, with multiple phases of attack from Jersey.

The Warriors continued to mount a fantastic defence, and continued to regain possession for further attacks, but could not find the space to take the ball further into Jersey’s 22.

After twenty six minutes of the half with only one try between the two sides, Jersey were able to again break the stalemate by finding space in the Lewes Warriors defensive line and took the ball over the line. With a failed conversion this put the scores at Lewes 0, Jersey 10.

With four minutes of the half remaining Lewes did not give up, and mounted numerous phases, attempting to create space in the Jersey line, coming close on a number of occasions. Unfortunately for Lewes, just as they were pushing back up into the Jersey 22, the final whistle was blown.

The coaching staff were immensely proud of the determination and sportsmanship demonstrated by all the Lewes players. Both sides  played fantastic gritty rugby, and the scoreline did not fully represent how close the sides were for the vast majority of the match.

The squad are now looking forward to their next league matches where U15 Raiders play Crowborough at the Stanley Turner Ground on the 9^th February and the U15 Warriors play Worthing at the Stanley Turner Ground on Sunday 9^th March.