On a bitterly cold day in Richmond, Welsh started strongly and with a “give it to the big guy” strategy. But it took only 60 seconds for Markell to show that size only makes the fall harder by expertly tackling the big man to the ground and putting an end to that tactic. Kam and Eli were equally intent on imposing themselves on the game, making some big early tackles to let the opposition know that it wasn’t going to be an easy afternoon for them. A Whits scrum was lost against the head giving Welsh the opportunity to attack but a great tackle by Stevie on the Welsh midfielder led to a spilled ball which landed in Eli’s hands. Eli took the ball and drove hard down the right side of the pitch, twisting turning and fending his way through 6 tacklers before being brought to ground. This left the Welsh defence in some disarray but when Kam recovered the ball and played it wide to Caden on the edge of the 22, there was still a lot of work to do. Caden angled his run before stepping off his left foot and straightening up to score in the left-hand corner. Watching back on the video showed that he had beaten 6 defenders either for pace or with his stepping. Whits 5 – 0 up.

A few minutes later and Whits were at it again. Another good carry from Caden was offloaded to Kai in support. Kai found Sam who gave a nice pass to Markell, Markell rounded one defender before bursting through 2 more. As he evaded 2 more covering defenders, a trailing leg caught the defender and he lost his balance, hitting the ground at speed a metre before the try line and in doing so, knocking the ball on. It was a shame that such an excellent move did not get the reward it deserved.

But Whits were in no mood to feel sorry for themselves, Markell made up for his missed try with a huge tackle on the Welsh winger as he looked set for the corner. Others were putting in their fair share of hits, brothers Henry and Max W were tenacious in their hunting down of attackers whilst Max B was using his size to his advantage. Some nice jackling from Eli won his side a penalty which Kai played quickly to Markell on the half-way line. Markell had the entire defence in front of him but several players with their backs to him, he set off at an almost casual pace before exploding off his right foot rounding several defenders before bursting through 3 more tackles and scoring to the left of the posts. Whits 10 – 0 up.

Whits weathered a period of pressure an launched an attack after a strong ruck from Max B. Once again Kai was at the centre of it, linking up play with his incisive running and passing. He found Nouar who drove at the Welsh defence which resorted to a neck high tackle to stop him. The resulting penalty was given to Max B who strode towards the line using every inch of his 6ft 3in frame. Dragging defenders with him he crossed the line but a Welsh defender got under his body to stop the ball from being grounded. A scrum on the Welsh 22 was cleared downfield behind the and bounced kindly for the chasing centre who had flown after the ball. He was through with the try line only metres away when Stevie brought him to ground with a fantastic tackle. Not content with that, Stevie bounced straight back up into the defensive line, just in time to make another try saving tackle with a little back up from Conn and Kam. Whits then spent several minutes defending on their try line before some more excellent breakdown work from Eli won a penalty, the ball was worked to Mustafa who cleared the ball with a huge kick past the halfway line to relieve the pressure. Welsh tried to work the ball back downfield but, in the process, knocked on. The Whits forwards put in a huge scrum shoving the Welsh pack back giving scrum-half Kai time to consider his options, he shaped to go to the open side, sending his opposite number the wrong way before passing down the blind side to fly-half Eli. Kai’s quick thinking had given Whits a 3 vs 2 overlap which Eli exploited by dummying a pass to Caden on the wing before stepping inside the defender and sprinting for the line. It was a well-worked try that owed much to the teamwork and quick thinking. Whits 15-0.

The restart went too long resulting in a scrum on the halfway line. Welsh regained the ball and began to build through the phases again. The Whits defence though was tenacious, pushing the home side back with each ruck and breakdown. With the referee signalling the last play of the half, Eli made a strong tackle just inside the Welsh half, ripping the ball from the attacker in the process, he fended 2 tackles before running in at the corner. Whits 20-0 at half time.

Whits were sent back out with 2 messages, treat the score as 0-0 and to hold their defensive structure. They responded to the first instruction brilliantly. Kai took the ball from the kick off on the right-hand side of the pitch. He sent several chasers the wrong with a sublime step off his right foot and set off diagonally back in the direction the ball had come. He stepped another 2 defenders before drawing a tackle and offloading expertly to Caden. Caden carried a few more metres before being tackled but the Whits support runners, Markell, Henry and William were there in numbers giving quick ball to the attack. Kam, picked the ball up from the base of the scrum and darted down the blindside with the home defence still disorganised from the speed of the attack. Kam sprinted half the pitch without being touched and finished with an “Ash splash” dive and somersault. Whits 25-0.

With a comfortable lead, Whits gave some of their bigger players a 10-minute break to catch their breath after a frantic 30 minutes. Thomas, Max B and Eli came off to off for a 10 minute break. This seemed to kick the home side into life, freed from having to mark Whits 6ft duo with their own big players, Welsh spent much of the next 10 minutes in the Whits half. The Whits defence remained resolute with some big tackles and aggressive rucking from William, Henry, Stevie and Max W in particular . However, after a period of multiple phases, eventually the Whits defence gave way and the Welsh winger ran in a try in the left-hand corner reducing the Whits lead to 25-5.

Whits elected to receive the restart and Sam took a difficult catch before popping off the floor to Markell to keep play moving. The Welsh kick chase had “dog-legged” with the left half of the team chasing and the right-hand side strolling forward. This created a nice open space for Markell to run into, the last thing you want to do is give Markell a nice open space to run into… Markell accelerated down the left outpacing the defence and running half the pitch to score in the corner. Whits 30-5.

Whits kicked deep from the restart and their chase was better than the home side, pinning them in the 22. As the Welsh attack tried to run the ball out, Markell put a stop to it with a huge tackle into touch. A penalty against Whits for offside at the ruck followed by one for a high tackle put Welsh in the Whits 22, another penalty for a high tackle and a quick tap taken by Welsh who darted in at the corner. Whits 30-10.
Welsh were staging a comeback, pressuring Whits into mistakes and enjoying a period of possession but a good counter-ruck on the halfway line saw the ball come back to Whits. The ball was scrappy and the passing ragged but Conn did an excellent job of clearing up before calmly offloading to fullback Max W. Max stepped the chasing defender before setting off down the left on a weaving run, he fended one defender before beautifully offloading in the tackle to winger Caden on the half way line. Caden had space down the left and he set off at pace only being caught by the Welsh fullback with a few metres to the try line. As Caden set the ball back, who was there in support but Markell, chasing hard and proving that working hard in support is always worthwhile. He picked up the ball and with no defenders left to beat, scored his easiest try of the day. Whits 35-10.

A few minutes later, a Welsh scrum on their own 22 was cleared down pitch, fullback Max W picked up the ball and carried it back with pace and aggression. As he was tackled, he offloaded to brother Henry who was clean through with the try line in his sights and no defender anywhere near him, he would certainly have scored but the referee did not play advantage and blew for a high tackle on Max. It was disappointing, not for the impact on the score line but Henry is one of Whits most hardworking players and this should have been his reward for all his efforts. From the penalty, Noah took a quick tap to Sam who carried elusively into the heart of the Welsh defence. Noah took the ball back and dragged several Welsh defenders with him as the Whits pack marched their way into the 22. Eventually Welsh conceded another penalty for killing the ball on the floor. The resulting penalty was given to Whits massive 2nd row, Max B who only had one thing in his mind and he bulldozed his way over the try line for a real “forwards try” to match those scored by the backs earlier in the game. Whits 40-10.

At this point the Whits team began to relax and from the kick off the ball was received on the Welsh 22 by the Welsh winger. He weaved and dodged his way downfield dancing around the Whits defenders before scoring in the corner. It was a wonderful solo try to end the game on as the Welsh ref decided to call an end to the match a few minutes early, reflecting the one-sided nature of the game.

Final score Whits 40 - 15 London Welsh. A great performance to put Whits in a strong position for the final cup match, at home to Hammersmith and Fulham who sit joint top with Whits!

Try scorers: Caden (1) , Markell (3), Eli (2), Kam (1), Max B (1)