GRASSHOPPERS RFC V DATCHWORTH RFC - 19TH FEBRUARY 2022

Having beaten Grasshoppers in the home fixture 16-9, Datchworth traveled away to Osterley in an optimistic mood on Saturday to play on the opposition’s excellent 4G pitch. Unfortunately, storm Eunice had prevented a number of the university students from returning to play and a couple of other key performers were unavailable. As a result, the Datchworth squad was somewhat depleted. In contrast, Grasshoppers had a much stronger team than the one that had played at Datchworth. The Grasshoppers forwards started strongly and Datchworth were starved of possession for the first 20 minutes. Their backs relished the amount of ball their forwards were giving them and made hay accordingly. Datchworth’s defence, usually one of their stronger suits, deserted them for large parts of the first half. Even the soundest defenders were missing tackles. Grasshoppers scored 7 tries before half-time to lead 43-0 at the interval.

Although the Datchworth performance improved markedly in the second half, Grasshoppers managed to score two more tries before the end of the game to finish with an impressive 55-0 victory. As the Datchworth players readily admitted after the game, it was probably their weakest performance of the season. The scrum was under constant pressure and the lineouts were scrappy. Still, there were good performances from fly-half Franco Caroleo, Nick Moore and Louis Watts, particularly on the defensive front. James Hankin had his moments and once again No.8 Dom Negri played a great defensive game.

The squad have a welcome rest this Saturday and availability for the game on 5th March home to Hemel Hempstead is looking good.

Meanwhile, the 3rd XV have a floodlit game against Hitchin 3rds this Friday night at Hitchin. The KO is at 7.30 p.m. and all support is very welcome.