The last weekend in September, and round 3 of the London 3 Essex league, saw Chelmsford RFC host their first home game of the season. The clash of local rivals, Chelmsford and Harlow, coincided with Chelmsford RFC’s annual Beer & Gin Festival and the number of supporters from both clubs was huge. No pressure for either team then!

After a narrow, and particularly personal, loss in East London the previous week, the Blue Boys were determined to prove themselves in front of this home crowd.

Unfortunately, the night before the game, Club Captain Myles Regan was taken out of the equation due to injury but Chelmsford RFC stalwart, Paul Redford, stepped up to lead the team on game day.

Initially, Chelmsford did not come out of the gate looking like the superior outfit. Harlow looked fitter, more refined, and utterly dominant playing down the slope in the first half. Harlow scored their first try inside 5 minutes and it looked as though that would set the tone for the game, as their calm and confident game play set them apart from the home team.

Fortunately, Chelmsford were driven and passionate and, although it wasn’t pretty, a scrappy defence kept Harlow at bay for long periods of time. Chelmsford have found themselves to be especially strong in the set piece so far this season and this game was the first time they have found their scrum put under pressure, the Harlow pack outweighing them by some margin.

Despite this determined defence, Chelmsford were unable to keep possession and turn their attacking play into points. Influential outside centre and Academy Coach, Scott James, said of the performance: “We knew that playing up the slope and against the wind in the first half would be a challenge but we knew we could turn it around in the second half. We knew we could win.”

Shortly before half time, Harlow were able to get over the line again for an unconverted try and they went into half time with a 12-point lead, having conceded no points. It would have been easy for Chelmsford to let their heads drop at this point and to let Harlow run away with the win but clearly the half time talk from Redford and Director of Rugby, Kevin Blackmore, had the desired effect because a different team came out in the second half.

Confident that they were on their home turf, playing down the hill now and with the wind, the Blue Boys started to look far more convincing and a few key players did brilliantly to change the game and thereby give confidence to their teammates.

Scott James was one such player. James is not only a strong player in his own right, putting his body on the line time and again and showing equal strength in both attack and defence; he is an experienced player and coach and this often shows in the way he plays. In the second half, an excellent 60 metre run from Jamie Ash – who had only been on the pitch for a matter of seconds – saw Chelmsford in possession just 5 metres from the Harlow try line. To Harlow’s credit, they defended well and a lot of hard work was needed for Scott James to crash over the line but crash over the line he did! The try was converted by 19-year-old fly half, Matt Jefferson, and Chelmsford were now only 5 points behind.

It was James who levelled the playing field, scoring a second try out wide after spotting a gap in Harlow’s defensive line. This was a much slicker outfit than the team that kicked off and it was good to see Chelmsford playing well and growing in confidence as they settled into their own game.

Jefferson himself scored the next try, converting 2 out of 4 tries in the windy conditions Jefferson did himself proud by crashing over the line after a well-executed maul off the lineout – an area in which Chelmsford have continuously dominated. The resultant drive saw the forwards gain good ground, giving Jefferson the opportunity to get over the line, bringing the score to 17-12.

Perhaps the most spectacular try, and the one that gave Chelmsford the bonus point, belonged to Jamie Ash. Having been out with injury, this was Ash’s first game of the season after only being cleared for contact on Thursday. Ash came on at half time and after his first run was cut short 5 metres from the try line, he did not disappoint when the ball came his way again! Deep inside their own 22, Ash caught the ball out wide and outran the entire Harlow defence, dancing out of the hands of the Harlow winger that almost caught up to him, before coolly placing the ball under the posts. Jefferson converted the try and, with only moments to go, Chelmsford had guaranteed their bonus point victory with a 24-12 win.

Although he wasn’t a try scorer, it is worth singling out newcomer and Man of the Match, Marc Pluck, who had an exceptional game. It is easy to pick out point scorers, especially when the game improves as significantly as it did this weekend for Chelmsford, but Pluck was a key component in Harlow being only 12 points up at half time. Chelmsford were guilty of a lot of simple slips and it was only Pluck being so consistently on the ball – literally – that Chelmsford kept possession at times. The half time deficit could easily have been far greater but the Chelmsford flanker, who signed with Chelmsford during this preseason, was everywhere. Speaking with Pluck after the game, he was unreasonably modest, saying “I hadn’t played in 4 or 5 years when I joined this preseason and I feel really aware that I’m not as quick or fit as I was then. “If this is Pluck whilst he’s rusty, then it’s an exciting – and daunting from an opposition’s perspective- prospect to see his game by the end of this season.

Game day captain, Paul Redford, was rightfully pleased with his team; “At the full time whistle the players were both elated and exhausted after securing a last gasp bonus point result against a well drilled and extremely physical Harlow outfit. We were disappointed with the errors we made in the first half, but knew we had a lot more to give in the second and were confident that if we kept to our structure our opportunities would come. An improved intensity in the second half combined with some outstanding performances from key players in our back line eventually brought us the hard fought win that gets us back on track after the disappointment of the previous week.”

Director of Rugby, Kevin Blackmore, was understandably happy with the Blue Boys’ victory but recognised that there were areas for improvement before the next game. “It was an excellent result for us against a team that will no doubt be challenging at the top of the table this season.

"[In the] First half we started nervously, but worked our way in to the game and when we got to halftime 12 down I felt confident we could pull it back and we did. A superb second half and 5 points in the bag that I felt was very well deserved.

"[The win made for] A great Saturday night at the club but we will go over the video and see what needs work as we have another big game against a revitalised Old Cooperians to focus [our] minds on."
Chelmsford’s Blue Boys XV are back on the road next weekend, facing Old Cooperians away – kick off 3pm.