Thirsty 3s dominate Fortress Hurlingham

Its been a while since I wrote one of these, one of the (few) joys of being captain is you usually get to farm this out to someone but on this occasion its warranted. Keep reading to find out why. 

 The Thirsty 3s are on a roll this season currently sitting top of the league, albeit with a few more games over Belsize and Hampstead behind us, and are playing some lovely rugby at the moment and today was no different. With an early kick off set so we could enjoy Ireland offering England some tips in how to win games, the boys turned up nice and early in the morning to a calm dry day full of glee for the game. Credit to Old Streetonians as well who brought a team along, something they have admittedly struggled with this season, with a few lads doing a double shift from a Friday night game for their 1s which we really appreciated.  

The boys started brightly taking the restart and earning a penalty off a ruck and Sam Heron driving the ball into the opposition 22. A well set maul of the lineout carried the forwards towards the tryline before yours truly peeled off diving for the line. Old Streets were game though stopping a few phases on the line before forcing a knock on. Not the best reprieve for them given the Hammers scrum was on fire all day driving them backwards and forcing a poor clearance to touch. Hammers fired up the rolling maul again this time with the author diving right to dot down unopposed. 5 nil early on, hell of a start. Sam Heron rang the posts (for the first time in the day). This set the tone for a forward dominant display but with the backline we had we knew it was only a matter of time before they got stuck in the game. 

Hammers pulled together some lovely phases to get territory but the oppo were game for some tough work at the rucks and there was some good back and forth before they threatened the Hammers 22 for the first time. Some solid defence with double tackles and a turnover led to an exactly 50-22 from Sam Heron giving the forwards yet another chance for a rolling maul. The outcome was inevitable and as the try line beckoned offering your scribe a brace the returning Sandy Duncan, tired of waiting for his opportunity to score jumped onto the back of the maul stealing the ball and ultimately the try. An early solid contender for DOD stealing the ball off your captain who as hooker only ever scores off rolling mauls. Really took something to beat that, keep reading… conversion made, 12-0. 

Fast hands off the restart led to the boys making more gains and letting the backline stretch their legs. Excellent hands down the left, couple of big carries in the middle to allow the backs to hit the right edge and stretch the defence before Sam Nursey jogged into the space for his first of the day. 19-0 and the result was starting to look in the bag made only better by yet another big carry from Sandy Duncman off a lineout going well beyond the gainline allowing the forwards to carry round the corner on the front foot before the ball went wide allowing Mike Willis to carve through the defence from full back and outpace the covering defence to score. One hell of a conversion from out wide, ringing the post again but this time bouncing over meant the Hammers went into the half time drinks 26 nil up and keen for another round of doughnuts. 

With the wind behind them the Hammers started the second half full of beans, a returning Nathan Smith carrying off a lineout like a rampaging bull in a china shop bumping off players and making it from his own half to the 22 before an offload and a quick phase led to Sam Nursey grabbing his brace in the corner. The joy of some spectacular rugby was short lived as Nathan was left limping from the field, swift recovery mate. Sam Heron added the extras from out wide, 33-0 and the 3s were keen to make a statement. Step up Man of the Match Jonny Francis, stepping into centre to allow Sunny Duncman’s hamstrings to rest (IFYKYK), pouncing in to jackal the ball after a crunching tackle from his centre partner Kristian Thomson then offloading to allow Jules Storey to jog in for one of the easiest tries he’ll score all season. Lovely stuff from a Hammers defensive line looking to keep the pressure on, hungry for their doughnuts. The ball fell off the tee and whilst Mitch Currie did well to get a dropgoal off the score remained at 38-0.

The forwards weren’t done though, licking their lips at a 5m scrum after a fumble from Old Streets putting the ball dead. Huge pressure across a couple of phases led to Si Irwin busting through a weak tackle to dive under the posts from a good 5.5m out. He may have forgotten the decimal point when recounting it in the bar later as all good forwards do when telling others about their meat pies. Mitch adds the extras to bring the score to 45-0 and the boys wanting a half ton for the day. 

More credit to Old Street who, despite going down to 14 men after losing their scrum half to a head knock and front rower to a neck injury, kept fighting at the breakdowns and working hard with the ball in hand. Helped by a slip in discipline and the man in the middle looking to even the game up a bit they drove into the Hammers 22 building phases and taking quick taps to pile the pressure on. The defence was admirable, Spider Stannard stole a couple of lineouts in the red zone, Mitch Currie cleared out of our own dead ball area excellently but the Old Streets players kept running and the whistle kept blowing before the oppo’s number 8, playing a double stint after his Friday night lights game for the 1s crashed over for their try.  

The boys were gutted, dreams of Krispy Kremes up in smoke and tempers started to flare with the incessant penalties. Excellent defence and clean turnovers’ only reward being a penalty to the opposition on a number of occasions, especially after another great steal from MOM Jonny Francis led to a holding on call which was the final straw for this particularly tired and frustrated captain who decided to smash through a ruck, pick up the ball from an offside position and clear it before giving the bloke with the whistle a spray about his decision making. Definitely warranted a slice of cheddar, even if captains get the opportunity to offer their views on the game to the referee that was certainly not the way to do it. If asked again I’ll just suggest I wanted a break but didn’t have a hooker on the bench so it was my only option… not a good argument either, free pint well earnt. 

Luckily for this particular captain there is a great sense of pride at the club these days and the boys were not going to let up. The final 10 minutes were hard fought, 14 on 14, with lots of changes in possession and more dominant set pieces from Hammers to fight back up field just to be pinged backwards again. Some handbags from the rather upset Old Streets prop who didn’t enjoy his afternoon, unsurprisingly so, fired the boys up and after yet another crunching tackle set the ball loose, Sam Nursey – not content with just the 2 tries – swooped on the loose ball and sprinted across the 80 odd metres to put a finishing seal on the game and get the boys their half ton as a consolation for the lack of doughnuts.  

A good run out for the Thirsty 3s to push them closer to the top of the table and the best chance to win the league, certainly to get themselves a play-off berth for some extra post tour games in April. A good day out all round, Thamesians follow, after a week off for a quick trip to Jersey for the boys, in what will be a triple header at home. Definitely one to get excited about. 

Final score Hammers 3s 50 – 5 Old Streets 3s