Touring is a great rugby rugby tradition and one in which many of the club have taken part. On Saturday 21st Jan, we received a delegation from Ashbourne RFC and put together a select XV made up of predominantly 3rd, 4th and Dev players to play against them. A full OAs welcome was given both before and after the game, and some may say too much of a welcome during the game given the result.
[b]Match report[/b]
A hard day at the office today was had by the Select XV against the tourists. Captain Prendeville's unorthodox 9-10 pick seemed to be paying off in the first half despite (or some may say because of) fly half Harry Brim's 10 minute sit down for a high tackle at a similar time to Ashbourne's 9. Larger than life scrum half (and man of the match) Peter Reid was very unlikely not to get a try too with a dive at the line into the legs of the prop OAS had lent Ashbourne to keep contested scrims possible. He says he scored, I'm going to claim I stopped him even though I couldn't see a thing. Half time score 22-12 to the OAs.
In the second half normality was restored in the halfs. Due to an injury in the front row scrums had to go uncontested which certainly helped Ashbourne (along with their half time swig of port). Etienne O'Neill came back off the bench to provide some impact in the loose, that impact led to a 10 minute rest 30 seconds after returning which was suitably punished post-match. 3 Ashbourne second half tries led to a 31-22 victory for the Tourists.
Much celebration of the spirit took place after the game and the match was everything you would hope for from tourist rugby. Thanks to all supporters who came down.
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