Maidenhead were noticeably bigger than their opponents both in the forwards and backs. At the first scrum Maids got a good shove on and disrupted the BA ball so much that scrumhalf Louis Basson was able to pick up and almost get away clear. Of course at this level of rugby there is a strict limit on how far the scrum may travel so an advantage like this is hard to capitalise on. Sure enough the referee applied the law and penalised any push too far. Maids did win a number of free kicks at the set piece but possibly deserved more. Despite this dominance, BA won four balls against the head in the match as Maids struggled for control and perhaps this preserved the Argentine spectators' fierce pride in their scrummaging power.
Another half chance came from a diagonal kick by flyhalf Shiv Khindria. Leo Smith won the chase and hacked on but the ball bobbled agonisingly dead.
BA came back with their own kicking game, a long chase ending in a tangle of attackers and defenders adjudged held up over the line. The BA 5m scrum was splintered by great Maids defending and Smith was able to run the ball out from his line to safety at near half way, at the cost of a shoulder knock which ended his contribution for the day. His replacement, Steve Carn, set a record for turning a pristine brand new tour shirt into a soggy, muddy mess within 8 seconds of coming on, as he was tackled in one of the pitch's puddles.
The contest swung to and fro with neither side putting the other under severe pressure. The puddles sadly had an effect, being in the crucial red zone areas wide out in the half Maids were attacking. Cramped for width and tending to make this worse by running across field, the visitors settled for opening the scoring with a Scott Atherton penalty after 28 minutes.
Far from opening the floodgates, the score seemed to galvanise BA and their flyhalf took a pass from a quick tap penalty at halfway and swerved through some sleepy jet-lagged tackling to score under the posts. Converted, 7-3. Maids tried to reassert themselves, with strong running by Jacob Sanders and some offensive tackling by Khindria, but halftime came a bit too soon.
Maids started the second period in much improved fashion. Backrowers Sanders, Sam Balfour and Mike Winter started to punch holes. Tight forwards upped the energy level too with good carries from Bryn Evans, Iain Whiteford and Jamie Tolan. Khindria and Atherton straightened their running and passed noticeably quicker, giving Fred Reid and Tom Eckles more space to show their speed. The reward came in the 43rd minute, Reid finishing a clean and simple move to the right. Unconverted but restoring at least a one point lead.
BA were still in the game, their backs running and passing well but without much penetration, their forwards holding their own in contact. But Maids were really on top by now. A top of the lineout tap was tidied up by Tolan, who ran hard at the midfield and off-loaded underarm to Winter in close support. Dragged down just short, Winter set up the ruck and the pack piling in won a scrum which might have been a penalty. Sanders picked up at the base, drew the cover and popped for Basson to score. Conversion by Atherton, 7-15. Basson came off with a pulled calf muscle and a satisfied smile.
No.8 Sanders again picked up for the clinching score, setting Balfour marauding to within a couple of metres with Whiteford using his power to pick up and force his way over. 7-20 and a good start to the tour.
Squad: Eckles, McHugh, Atherton, Smith (Capt.), Reid, Khindria, Basson, Edney, Tolan (VC), Hine, Evans, Whiteford, Balfour, Sanders, Kaye, Avery C, Carn, Dow
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