Uruguay U17s 12 pts vs. Maidenhead RFC U16As 16pts

Duncan Jones got this match under way with a pinpoint drop kick and a massive cheer from all the supporters and players in the tour party. Duncan has been a fine tourist and it was good to see him in boots again, even if only for one kick.

The Uruguay U17s were not as big as the boys we had played in Rosario but they still looked formidable. Maids came at them hard and pressed down to the red zone but were losing the ball too easily in contact and could not make the territorial advantage count. Uruguay had two players with prodigious boots and cleared well beyond half way more than once from close to their line. Eventually Maids opted to kick a penalty and Dominik Bart slotted it from half way to show that prodigious boots come in English sizes as well.

Alex “The Cat” Avery caught the restart diving forward and set up a ruck from which Jamie Tolan barrelled forward. Quick ball and an up and under and chase caused panic. Penalty for holding on and Bart made it 6-0.

Uruguay were looking shell-shocked. This was probably not the gentle run out they were thinking of to impress their selectors. They were good players, however, and came back with a try from a tap penalty, a powerful inside line enough to crash over.

On they came, trying some tight work on the fringes, driving Maids back, forcing errors and scrums. They must have thought they would take a lead before half time but it was not to be. Another scrum to Uruguay but the strike and the shove are perfect and the ball comes back to Jacob Sanders at 8. Up and away in a flash and unstoppable. Converted by Bart for a 13-5 lead with 35 minutes of tour rugby to go.

Turning round to play uphill, Maids again saw a fresh set of 15 players trot on in pristine kit, no knocks or strains, no furious half in their legs already. Would 8 points be enough to hold out? It did not look like it for the first fifteen minutes. Within five the new triallists had battered their way over after showing great co-ordination and teamwork amongst the pack, and pace and power outside. 12-13. For the next ten they pressed and harried and drove and mauled. They kicked deep, caught and rumbled. They spun it wide and ran their moves. No result, nothing. The same organised, solid, sometimes fierce defending seen in Rosario. No way through. The effort faltered. Perhaps a turning point was a 22 dropout sent high by Bart, falling at the halfway line. No.9 caught it cleanly only to be flattened by Sanders with none of his own players even close. The ball went loose and Maids charged forward, sowing chaos and confusion. A minute later an isolated Uruguayan was penalised for holding and Captain Alex Avery threw the ball to Bart. 12-16. Still one try would give the home national team victory. But they could not find it. Maids were running on empty now but the Uruguay U17s were even more at sea, baffled by the intensity they were facing.

Uruguay kept the ball alive for two full minutes after last play was called, desperately seeking a winner. Maids kept them in midfield, denied them space, shut them out. The scale of the achievement hit home as the whole touring party gathered in a circle and Head Coach Gareth Andrews-Jones quietly said that all of them should be proud to remember the day when Maidenhead Rugby Club beat an international side.

Squad: Duncan Jones, O'Callen-Smith, Tolan, Avery A (Capt.), Baxter, Balfour, Bart, Winter, Sanders, Basson, Smith (VC), MacSwan, Andrews-Jones, Anderson, McHugh, Eckles, Thomas, Hine, Jones, O'Flaherty, Evans.