Old Bristolians14 - 59 Stroud

STROUD continued their unbeaten run with an emphatic victory over a spirited Old Bristolians, writes Sean Moore.

Regan Herbert scored first following a powerful scrum. His brother Kurtis converted and went on to convert seven of the nine tries with an excellent display of place kicking. The scrum was very powerful and the forceful drives of Dan Smith and Josh Stratton always gained valuable yards.

Stroud played adventurous rugby with the ball in hand and when kicking was necessary Sam Hester used the elements to great effect with his raking kicks. Dan Gordon scored next with a powerful burst, latching on to a clever pop pass from Kurtis Herbert, 0-14. Hester then scored when he completed a long distance counter-attack involving Sam Leworthy and Regan Herbert. Another powerful break by Regan Herbert set up an excellent drive by Leworthy, 0-21.

Bristolians took their full part in the open game and displayed some nimble running and slick passing and were rewarded with two tries just before half time.

Leworthy scored again following an eighty metre move involving some clever inter-passing, 14-26. Kurtis Herbert was next to score when he latched onto a short pass from Gordon scattering the defence to score near the posts, 14-33.

The scoring continued when Pete Sykes made a long break and drew the defence before releasing Hester to score. The try glut continued when Gordon broke from halfway, stepped on the gas, and scored after a long diagonal run to the corner, 14-54. The final try was gained by Hester who, again, finished off a fluent long-distance passing move, 14-59.

All in all, this was an outstanding performance by a very committed Stroud side. The pack’s power was at the root of the display and the general defence and tackling was awesome. The surging defence-scattering breaks by the Herbert brothers was most impressive. Hester orchestrated most of the counter-attacks with wingers Sykes and Leworthy playing a major part as well.

Next week Stroud are at Cirencester in the Combination Cup.