ISRFC Lambs: Heartbreaker for the Lambs in tour opener

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The Lambs succumbed to a heartbreaking 24-27 defeat in their first game of their tour to South Africa. 

 

Following over 30 hours of travelling the Lambs took to the field just over 14 hours later to face Ithembelithe Invitational XV (I-XV) at the 125th Kingswood College Festival.

 

In a game that flowed back and forth it was always going to be a close game. The I-XV went ahead early on with a penalty kick, however the Lambs replied with some excellent team rugby, moving the ball wide to wide for Lochlan Dudley (Stamford) able to finish off in the left hand corner.

 

The two teams then traded tries as the I-XV replied with a score of their own down the blind before another excellent try saw Lambs vice-captain Tyler Tomlinson (Felsted) crash over, assisted by Exeter’s Isaac Budiman. The I-XV then scored an excellent running try through their outside centre to go in 12-17 ahead at half-time.

 

The I-XV were clearly aware of the Lambs’ running threat and at the start of the second half took points as soon as they were available, moving 12-20 ahead early on.

 

The two teams then once again traded tries, captain Owen Jones (King’s Macclesfield) bringing the game to within a point at 19-20, before the I-XV scored an interception try to extend their lead back to 8 points.

 

The Lambs’ cavalry then arrived off the bench to try and turn the game, and after a powerful line out Tom Wilkins (Trent College) scored in the far left corner to being the game within a score. The Lambs pressed for the final 10 minutes and put all of the pressure on, however they left a few tries out there and in their final push for the line a trailing I-XV hand stopped a two v one that could have won the game.

 

Overall it was a fantastic effort from the boys in pink in their first outing together on a tough itinerary, outscoring the opposition four tries to three but falling foul to too many kickable penalties to the opposition.

 

Full time: Lambs 24-27 Ithembelithe Invitational XV

 

Speaking after the game, captain Owen Jones said:

 

“The team showed spells of class which resulted in some good scores most of the time, however we fell short on our consistency in skill level, dropping too many balls and giving the I-XV the chance to score breakaway tries.”

 

We are looking forward to the next game following a team building day on Safari tomorrow and a higher skill execution versus Kearsney.”

 

Live Stream & Schedule Tweaks

 

The Lambs’ fixtures at the Festival are available to watch on a live stream through this web address: https://digitv.co.za/#/ – users need to register before gaining access to the direct stream for the Kingswood Festival, which is via this link: https://digitv.co.za/#/video/5786/8647/Vod

 

Latest news coming in from South Africa is that the Lambs suffered a tough 54-12 defeat to a very strong Kearsney College side on Monday. Their next game will be against Graeme College at 10.30am (BST) on Wednesday, which will be on the live stream.

 

The Lambs’ final game of the tour will now be against the much famed Stellenbosch Academy at 4.30pm on Friday 12th April, in Cape Town.

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