Match Report - Robbie Williams

Tucuman – from what we had heard a team of Titans, their reputation backed by an impressive array of silverware displayed in the club house.

We strode onto the pitch with applause from yet another impressive crowd and the now obligatory TV cameras.

Kick-off – and with it the tension broke and the match began. The forwards started aas always with aggression and (some) speed. The physicality of the game was what we had come to expect from South American sides and we were far from startled. Both sides played hard and tackled well. All seemed well when an overlap on our right side led to a Tucuman try. We were unaffected by this and came straight back at them. Good phase play from the forwards kept serious pressure on the Tucuman 22. The pressure was released occasionally with the slip of hands leading to a break from them but they only managed to capitalise on this once. Unfortunately our best attempts to score were met with big tackles and we had to be content to come away with a single penalty goal from the boot of Ed Kilbee. Shortly before the end of the first period Henry Simmonds received two fearful blows to his coccyx and played no further part in the game.

The second period saw a very similar outcome to the first with breaks from Tucuman while we were seemingly camped in their 22. Three tries and one conversion for the home side was not a fair reflection of the rugby played. During this period they brought on a 130kg tight head prop, to Henry Palmer’s (brief) dismay. After this period the score was 3 – 27 and with just 20 minutes to go Marlborough looked to be out of the game.

However, Tucuman felt the full force of our fighting spirit in the latter stages of the game. This last period was, in our eyes, the most enjoyable as we began to find our finishing touch and scored tries left, right and – thanks to an O’Driscoll like break from Charlie Mercer – centre. Perhaps Charlie’s dream of becoming a centre himself is coming ever closer to fulfilment in his eyes! This period saw almost total Marlborough domination and with a few moments left on the clock we were leading 29 – 27 but a last gasp surge saw one more Tucuman try and the hosts emerged winners by just three points.

Although this match resulted in another loss it clearly showed the serious potential that this Marlborough side has to achieve well in the coming season.