The Rugby Club Luxembourg U16s and U19s were both on the road over the weekend, with the formed travelling with the U16s to ROC in Ottigny, and the latter facing Hesby-Famenne in Famenne.

RCL U19s 1st XV at ROC:

The preparation during the week had been less than perfect, with a number of absences and players in different positions. Aware of the ROC results to date, who field a number of Belgium internationals, the coaches expected a tough match.

During the first 5 minutes of the match, RCL could not get their hands on the ball, but defended well. In the eyes of the referee, who had a good game, RCL offended around the breakdown and tackle area and a number of penalties were conceded, leaving the momentum with ROC. An early injury to open side flanker Liam Carrol meant a reshuffling of the pack, but the RCL 8 had the upper hand in the scrums over a much larger and heavier ROC pack. RCL backs made the line breaks, but the final passes often did not go to hand. ROC were awarded a penalty close to the RCL try line and the hosts chose to kick for the 3 points.

The final 5 minutes of the first half saw some heroic RCL try line defence, and wave after wave of pick and drives were stopped and ultimately led to a turn over and penalty for RCL. The half time score remained 3-0.
The RCL started the 2nd half better and built on the intensity of those last 5 minutes before half time. They started playing a bit smarter and were giving away fewer penalties, the RCL team started to build pressure. A penalty on the posts was missed, as were a number of touch finders from penalties, but the momentum had changed. RCL kept coming, and playing some good rugby.

A yellow card to the RCL front row player didn’t overly affect the run of play as no scrums were awarded during that 10 minute spell. A quick break from the back of the ruck in the ROC 22 metre area from the RCL scrum half and off load to Matthew Denis-Soto allowed the latter to crash over for the try. The conversion was
unfortunately missed, meaning a tense final 5 minutes remained.

ROC were awarded a number of penalties just inside the RCL half, but their kicker could not find the target. On the last play of the match, the RCL scrum half relieved the pressure and ended the game when he kicked the ball out after having won the scrum. The final score stood at 5-3 to RCL with ROC having played some good rugby in the spirit of the game and gave RCL a severe test.

RCL U19s 2nd XV at Hesby-Famenne.

Having made the short journey to Famenne, the RCL U19s coaches were faced with a late withdrawal which meant reshuffling the team. Already a number of players were playing in different positions and this looked to disrupt matters.

The Hesby-Famenne team were a big team, consisting of mainly 2nd and 3rd year U19s, whilst the RCL U19s are a young team. Luca Samair in only his 2nd game, having started rugby only 2 months ago, was thrust into the forwards, to play second row, but soon found his feet. The U19s though have proven themselves in the past against bigger opposition and are not easily overwhelmed by size.

It took the Luxembourg team some time to find their feet, and it was another tense game. Michael Wright continued his good form and scored an earlier try to bring them within 2 points of Hesby-Famenne. Captain Paul Truchot led his troops well, and set up a try for his new inside centre Tony Drennan, which put them in front in the final minutes of the match. Final score 10-7 to RCL, continuing the winning form of the RCL U19s teams continue their winning form.

The RCL U19s and U16s, who also found success in Ottigny this weekend, thanked their sponsors, Kneip, Gentoo, LuxGateway for their support.

The next games are on 24 October 2015 when the U16s play at home against Dendermonde, and the U19s 1st XV play against Coq Mosan which promises to be another cracker of a match. The U19s 2nd team play away at and against RC Binche.