HARLOW started their league campaign with a rampaging “try-fest”, running in ten and producing the kind of running rugby which could easily have produced more. Despite the recent rain the pitch was firm and with plenty of sunshine to produce a dry ball that encouraged a handling game. It was not all down to handling by the backs however the forwards dominated the opposition particularly with the rolling maul. The icing on the cake was excellent kicking by fly half Danny Smith slotting eight out of ten attempts some from out wide. His points tally could have been higher had Harlow not opted to run the ball from a number of kickable penalties.

Right from the start Harlow took play into the visitors 22 and for a quarter of an hour put on pressure but were unable to break through. Then they managed to move the ball wide to run in their first try. As play progressed they added two more but the really important score came from the very last move of the half. Harlow were awarded a penalty which would have been a comfortable shot for Smith. However they kicked for touch in the corner and the pack swept over from the rolling maul that followed the lineout. Harlow had the satisfaction of going in to the interval with the four tries required for a bonus point already in the bag.

In the second half Harlow continued to dominate keeping play in the visitors half almost all the time despite playing up hill. From a Harlow point of view it was a chance for the team to concentrate on tactics an prepare for the much harder games that will come in the weeks ahead. If the had chosen to play a tighter game more points may have been possible but Harron chose to rotate his players and give everyone a chance. A break away in the closing minutes produced a consolation try for the visitors. An important warning to Harlow that you must not relax even a little bit until the final whistle.

Lee Harron, Head of coaching for Harlow summed up the game as, “Pleased we got of to a good start in the league. We will come up against much stronger opposition this Season and need to be more clinic and take our chances.”

The league produced a high scoring weekend with all six of the winning sides taking a bonus point. Next weekend Harlow are away to Southwold. The Suffolk side lost 42 – 10 away to West Norfolk. That result however was against the Norfolk club who only narrowly missed promotion last year. The massive Harlow win was clearly against a side who are having problems settling down. It is good that they cashed in the points while they were on offer but can expect to have to work much harder on the weeks ahead.

The Table can be found here: http://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/competitions/london-se-division/2015-2016/group/19826