Tuhakaraina makes mark on debut

This was a reality check for Hastings & Bexhill as to the standard required to compete at this level.

A delighted Horsham coach Nick Stocker said “After a long drive to Hastings to come away with a bonus point win – you can’t expect anything else. We are by no means the finished article. Our scrum was not as cohesive as recently, our line-out was guilty of over-complication and we struggled a little when we removed key decision makers from the park. It was however a good performance in general.”

The Green and Whites scored eight tries in the first sixty minutes but then went off the boil with indiscipline and at one point were down to thirteen players due to yellow cards. The referee had made clear that we was only going to be spoken to by each captain which was a lesson that the Horsham players failed to learn and which could prove costly on another day.

Horsham’s kick off did not go the full ten metres and from the ensuing scrum Hastings & Bexhill created a few phases of early pressure which required a couple of big tackles from Jonny Whiting to stem the opposition attacks.

Hastings & Bexhill were then penalised for not releasing at the breakdown but Horsham were not able to capitalise and missed the penalty attempt at goal.

In trying to clear their lines Hastings & Bexhill kicked long a couple of times but cohesiveness was lacking in Horsham’s back play as Sean Tuhakaraina tried to read his new teammates running lines, and the first score seemed likely to come from Horsham’s forwards.

Richard Tredgett running across the field popped the ball to Whiting on a straight line who was hauled down just short of the posts. From the next scrum the ball was spun out to Aled Price on the burst who was stopped and Hastings & Bexhill lost a player to the sin bin for killing the ball at the breakdown.

On 14 minutes Tredgett decided to take matters into his own hands and picked up from the base of the scrum to burst through a couple of tackles and score under the posts, and the try was converted by Will Bell.

Five minutes later, straight off the training ground at Matamata, following a turnover Ben Rush put in a box kick giving Tuhakaraina the opportunity to stretch his legs and outpace the defence to regather the ball and score under the posts on his debut.

Hastings & Bexhill countered but when Horsham were penalised for not releasing on the floor the kick at goal was missed. The home side came again and when a strong tackle from Rush forced a knock on, the ball as spun wide and after several phases prop Giles Barber knocked the ball on when he seemed destined to score as he crossed the line.

On 28 minutes Horsham’s backs showed their fluency as the ball was spun left from a scrum turnover for Tuhakaraina to check the drift defence and unselfishly put Will Bell away in the corner.

With their tails up Horsham now started to unleash the power and direct running lines of Johnny Ordidge, Tredgett, Whiting and captain Paul Talbot attacking in waves who all made significant yardage, and it was one such break from Tredgett from the back of the scrum after a turnover that enabled Tom Johnson to score the bonus point try under the posts.

Minutes later Tuhakaraina on the counter attack cut through the middle of the Hastings & Bexhill defence and passed to the supporting Will Bell with an inside pass who promptly switched the direction of the attack by floating a perfectly timed wide pass to James Layzell on the right wing to race into the corner.

Horsham then contributed to Hastings & Bexhill’s next score on the stroke of half-time when the referee played advantage from a knock on from the home side, and then when they made a second knock on the Green and Whites queried why they were being brought back to the site of the first offence, the referee reversed his decision, gave a penalty and Hastings & Bexhill scored under the posts.

Horsham then carried on in the second half where they left off with Ordidge steaming up the middle breaking several tackles but when the Green & Whites queried the referee’s decision at the break down a penalty was conceded and the attacking position lost.

All the while Richard Tredgett was providing great control from the back of the scrum as Hastings & Bexhill were being marched backwards tempting the opposition wing forwards to dive in early and stray offside.

On 48 minutes Rush took a quick tap penalty and ball was spun wide for Tuhakaraina to score in the corner which Will Bell converted from the touchline.

Six minutes later from recycled ball Tuhakaraina delayed his pass to send Whiting over followed by a double substitution with the win secured as Matt Stone and Will Bell left the field to protect them from minor injuries and they were replaced by Dan Cass and Jerry Downey, with Ben Pirt going to hooker.

Hastings & Bexhill lost another player to the sin bin for querying a decision and then on 61 minutes Horsham rang up the fifty point mark with their eighth try after a catalogue of handling errors from the home side when Tredgett just had to fall on the ball over the line.

Fly-half Johnson went off injured moments with a bang on the head to be replaced by prop Al Jones, and then when Joe Emson was yellow carded for not releasing Horsham started to lose their shape.

Hastings & Bexhill came back to score from a well worked rolling maul and then Rush was yellow carded for received back chat to the referee to create the unusual sight of the dominant side being down to thirteen men with two players in the sin bin, and then scored a further try when the ball was spun wide against an outnumbered defence.

Dan Cass then went off injured and with no more fit replacements to come on, Horsham defended the last few minutes to prevent conceding the bonus point try.

Stocker went on to say, “Hastings & Bexhill have a big pack and will do well in this league. They have good, wily players up front and we struggled to cope with their driving maul. Both sides struggled with the referee’s interpretation of game management which lead to the flurry of yellow cards for dissent.

I would like to mention in dispatches Joe Emson on his first team debut whom I felt was unlucky to be yellow carded, Richard Tredgett was influential on his first game back, provided good control at the base of the scrum and gave the players around him confidence, Ben Rush for his kick over the top and his maturing decision making, Paul Talbot, Matt Stone and Giles Barber against a big front row, Ben Pirt for his versatility in going from back row to hooker, Nick Bell for being his usual effervescent self, James Layzell who played well stepping up from the Lions and selection this week will be difficult, however my man of the match goes to Sean Tuhakaraina who scored two tries and had a hand in two others.

Horsham’s next game is at home to newly promoted Pulborough on Saturday 20th September who also won their opening match.

Horsham: Talbot (capt), Stone (Cass 52), Barber; Emson, Whiting; N Bell, Pirt (Fisher 50), Tredgett; Rush, Johnson (Jones 63); W Bell (Downey 55), Price, Ordidge, Layzell; Tuhakaraina