50 MPH winds, a sloping pitch & driving rain - welcome to Wales!

We certainly did not have good weather while on tour but this was surpassed by the warm welcome received by our hosts.

Barry had a number of players unavailable for this Saturday fixture but were able to call upon near neighbours Penarth RFC, who are not only are the best team in the district, but were able to loan them 4 players!

However this made for an enthralling contest in poor weather conditions with a howling wind blowing across a sloping pitch.

Surprisingly Horsham, who are notorious slow starters, got off to a flying start with Jordan Bell using his pace to run past the Barry defense to score in the corner after 5 minutes - with the wind behind us Jordan converted his own try.

However, we failed to use the conditions effectively & play the kicking game we should have, loosing too much possession at the breakdown which meant our backs failed to get enough decent ball to use.

It was a close contest & Barry were very committed and physical in the tackle area - after an entertaining first half the score was 5-0 to Horsham.

Having failed to use the wind to our favour we were expecting Barry to have the advantage in the second half and ping balls into the corner at every opportunity.

But with a greasy ball & swirling wind it was always going to be difficult for the backs to use any possession effectively and for both sides chances went begging.

Barry did score a well deserved try to put some pressure on Horsham who managed to hang onto their lead till the final whistle.

The hosting by Barry RFC was superb and the Horsham players, coaches, parents and supporters were made to feel very welcome during their stay.

Big thanks to Rob & all at Barry RFC