Saltash RFC 31pts Old Rutlishians RFC 37pts

The Old Boys were 12 points ahead within seven minutes following a fast move and a touch down on the left wing and a conversion which was swiftly improved upon with a right wing try. Saltash came back and exerted pressure on the visitors which resulted in a yellow card being shown to an Old Ruts player. A try by Lewis Stuart which he converted after 27 minutes reduced the visitors lead to 12-7, a missed Ashes penalty and a second Lewis Stuart converted try gave them an interval lead of 14-12.

A converted try under the posts straight from the restart put the visitors back in front and within two minutes their strong fast running increased their advantage to 24-14. The game continued at a high tempo and the Ashes forwards enabled Liall Honey to cross the Old Boys line for a try converted by Lewis Stuart (50 minutes) who then kicked an equalising penalty. An immediate reply came from Old Ruts with two more tries to restore their ten point lead. This only spurred on the Ashes and Ryan Simmons completed a period of frantic home attacks with a try again converted by Lewis Stuart (31-34). A penalty after 68 minutes ended the scoring but not the drama as Saltash battled hard to get the winning points in a pulsating game.

Saltash in their drive to play at Twickenham for a second time in 6 years put in a great effort by the pace of the Old Rutlishians in a very exciting and entertaining game which resulted in some great rugby in front of a large crowd. Lewis Stuart produced a man of the match display for the Ashes but the whole team can be so proud of their performance.

Rod Davies Press Officer

Saltash RFC