A Hampshire Development team, coached by Sandown & Shanklin Director of Rugby Damien Marriott and featuring several Hurricanes players, was selected to take on their equivalents from Sussex on Friday night (12th May).
This fixture, aimed to promote and develop the talent at Level 8, was played at Horsham RFC, and 6 Hurricanes from Sandown & Shanklin RFC were selected in the squad: Ben Shannon, Michael Barrett, Jacob Jordan, Sam Rees, Tom Marriott, and Sam Flux who was also named captain of the 23 man squad.
Ben, Sam F and Michael started the game, and Sussex started the brightest in a frantic opening quarter. The hosts ended the first half 10 – 0 ahead under the floodlights but, with Hampshire playing against the wind, they hoped to find a way back into the game.
Early in the 2nd half Hampshire struck back with a penalty from Fordingbridge Number 8, Mark Hammond. With the momentum starting to swing in favour of the visitors, they managed to get on to level terms with 10 minutes remaining. After a number of phases, a pick and go from Jacob Jordan led to him driving over the line for Hampshire’s first try. Converted by Sam Flux, the game was all square in the dying minutes.
With the pressure on Sussex, Hampshire searched for a breakthrough, and they found it after some excellent territorial play from the halfbacks led to the opposition winger spilling possession. This was collected by Will Marsh from Fordingbridge who darted into the corner to put Hampshire ahead. Flux narrowly missed the conversion but the Hampshire side held firm in the last minutes to record their inaugural victory in this fixture 10-15.
Damien Marriott, SSRFC Director of Rugby, and HRFU Development Team Head Coach had this to say, after the final whistle:
“I am extremely proud of all the boys wearing the Hampshire jersey this weekend, it is a testament to all their hard work they have put in over this season. I am delighted they have been recognised for that and rewarded with honours like this. It will give them a huge lift ahead of the start the new season, and only going to lift performances to new levels for all involved.”
Article continues below this advertisement
You can watch the whole match here.
Max Fletcher Again on Top Form for Hampshire RFU
Max Fletcher was again at fullback for the Hampshire RFU Senior men’s team as they welcomed favourites to the Bill Beaumont County Championship Trophy, Cornwall RFU, to Havant RFC for the 2nd round in the competition. Max, fresh off the back of his Player of the Match Performance last week, was a presence throughout for Hampshire, and this week managed to get on to the scoresheet with a try to put the hosts ahead. Unfortunately Hampshire could not hold on, and were eventually narrowly defeated 20 – 24 against the strong Cornwall side.
