Southampton saw in the New Year with a thumping win over Fordingbridge as they outscored the visitors by twelve tries to two at a decidedly chilly Test Park.

The visitors arrived a few players short and with Southampton's Ones not in action, regular First teamers Tom Howells, Alec Gray, Josh Fearon and Ryan Dashwood sportingly agreed to make up the numbers for Fordingbridge. Josh Fearon was involved in the game's first try and he broke for the line and offloaded from the ground, putting the supporting Bridge runner in for the opener.

But Southampton hit back with Tom Humphrey holding off a number of tacklers to run in and level the score. Further tries came from Luke Booth, who showed great agility to wrong-foot the defence and cut back inside, and Rico Scala who was in support as a thundering break from Jordan Dashwood was stopped just short of the try line.

Props Alex Hill and Luke Booth then combined to exploit an overlap on the right wing, putting in Dave Ward to dive over the line, with Tyler Ross also getting on the scoresheet as a typically bullish run proved too difficult to stop.

Fordingbridge claimed a second try after a cross field kick, with Josh Fearon again involved in the move. But Southampton proved too strong, with more tries for Tom Humphrey, Tyler Ross, Dave Ward, Steven Munter and Aaron Owen.

A dangerous tackle towards the end the game saw Fordingbridge lose a player to a yellow card, with Southampton Type Ross taking a clash to the knee in the process. He left the field in pain and will be waiting on doctors' advice before returning to action. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Southampton ran out comfortable winners, with excellent performances from Tyler Ross, Tom Humphrey and Man of the Match Paul Rutherford. The veteran scrum half showed good pace and fitness throughout, finding gaps in the defence right until the end when he pulled off a sidestep that surprised even him.

The final score is something of a debate, with general consensus going for 64-12. It could have been more but it wasn't a great day with the boot for kicker Rico. He was also held up in the tackle and turned over, knocked on over the try line, kicked a penalty dead and misunderstood the laws around the 5m distance from a scrum... but skipper Dave Ward's thinking is that genuine on-field errors happen to everyone and rarely warrant the Dick of the Day award. Neglecting to provide cheese when serving chili, Rico, is a different matter entirely.

Amusingly, Southampton's Josh Fearon walked away with Fordingbridge's Man of the Match award.

Southampton Rugby Club

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Location

Team Sponsors

Login