Following what on paper was a heavy 40-7 defeat to Loughborough Students last week, Hornets continued their pre-season preparation with a visit to newly promoted Bournville who will this year compete at the same level as Hornets, albeit in the northern division of National League 2.
It was the Hornets first visit to Bournville’s impressive new ground facility at Avery Fields which is very much a statement of the ambition of a Club who completed the 2019-20 with just one defeat on a near perfect playing record. It would be no surprise if Bournville are challenging once more for promotion at the end of the season.
The match was preceded by a second team encounter which in the event proved something of a romp for the Hornets who ran out 44-19 victors having utterly dominated the forward encounters allowing the back division the freedom to roam the field. There is little doubt on the basis of this performance that Hinckley’s Staghounds will again be a force to be reckoned with.
The first XV encounter was a much closer fought affair. Bournville were coming off the back of earlier pre-season victories against Burton and Hornet’s League rivals Leicester Lions and were undoubtedly up for adding Hornets as a third scalp to their pre-season belt. In contrast, Hornets, still missing many of last season’s first team regulars, were in the business of trying out new options in advance of their final pre-season game against Ealing Trailfinders next week when it’s likely that the line-up will look much more like that which will start the first league game of the new campaign.
Played over four twenty-minute periods, the game proved to be an entertaining affair despite Hornets being on the wrong end of a 36-19 score line. Both sides were looking to score tries, scorning numerous opportunities to score from penalty kicks.
An early try from Callum Rowe opened proceedings but this was cancelled out just before the end of the first period when Bournville ran in their first try after a lamentable box kick out of defence by Hinckley allowed Bournville to run the ball straight back.
The second period was scoreless, but Bournville ran in three tries in the third period to extend their lead with the only response from Hinckley being a converted try from Dale Bowyer who took advantage of confusion in the Bournville defence following a re-start kick.
Hinckley’s third and final try came in the final period when Josh Lewin took a quick tap penalty in the Bournville 22m to go over while the Bournville defence were still trying to get organised. Bournville responded with two further tries, one a catch and drive from 5m, the second from a good break on halfway, albeit taking advantage of a massive hole in a ragged Hinckley defensive line.
The final score probably flattered Bournville a little but, overall, it was their night. That said, much like the earlier defeat to Loughborough Students, the game was an opportunity to experiment and there were many positives for Hinckley to take from the game. Young lock Adam Groocock made a significant impact when he replaced Andy Weaver (who also had a good game) late in the game. Ollie Povoas was impressive in his first game back and Adam Nunney carried well going forward. The forwards edged the scrums, the line-out was not the achilles heel it has so often been in recent times, and Hornets won the battle at the restarts.
There were also areas that needed improvement. The rolling maul was ineffective and Hornets’ defence against Bournville’s rolling maul was poor. The penalty count was too high and Bournville were able to breach the defensive line a little too easily on occasions.
Head Coach Chris Campbell, however, was generally pleased with the night’s work. ‘You can’t get hung up about the score line in games like this. Ultimately, of course we would love to have won but we are trying out new things, as we should be doing at this point in the season, and overall, it was a very positive experience for players and coaches alike. The key thing is that all the players are engaged and enjoying playing for the Club.’
Next week, Hornets entertain Ealing Trailfinders Academy at Leicester Road in what will be the final pre-season game. Kick-off is 3.00pm and admission is free.