On the Board....

Despite a two week layoff, Watford were clearly inspired by England’s rout of Australia earlier in the day and started the game at a ferocious pace. A fine hanging kick off from Simon Graham saw the visitors instantly re-gather possession and after a couple of strong carries, Pitsialis was on hand to canter through virtually unopposed.

Watford were on the offensive almost immediately from the re-start, some lovely interplay and offloading amongst the forwards taking the Stags into Swans territory. A strong carry from Beesy was quickly recycled, prop turned flanker turned centre Will Murray arcing through on a lovely line to score under the posts. Cirigliano couldn’t miss, 14-0 Watford with less than 10 mins played.

There was no let up, a loose Staines kick fielded by Nwefo just outside his 22 with seemingly nothing on…. Those who have seen Kingsley play know better. The speedster hit the afterburners, bursting through the midfield before flying under the posts for Watford’s 3rd score. This was soon followed by the bonus point - I was stuck at the bottom of a ruck but am reliably informed Josh Wilkinson did a great job to finish yet another flowing team move involving both forwards and backs.

Watford were irresistible, Staines shocked. The promise shown in defeat at home to Milhillians in our previous game was now delivering. Our set piece was well on top (despite some debatable refereeing decisions at the scrum), the entire backline looking threatening and working hard both with and without the ball.

Unfortunately for Watford, a yellow to Nwefo for a poorly timed tackle allowed Staines to grind their way back into the game with a one man advantage, the Swans bundling over just before half time to get on the board.

The fluency we played with during the first 40 was sadly lacking in the second, not helped by an incredibly stop / start game with numerous infringements and stoppages. Best not to reflect to much on the nature of them, rather the fact we scored three further tries through MOTM Luigi, Nwefo atoning for his earlier yellow and stand in skipper Martin Lee leaning on a dominant scrum to once again benefit from the hard work of others. In between this, Staines scored a deserved try of their own, managing to open up the leonine mane of James Braun in the process. Despite the hopes and prayers of the entire Watford squad (including the seconds), Brauny wasn’t shorn bald and escaped with a bit a haircut and some glue. Gutted.

Good result for Watford in tricky circumstances. Job done, a challenging home fixture against Acton this weekend hopefully see’s the momentum continue.

MOTM – Luigi Cirigliano. Looked incredibly threatening in attack, great footwork and serious gas.

WOTW – Kingsley Nwefo. Naughty yellow card.