Playing on Pitch 3 was not how the tacticians at OBs would have planned it, given Kingswood's general strength at the scrum and set piece, versus OBs' general desire to go wide. Pitch 3 doesn't have wide. It barely has a dead-ball, so kick passes also are pretty futile.
In fact the air feels thicker down there. It's probably all a plan by Audley retirement home to make us feel, run and look a few decades older than even us vets are, in hope we consider moving in.
Anyway, warmup was already challenging conventions, as Kingswood looked far younger (although no smaller) than normal, and OBs dropped 90% of passes in our traditional game of touch. We were glad to have the relative youth of Bison, Nacho and Scott among us.
This was the first test of the club's new Veo camera. Feeling ever so slightly sheepish about videoing a vets game (analysis anyone? "Slow") we still were happy to be able to relive moments of hilarity and skills. But mainly hilarity.
Peaches 'I'm not going to play' looked surprised to be taking warmup. As ever, the teamsheet re-arranged itself from what was on the sheet of paper, assisted by the unexpected but very welcome arrival of Wayne.
As is traditional, little to be said about the rugby. The game was closer than the scoreline suggests for the first 3 quarters, and Kingswood tackled well and ran well - with a few tries going begging to the conditions (and one to a rather superb tap tackle from Kirk). OBs set piece was quite (and surprisingly) excellent - given it was wet and slippery, we still splintered their scrum several times, and executed one of the finest lineout trick plays seen in recent OBs history: "Sausage 888".
But Kingswood were worn down by OBs keeping the ball alive, fast recycling and constant support best encapsulated in this beaut of a try for Sam's third of four:
Sam's Hattrick
Kingswood, as ever, were great sports and good opponents, with a decent bunch of supporters too. Ale was consumed in the bar and we wish them well for the coming year.
Full video here: https://app.veo.co/matches/20250125-vets-vs-kingswood-2fe6073c/