London South Africa racks up another big score...

Saturday 1st September

By Matt Aristizabal 

In the opening game of their pre-season fixtures, the quality of the South Africans stood out as they romped home 71-10 winners in their first match of the new season on Saturday against London 2 side Eton Manor.

IIt took 22 minutes for Eton Manor to retain the ball off their own scrum but by that point LSA were 18 points ahead. Individual breaks and good support play put the Warriors ahead and they could have had more. Eton Manor did come into it a bit more but it was never going to be enough. LSA made some quick breaks, involving the back three, when returning some of Eton Manor’s kicks. The exiles dominated from beginning to end of the first half and two more tries before half time essentially sealed the win as they went in at 38-0 up.

It was much the same story in the second half with John Turner going over for his second just after the break. Eton Manor did begin to compete more and spent a some time in the LSA half but good defence and counter-attacks kept them at bay, with Mirfin going over for his hat-trick on the hour just before Eton Manor got their first. Nine changes were made on 50 minutes, and two more tries allowed Turner to add to his points as he took over kicking duties from Matt Fendick. Eventually Eton Manor were able to cross the LSA line in the left corner but LSA didn’t sit back and Johnston went over twice at the death.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Bob Crooks was delighted with his players as they triumphed so convincingly over the London 2 side, but stated the need to keep their feet on the ground: “I expected mistakes but we exceeded expectations and showed good discipline, skills and work ethic. There is room for improvement however, so that we can take it one step further, as today we more than proved that we can beat sides from London 2.”