Match Report: Saturday 24th September 2005
LSA vs Richmond Saxons

Season Kicks off v Richmond Saxons - Match Report

It was lift-off for the new boys London South Africa on 24th September at Imber Court. After an intense period of off-field preparation since being accepted into the Canterbury Shield Competition in August, it was a relief to get the first ever LSA competitive fixture underway.

After a superb coaching session by Michael Horak (London Irish & England), the guys were ready to take the field against a Richmond Saxons side.

LSA, led by skipper Ryan Hendrikz, inevitably found the first 20 minutes the most difficult phase of the game given the meagre preparation time available. The Saxons were a skilled and well organised team, taking the initiative and putting LSA under a great deal of pressure. A harsh sin-binning didn’t help the cause by reducing LSA to 14 men and by the end of the first quarter LSA had conceded two tries, a conversion and a penalty to Richmond putting them 15-0 up before LSA began to play.

The LSA boys managed to organise themselves better in the next 20 minutes especially in defence and created some good phases of play up front which resulted in a penalty in the 37th minute ably kicked by Joe Wearne.

The second half started well but lapses in defence gave away two soft tries in the 55th and 60th minutes. Any other team would have folded but the boys from the southern hemisphere were not going to let it slip and put together some great phases of play with the backs and forwards working extremely hard. Superb defence by the backs including an outstanding try saving tackle in the corner by Tim Lopez kept the Saxons at bay and left the final score at 25-3.

A disappointing result did not spoil a great launch for a team with ambition and without doubt will improve with coaching and as the season progresses.

Special mention for superb leadership on and off the field goes to Ryan Hendrikz

and thank you to guest players; Joe Wearne, Ed Smith, Nick Osman and Chris Low

LSA Man of the Match - Heinric Van Zyl

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