This was a poor game of rugby, Westbury came with one weapon in their armoury, the scrum, which they exploited to the full. Ross looked to play their high tempo game, but it looked as if their epic encounter with Cinderford, the previous Wednesday, had taken its toll as the home team struggled for tempo and direction. In the end it was the Westbury scrum that delivered the two penalty tries that made the difference and they held on to register a 17-15 victory.

Westbury started the strongest, establishing territory early in the Ross twenty two. With the rain falling, errors were plenty from both sides. If it wasn't knock- ons, it was penalties and from this the game set into a series of scrums and line outs. This suited the visitors as they settled into a half of set pieces. Four times Westbury established attacking scrums near the Ross line and, although the Ross front five valiantly held firm for most of these scrums, the significant weight advantage proved too much in the end and Westbury opened the scoring with a converted penalty try.

For more see this week's Ross Gazette.