The Ross-on-Wye rugby players went into the Christmas break having reached the top of the table with a bonus point win when they played recently at Brockworth. They won with a score of Brockworth 0  Ross-on-Wye 30.

The promised storm Dierdre was set to arrive during their game and they were not wrong. The gale force winds threw the ball around as if it were a beachball, however both sides tried their best to play.

Brockworth had the best of the opening quarter, spending time in the Ross players’ twenty two. However, the Ross defence held firm with some strong tackling, and combined with some Brockworth handling errors, which seemed to be inevitable in the conditions, the Ross rugby players managed to keep them scoreless after twenty minutes.

From their first incursion into the Brockworth twenty two, the Ross side opened the scoring from a steady scrum.

Gavin Oates broke, setting up a ruck five metres out, and Josh Element took a pop pass to barge over to score. In addition to this, somehow Thai managed the howling gale to add the two, and the Ross team were 7-0 ahead.

Following this, Thai quickly added a penalty which took the Ross side 10-0 ahead. This meant that Ross were now dominating the territory.

Gavin Oates thought he had scored from a lineout, but the referee said the ball was held up. However, with the half time call looming, Gavin crashed over to score in the corner which then put Ross 15-0 up at the break.

This lead put the Ross side into a strong position to begin the second half. The players were feeling confident, however they still played strongly and upped their intensity after the break.

The home defence struggled to stop the Ross-on-Wye side getting over the gain line, as a result space opened up and Ross took full advantage as they added three quick scores with Casey Morgan, Chris Price and Josh Element taking Ross to 30-0 up, with the bonus point in the bag.

With the driving, freezing rain continuing unabated, both of the teams were happy to hear the final whistle and the Ross team sits top of the table at the halfway point in the season.

The Drop Inn man of the match was Casey Morgan who, time after time, got Ross-on-Wye on the front foot with ball in hand. Players, coaches, and officials would like to wish sponsors ,volunteers and supporters a very Merry Christmas and we will see you for the Boxing Day Spring Chickens v Mature Cheeses on Wednesday 26th 12.30pm kick off.