Waterfall wins flow for Eastbourne rugby youngsters
With victories against Worthing, Edenbridge and Horsham under their belts, they sat top of the table ahead of their final Pool C match for this year against local rivals Heathfield & Waldron.
Eastbourne took the game on from the kick-off, chasing down their own kick and turning over the ball in the breakdown with impressing rucking.
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Hide AdThe tenacity and persistence of the forwards paid off as Eastbourne second row Swanepoel broke through the Heathfield defence for Eastbourne’s first try.
Eastbourne forward Hewitt caught the ball from the kick-off and ran it back towards the Heathfield try line, pushing 20m into the Heathfield half. Eastbourne carried into the maul but Heathfield put up a strong defence.
Heathfield’s pack dominated the scrum, out-hooking Eastbourne scrum after scrum, but the Eastbourne pack dominated in the loose play. The second Eastbourne try came from slick handling with Van Niekerk, running in rom the right wing.
Eastbourne captain and scrum half Warner directed the attack and was rewarded with two tries from solo runs through the defence.
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Hide AdEastbourne inside centre Davies ran in the fifth try before the break.
As both teams returned for the second half, Eastbourne’s attack intensified and Bressard, the outside centre, crossed for the sixth try.
Heathfield showed valiant defence and fierce tackling, and refused to capitulate under pressure.
Heathfield crossed for two well-deserved second half tries, but Eastbourne responded from the restart and Swanepoel ran in his second and Eastbourne’s seventh,as he broke through three Heathfield tackles before grounding the ball.
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Hide AdBefore this game, Eastbourne had scored 22 tries against their opposition, an average of seven per game. This was to be no different.
A final flourish saw Philiipson producing a clinical finish down the left wing, resulting in the eighth try for Eastbourne.
Hewitt, fast becoming Eastbourne’s try machine, made it nine tries for Eastbourne in the final minutes.
Eastbourne topped Pool C, having won all four games, scoring 31 tries while conceding only eight.
Eastbourne scored a maximum 20 points in the league, the highest in Sussex, and four try bonus points, also the highest in the county.
The team is one to watch when the season resumes in January.