This week, an autumnal day at King George’s saw Brentwood welcome Holt in front of a large gathering of ex-players from various eras of the club. Holt had had a winless start to the season but had given Brentwood two close run encounters last time round. Perhaps it was the thought of a barrage of “in my day we’d have done it this way…” or motivation from the failure to score a single second half point against Chelmsford in the previous fixture but I’m not sure any of us could have foreseen quite how Brentwood would turn up this week…And if you think these reports are long normally, I’d suggest making a cuppa and getting comfortable, we’ve got just the 16 tries to get through!

Receiving the kick off and playing up the slope, it took Brentwood just two minutes to open their account for the day, an early penalty giving a lineout throw in on the halfway line. The ball was off the top and into midfield quickly, Jack Mayes barrelling up in a typically hard to tackle fashion before the ball went left quickly to Niall Clifford who fixed his man and timed the pass well to put Tauren Henwood straight through a gap. Tauren cantered through the clutches of the two defenders, drawing the last man before getting the pass away to Alex Roberts who brushed off the cover attempt to go over in the corner, 5-0.

Try number two took a further ten minutes to arrive, Brentwood with the majority of possession and territory but Holt with a couple of key interventions to keep them at bay until a high tackle penalty allowed Brentwood to punt the ball towards the corner. The lineout was good with the briefest of mauls set before George Miles broke off, making ground towards the posts. The ball was recycled quickly, Niall Clifford running a strong line off a Henry Bird pop pass to clatter through very nearly to the try line where, although enveloped by three Holt defenders, he managed to return the ball to Henry who dived over for the try and also converted, 12-0.

The ensuing period of play saw Holt make their own inroads into the Brentwood 22 and move the ball well, coming close on a couple of occasions but Brentwood’s defence was not in a benevolent mood and Holt were met with some strong tackles; a big one from Dan Suttle meaning Kannan Gaind could steal the ball and put Brentwood back on the front foot. Some swift counterattacking and a further high tackle penalty later, Holt saw a man head to the bin for ten minutes and Brentwood were back in the ascendancy.

Try three followed soon after and was in terms of team tries up there as one of the best of the day. A central scrum just outside of the 22 saw Brentwood firstly move the ball well to the right; Jack Richards carrying from 8, allowing Kieran Ballinger to arc round to take the pass and move it on to Tom Walker. Tom took it flat to the line before getting it to Tauren Henwood arriving at pace, cutting back in and bouncing through a couple of tackles before being pulled down 5 metres out. The ruck speed was impressive, the ball heading back left quickly for a Kannan Gaind crash ball before being whipped out wide again, Tom Walker this time finding George Miles who pulled the ball back to a looping Henry Bird, creating an overlap on the right for Niall Clifford to put Alex Roberts in at the corner once more. Henry Bird converted, 19-0.

It was to be the try that saw the points floodgate open for Brentwood, the fourth and try bonus point following just three minutes later after Holt, unable to legally deal with Brentwood’s attack, lost another player to the sin bin. This time Brentwood’s forwards weren’t feeling fancy, Andy Sutton with the accurate lineout throw to James Killington to set a maul which rumbled forwards and although it was brought down just short of the line, Andy was on hand to pick the ball up and dot down. Henry Bird converted, 26-0.

Try number five came after the unlikely duo of George Miles and Jack Richards had put two successive kicks through resulting in a Holt lineout five metres from their own line, Brentwood applying pressure with George Miles also winning the turnover penalty in the resulting ruck. Dan Suttle couldn’t be bothered to faff around with another lineout, tapping and going to get to the line before Kannan Gaind picked up and burrowed over, with Henry Bird’s conversion 33-0.

Number six started with a lineout being whipped quickly into midfield, the initial break coming from Niall Clifford running hard and straight before getting a lovely ball away to Tauren Henwood to take the move on. Dan Suttle and Kannan Gaind crashed things on further before it went back into midfield, Tom Walker spying a gap he fancied and using a big fend to get through it and over the try line, another two from the boot of Henry Bird and 40-0.

Brentwood’s seventh came on the stroke of half time after Brentwood had run it from their own 22, Liam Power breaking up the wing and putting a good kick in for Brentwood to put pressure on Holt’s lineout in their own 22 again which was successful, George Miles catching the stray ball at the back to give Brentwood possession. Wide left it went, Niall Clifford again being difficult to put down before Jack Mayes pinballed through the middle and pulled in more defenders. The ball then went back right, George Miles with deft hands to find George Bassenger coming back against the grain on a great line and showing a turn of pace that the Match Reporter didn’t realise he still had in him to go straight through two defenders and beat the cover to the line. Henry probably could have kicked this one with his eyes closed, 47-0 and half time.

Now, those of us who watched the uninspiring second half against Chelmsford were all thinking the same “we’ll probably lose the second half 5-0” someone in my earshot muttered…but not this week, in fact the second half felt slightly like a personal attack, last week you moaned about having nothing to write about so here you go, we’ll give you something to write about...

The second half started and, in the kind of bad luck that normally happens to Brentwood, the sun decided to make an appearance and was now very low and right in Holt’s eyes. To their credit though, they fielded a tricky restart and again showed their attacking ability, forcing a couple of quick penalties out of Brentwood and making their way up-field quite rapidly before George Miles intervened, reading the play and steaming through for the intercept, making it all the way to Holt’s 22 at full tilt before the agoraphobia kicked in and he decided he best seek some contact instead of aiming for more space, clattering into Holt’s cover. The cavalry was quickly on hand though, Jack Richard’s following up to take the pop off the floor to go over unopposed, another Henry Bird conversion and 54-0.

Brentwood were absolutely motoring now, number nine coming from them running it straight back from the restart, Andy Sutton, Jack Mayes and Kannan Gaind heavily involved in making big metres down the middle of the field before Tom Walker stepped past a couple of defenders, pulling two in before flicking a cute offload to Henry Bird. Henry dashed forwards towards the 22, attracting the attention of the final two men before getting the pass off to Eamon Tiernan who was able to shrug off the attention of the cover and roly-poly over the line with what I think was his first touch of the ball, with two more from Henry’s boot, 61-0.

A holding on penalty shortly after the next restart saw Holt launch an attacking passage of play and, after having been adjudged to have given away a cynical penalty close to the line, Niall Clifford was sent to the touchline for a ten-minute break. Holt elected to tap and go from the penalty and went through various phases, moving the ball well to get over in the corner and breach Brentwood’s otherwise miserly defence 61-7.

It didn’t take Brentwood long though to add their tenth of the day when, despite a forward pass, Brentwood’s pack absolutely obliterated their counterparts in the scrum winning it against the head, Eamon Tiernan retrieving the ball from the base and crashing up before George Miles stepped straight through the defensive line to cross the whitewash, 66-7.

Less than two minutes later, along came try number eleven. A long kick from Tom Walker had just rolled over the try line leading to a goal line drop out which Andy Sutton ran back strongly. The ball was taken on further by James Stevens and Calvin Close when it then went left swiftly to Eamon Tiernan who hit a line between two defenders to go over for his second, with another conversion from Henry Bird 73-7.

The pace then dropped off slightly, it was four whole minutes before Brentwood scored their twelfth…A monster hit in midfield by Tom Walker allowing Henry Bird to turn the ball over, George Bassenger flicking the offload away from the ruck to Liam Power who flung it wide to Kieran Ballinger. Kieran tore into the space, gassing through three defenders before timing the pass perfectly to Tauren Henwood who could canter down the wing for the try, with Henry Bird’s extras 80-7.

I’d barely managed to make some notes on that one when try number thirteen turned up, unlucky for some (me writing this report…) but not Brentwood’s captain George Bassenger who again showed a spritely turn of pace to gallop in at the corner after another massive hit had seen Brentwood pilfer the ball, Eamon Tiernan with the initial break connecting well with the supporting Kannan Gaind who supplied the final pass. Henry Bird was knocking the conversions over for fun at this point, 87-7.

Try fourteen arrived after Holt had been reduced to fourteen again, a lazy runner interrupting Brentwood on the break with the try line beckoning giving the referee little option. Brentwood opted to tap the penalty, James Stevens and Eamon Tiernan with a couple of crashes before Tom Walker threw the wide pass to the wing, Kieran Ballinger twisting through two tackles to dot down in the corner. The opposite touchline and the same result from Henry’s boot, 94-7.

Number fifteen came straight from the restart again with an air of French “jouer-jouer” about it, George Bassenger collecting the restart and taking it to ground before it went back towards the middle of the pitch, Andy Sutton to Tauren Henwood who put Henry Bird into a gap. Half tackled, Henry pulled the ball back to Andy Sutton on the charge who barged into a defender and threw an offload to James Stevens, James weaving through a couple of defenders and bouncing through another before being tackled deep in the 22. Liam Power was quick to retrieve the ball off the ground, getting it left where about six Brentwood players could have run it in, Kannan Gaind being the one to go over and with Henry’s conversion 101-7 and a scoreboard meltdown as it only goes up to double digits…

Brentwood’s sixteenth and final try came in the last play of the game. A Brentwood lineout on Holt’s 22 was off the top and quickly spread wide in a lovely move through the hands of Eamon Tiernan, Tom Walker and Henry Bird which gave Tauren Henwood an outside shoulder to take, gliding through to be tackled about 5 metres out. Kieran Ballinger secured the ball as Brentwood piled forwards, Liam Power flicking it up to Henry Bird who battered over in the corner and then nonchalantly struck a beautiful touchline conversion straight through the middle of the posts to take the score to 108-7, this report longer than my dissertation and full time. Phew.

For Brentwood, the scoreline speaks for itself, Holt unfortunate to find themselves on the end of a day where everything clicked and Brentwood really showed the attacking rugby they are capable of playing coupled with what is currently the best defensive record in the league.

The league now takes a break for a week before Brentwood embark on a tough run of fixtures in the lead up to the festive period, Harlow away first up. Harlow currently sit in 7th having won three of their opening 8 but Brentwood were unable to beat them away last season and will need to carry on this week’s momentum if they want to stay in the league’s top spot.