The first sunny Saturday of September could only mean one thing…we’re back for the 2025 – 26 Regional 2 Anglia rugby season! Much like the first day back at school, excitement with a hint of nerves buzzed in the air as a good crowd had turned up to enjoy some sunny rugby on family fun day. The first game of the season is always an interesting one, pre-season results mean little, the opponent may be familiar, but have they bolstered their squad or been refining new tactics in the off-season, what are the results of the other fixtures in the league going to look like…well come 3pm it was time to find out!

Brentwood’s first opponents of the new season were Wanstead, a team who Brentwood had narrowly beaten twice last season in a soggy away fixture and a sub-arctic home fixture which had to be played on Eton Manor’s artificial pitch.

Brentwood kicked off downhill and Wanstead opted to clear back to the middle of the field, giving Brentwood an early opportunity to run the ball back; Tauren Henwood regathering on halfway and taking the ball up to the 10-metre line before two strong carries from Henry Bird and Tom Walker saw Brentwood progress quickly to the 22. With a couple more phases, Brentwood had made it into Wanstead’s 22 and were rewarded with a penalty for a ruck transgression and, looking for a big start, an easy 3 was turned down in favour of putting the ball in the corner. Brentwood’s first lineout of the season was accurate, Andy Sutton to Dan Suttle at the front and whilst the maul went to ground, the ball was available, Calvin Close took it up one further before his fellow prop George Miles bumped through a tackle attempt to charge over for Brentwood’s first of the season. Tauren Henwood added the conversion, 7-0 and a dream start for Brentwood!

The dream start continued when, after a brief Wanstead foray into Brentwood’s half, some solid defence forced the error and, having cleared their lines, Brentwood then gained a penalty on the halfway line. The ball again went into touch, Andy Sutton this time finding George Bassenger before recollecting the ball on the wraparound and offloading to Jack Mayes coming at full tilt to make a big dent in the defensive line. The ball was quick, Tom Fahy and Dan Suttle linking well to take Brentwood deep into Wanstead’s 22 before it was flung wide to Alex Roberts who took it to within 5 metres. Calvin Close carried on the move, recycling the ball once more before a big double hit came in on Kieran Ballinger however, he was able to free his arms and offload to George Bassenger who found a gap to get his limbs through to score Brentwood’s second. Tauren Henwood’s boot was accurate again, 14-0.

Brentwood were mostly in control of the game in terms of both territory and possession however, Wanstead did have opportunity and were only thwarted by some excellent scrambling defence from Brentwood on a couple of occasions. Brentwood though, soon increased their point count when they added a third try with just under 25 minutes gone.

It started again with an accurate lineout, a spot on throw to the back in the breezy conditions meaning Matt Whaley could get the ball straight from the top to Kieran Ballinger who fired it into midfield via Tauren Henwood and on to a crash ball Jack Mayes. The ball was quick and came back to the right via Tauren Henwood and Dan Suttle who found Andy Sutton in space, carrying the ball to about 7 metres out. A pair of Georges in Miles and Bassenger took it up further before Tom Walker nearly escaped the clutches of a tackler, only to be just grabbed by his shirt; Alex Roberts followed up and was dragged down inches short, but Andy Sutton was on hand to nab the ball from the subsequent ruck and bundle over. With another two points from Tauren’s boot, 21-0.

Brentwood’s try bonus point was scored less than 5 minutes later, after a penalty just behind halfway had allowed Tauren Henwood to put the ball into Wanstead’s 22 for a Brentwood lineout. This time Brentwood opted to maul with great success, barrelling forwards and opening up a large blindside which Kieran Ballinger needed no invite to exploit, taking the pop pass off the back of the maul to go over for the try, 26-0.

Brentwood continued to control the remainder of the half, Wanstead also seeing yellow for a few too many infringements before they capped off a good opening 40 minutes of the season by scoring a try just before half time! Brentwood had once again worked their way into a good position in Wanstead’s 22 before another penalty allowed them to put the ball in the corner. Brentwood mauled again, Andy Sutton this time coming off the back before finding Henry Bird coming at speed, brushing off the defender to score Brentwood’s 5th, Tauren’s conversion taking the half time score to 33-0.

In last season’s two fixtures against Wanstead, Brentwood had managed to accumulate a sizeable lead only for Wanstead to come back and leave Brentwood clinging on for the win at the death however, and fortunately for my sanity this early in the season, this wasn’t to be the case this time round. Wanstead, of course, did come out and with the slope now to their advantage try and put the pressure on Brentwood but for the most part Brentwood’s defence was solid, and their endeavours were to no avail.

First game of the season fatigue had started to kick in and the game got progressively scrappier and disjointed and with knock-ons and cramp starting to creep in, the game remained scoreless for about half an hour. Wanstead broke the deadlock, scoring after a long period in and around Brentwood’s 22 when they broke from a scrum, moving the ball well through the hands to score what was to be their only try of the game and take the score to 33-7.

It was Brentwood though who were to have the last say, after a penalty had seen Henry Bird put a huge kick into Wanstead’s 22 from Brentwood’s ten metre line giving them another attacking lineout opportunity. The lineout was spot on again, Brentwood opting to maul once more gaining strong go forward momentum before Andy Sutton broke off and was pulled to ground. Ball was quick, a combo of black scrum hats making a further big carry before space opened up on the blindside, Henry Bird finding Alex Roberts to go over in the corner for Brentwood’s sixth and final of the day, 38-7 and the full time whistle a couple of minutes later.

For Brentwood this was a strong opening day win where they looked in control for the majority of the game; first half attack and set piece accuracy being particular highlights with plenty of room still to improve on other facets as the season progresses.

Next week Brentwood make the long away trip to Norwich in what will be a tricky game. Norwich were a familiar fixture in this league for a number of seasons before spending last season in the league below in which they won every game to be promoted back to Regional 2 Anglia. With an away win against fellow new-comers Braintree for their season opener, Brentwood will need to bring their first half form with them if they want to end their 23 game winning streak.