With Storm Amy having turned up just in time for the weekend, any fond memories of sunny September rugby were firmly blown away as Brentwood this week made the long away trip to Wymondham. Wymondham had made an unbeaten start to their campaign and, having lost here last season, Brentwood knew it would need a good performance to come away with the victory.

Brentwood received the kick off playing into a strong wind for the first half (although thankfully the horizontal rain had stopped) and it was evident early on that attempting to kick into it was going to prove futile… Wymondham, on the other hand, with the wind in their favour opted to kick for territory in the early exchanges giving Brentwood a lineout on their own 22. Sensibly, Brentwood opted to throw to the front; Calvin Close finding Dan Suttle and Brentwood forming a brief maul. As there was little point in attempting a clearing kick, Brentwood had to run it, Eamon Tiernan with a good initial bust before Tauren Henwood and Tom Walker combined well through the middle to pull Wymondham narrow. Jack Richards took it on one more before Tauren Henwood ghosted through a tackle attempt and evaded another three, getting the ball away to Luke Watson on the inside as Brentwood poured forwards. Luke took it on further and then a quick ruck saw the ball recycled and through the hands to Henry Bird, bumping through a further two tackles before Tauren Henwood again found half a gap, this time getting the ball to George Bassenger on the inside to take play into the 22 before offloading to Eamon Tiernan. Eamon powered further forwards, needing two players to bring him down, Liam Power up quickly to support and picking the ball up; Wymondham looking to have rebuffed him before his bigger mates in the forwards turned up to help, driving him over the line for Brentwood’s opening try, Tauren added the extras, 0-7 and an excellent start.

Brentwood’s second came 7 minutes later after a smart Wymondham kick had pinned them back and again, the only way to extract themselves from their own 22 was to run it out. Some hard yards were made by Tom Walker and Jack Richards before a galloping Dan Suttle was set free down the touchline; the attempted pass hit the deck but was recovered by James Killington and recycled, Brentwood with all the forward momentum. Henry Bird clattered through a couple more attempts to stop him before Tauren Henwood pulled an offload out of contact back inside to Jack Richards who was tackled just shy of Wymondham’s 22, a high tackle giving Brentwood a penalty just after. Brentwood weren’t hanging around, tapping to Dan Suttle on the charge, a quick ruck meaning it could be spread wide swiftly where Calvin Close pirouetted through a tackle, Tom Walker and Dan Suttle crashing it up again before Eamon Tiernan spied a gap by the side of the ruck and dashed round for the try, 0-12.

The 25-minute mark saw Brentwood add a third having kept and controlled possession well once more, this time starting from a scrum on Wymondham’s ten metre line. The ball was in and out of the scrum quickly, Niall Clifford making good ground down the left flank, George Bassenger and George Miles following up to take Brentwood to the 22 before Tauren Henwood darted through and found Jack Richards again with the inside offload. Jack was proving difficult to pull down, dragging several defenders in to do so and leaving Wymondham exposed defensively to the right, Brentwood spotting the opportunity, Henry Bird diving over just to the right of the posts and, with Tauren Henwood’s conversion, 0-19.

With 15 minutes of the half still to play, Brentwood continued to be dominant in the possession stats, a couple of Wymondham forays into Brentwood’s 22 quickly extinguished by a textbook Matt Whaley turnover and another from Henry Bird, followed up by a big carry and fend from the resulting penalty which the little bubble of Brentwood regulars on the balcony enjoyed.

Much of the remainder of the half passed in the middle of the park but eventually Brentwood had fought their way downfield once more and, although they had lost the ball, the clearing kick blew infield, Tauren Henwood able to regather on the halfway line and run back to the 22. Brentwood reset and were really patient, going through multiple phases, the forwards carrying hard and inching closer to the line before the hands of Brentwood’s backs were accurate – the ball travelling from Tom Walker to Niall Clifford and Tauren Henwood to give Isaac Kibrige the modicum of space he needed to step in at the corner, 0-24, the bonus point and the try before half time, the omens were good!

Unsurprisingly, Wymondham came firing out of the blocks in the second half, looking to try and make up some of the deficit and although Brentwood’s attack wasn’t working as well as in the first half, the defence was resolute, Wymondham with opportunity but Brentwood with defensive answers. It took Brentwood being reduced to 14 men for Wymondham to breach the defence, Luke Watson in the bin for a tip tackle, and Wymondham using their second half scrum ascendancy to keep Brentwood’s forwards tight before exploiting the bit of spare room in the open field, 5-24 and about 25 minutes left to play.

Brentwood though reacted positively, getting themselves back into Wymondham’s half and a couple of minutes later winning a penalty just outside of the 22. George Bassenger pointed straight at the sticks and up stepped Tauren Henwood for a not exactly straightforward kick given the posts were blowing around in the strength of the wind…over it went though, 5-27 and Brentwood back to 15 men.

Well, briefly anyway, Calvin Close next on the naughty step for a high tackle penalty that felt a little harsh. Wymondham added their second during this period, their dominant scrum again giving the platform, a big wheel towards a large blindside allowing room to exploit the space and man advantage, 10-27.

Even though there were still about 15 minutes left to play, from a normally stressed Match Reporter perspective it all felt oddly serene…and for once not like Brentwood were going to do their usual and end up in a nerve-wracking finish. Brentwood could have extended their lead, a long-range penalty attempt not quite making it, and Wymondham did have a chance of a third try but Isaac Kibirige put his man very firmly in touch and with that full time and a really solid win for Brentwood on the road.

From a Brentwood perspective, the second half was a little disappointing compared to the first but in hindsight, the energy expended in the first half to build such a lead playing against the conditions was a contributing factor, there were four well-worked, patient team tries scored in the first half and a solid defensive effort in the second; a bonus point win away at a previously unbeaten team is an excellent result.

Next week Brentwood are back at King George’s to take on Rochford. Last season, Brentwood lost out at home and will be keen to make amends against a Rochford team who have won their last two games against Chelmsford and Braintree but lost their opening two against Eton Manor and Wymondham.