Basildon 5 : 32 Diss - 12th December 2015

Diss arrived in Essex to find Basildon in the ‘Deep Midwinter’ and promptly served up an element of Christmas cheer of their own by allowing the home side the opportunity to score on two minutes following handling errors on the Diss twenty two metre line. Playing into the wind, Giles West’s potential opening try was unlucky to have been disallowed following dynamic total rugby. Diss now asserted huge pressure on the bottom of the table outfit and on thirteen minutes Matt Richards scored following a peel around the base of an attacking ruck. On twenty three minutes Will Scott scored a second try, initiated from the Diss twenty two and involving superb handling from the Diss three quarters. Phil LeLievre stepped up to convert and the visitors were now very much on the front foot. A further try for Will Scott on thirty three minutes following approach work from Ewan Lawton enabled Diss to enter half time dominating all phases of the game, although a high error count was of some concern.

The second half opened with Philip LeLeivre slotting an easy penalty to increase the lead to 15-5. Five minutes later Sean McClure broke from a solid midfield scrum and promptly scorched to the Basildon line running from within his own half. The game now deteriorated into stalemate with both teams falling into a malaise. A lack of patience and an ability to take the ball one more phase would have been beneficial at this point. On seventy five minutes Giles West scored the bonus point try and Diss led 25-5 as the game drew to a conclusion. With two minutes remaining a speculative kick through by Basildon was fielded by Sean McClure who unleashed the ball left through the back line. The ball was recycled to the right and eventually found McClure now positioned on the wing. McClure scored and Philip LeLeivre stepped up to convert supremely from the touchline. A comprehensive win that highlighted progress in a number of key areas, especially the debut of Sam Jacobs in the second row. Jacobs was one of the stand out players throughout the game, working hard and putting his body on the line all afternoon.