After the first two league matches, Havant sit at the top of National Two East on points difference having overwhelmed Oxford Quins with eleven tries in a dominant, muscular performance.

Havant made three changes, one positional, to the side that defeated Oundle last weekend, Sam Trodd moving back to his favoured position on the wing with Colin Sisk now available at scrum-half and Jez Smith replacing the injured (ribs) Jarod Leat. Oxford Quins were looking to bounce back after an opening defeat at home to Westcombe Park.

Playing with a strong swirling wind on an autumnal day, ‘Quins’ turned early first-half possession into points with a try in the left corner from wing Jacob Seddon after Havant conceded a penalty in midfield, on 2’. The conversion was missed. Havant scored soon after with an initial thrust through the middle from Joel Knight who fed Sam Trodd who made an excellent break before sending Ben Griffin over in the corner on 6’. Joel Knight converted. A few minutes later a good move saw Ben Griffin sell a dummy on the Havant 10 meter line to beat two players and make good ground before moving the ball on to Jacob Knight who got close to the line but couldn’t quite score. At this point Havant were dominating play but four penalties conceded in close sequence were keeping ‘Quins’ interested.

Havant’s dominance finally told on 19’ when Colin Sisk broke free and from the ensuing scrum Havant won a penalty which Reuben Knight kicked to the corner. Although the lineout wasn’t won cleanly the ball found its way to Jack Colbourne, who crashed over. The conversion was missed. Soon Havant were attacking again with a good break from Will Perry putting Havant back in the ‘Quins’ ’22. A minute or so later a superb run from Jack Colbourne close to the right touchline, saw the ball moved on to Joel Knight who scored Havant’s third try on ’24. He expertly converted his own try, making it 19-5. At this point Havant were punching holes through backs and forwards everywhere, with Will Perry making a good break again which almost led to a Sam Trodd score and with the Havant forwards getting over the line from a lineout but failing to get the touchdown. Sean Shepherd was being regularly used to run at the ‘Quins’ fly-half. ‘Quins’ cause wasn’t being helped by a yellow card.

Soon Havant were back on the scoreboard with a bonus point try on ‘28. A good scrum allowed Dylan Read to take the ball, pass and receive it back again before breaking several tackles. Good interaction between backs and forwards gave Reuben Knight the chance to get over, which he did. Joel Knight’s conversion hit the post but didn’t cross it. At 24-5, ‘Quins’ were struggling, and their scrum had already been shunted back several times, something we would see on a regular basis in the second half. Havant then went quiet for a period and ‘Quins’ found themselves with a bit of ball. A ‘Quins’ forward shot through the middle of a ruck and made it up to the line but couldn’t quite score. A few moments later Dylan Read was yellow-carded. Havant were again conceding penalties in trying to defend their line. One penalty was kicked to touch and from the line-out on the right ‘Quins’ No8 Alex Knight (no relative!) scored. The kick was missed. 24-10 at half-time.

After slowing down a bit at the end of the first half Havant came out with intent at the beginning of the second with an excellent break from Jack Colbourne, who was causing all sorts of problems with his direct running at pace, nearly leading to a score on the left. A minute later Colin Sisk, in his first league appearance, scored under the posts after a Joel Knight break which was converted by him. 31-10 the score after ’43. This was quickly followed by an excellent 50/22 kick for a lineout from Reuben Knight from which Havant attacked again. It was all Havant now and, after a huge scrum, Reuben Knight sent out a gorgeous floated pass to put Sam Trodd in at the left corner on ’47. The conversion was missed.

A lovely moment followed on ’52 as Wes Dugan came on to replace the superb Jack Colbourne (I am a fan!) to win his 100th Havant cap as a scrum-half reinvented an as open-side flanker. He never gives anything less than all he has in a Havant shirt. Archie Cleeve replaced Will Saunders and Cam Boa and Dylan Evans also came on for Sean Shepherd and Will Perry. The match had gone a little quiet but Archive Cleeve soon found himself on the scoreboard after a lovely touch ‘find’ from a penalty by Reuben Knight, with the ball going through a few hands until the ball was touched down close to the posts. Joel Knight converted to make it 43-10.

With total scrum dominance, it was becoming rather ugly for ‘Quins’ as a 20m ‘shove’ pushed Quins back close to their own line from where Dylan Read scored. Joel Knight converted to make it 50-10 at ’63. For a few minutes the players spent most of their time in the middle of the field until a dominant scrum gave Havant space to attack through Ben Griffin, who fed Sam Trodd to score on ’71 with Joel Knight converting. Two minutes later Dylan Evans went over after a perfectly placed kick through to the line from Reuben Knight which was converted again to make it 64-10. ‘Quins’ were rewarded for their competitiveness with a try from wing Ben Vernede which went unconverted. Attempting the bonus point try, ‘Quins’ turned over ball in their ’22, and a clinical Sam Trodd went in for his hat-trick on ’78, with Joel Knight once more converting.

As with the Oundle game last week this was another high-quality performance in which the team shone as a collective unit and with a series of outstanding individual performances. The front row pulverized that of Oxford Quins where we saw the punishing quality of Brandon Vince at the scrum. Jack Colbourne continued his excellent form from the previous week alongside another highly involved Dylan Read performance. Harrison Young and Angus Southon are playing with minimal fuss and maximum effectiveness in the second row. In the backs Reuben Knight thrived on regular quick ball, giving us a full demonstration of his kicking, passing and running skills and Sam Trodd threatened every time he had any space at all. He has a true winger’s instinct for finding the try-line when there appears to be ‘traffic’ about. Ben Griffin was solid and threatening all-game in his quietly assured way. (Doug Miller)

Head coach Will Knight's thoughts after the game
"Delighted with the performance today. We talked about using last week as a base line and trying to improve from there. We certainly did that and produced some exciting rugby with everyone 1-20 playing their part. I asked the lads to give Wes a game that he will always remember and I hope we did that too. Next week is an exciting prospect and a real test of where we are."