North Bristol 2nds 14 Bream 2nds 20

WHILE international days bring excellence in one direction, absent players on spectator duty at Twickenham leave the rump of those left behind to juggle their skills in order to keep grassroots rugby going.

Both Bream and North Bristol, in a hastily arranged fixture, made the most lovely conditions on Saturday as England played Wales in the Six Nations.

There was some pulsating end-to-end running from both teams and the result hung in the balance until the very end.

Uncontested scrums enabled the front rowers to save more wind than usual to run around with, including North Bristol skipper Tony Booth who was often accompanied by flanker Johnny Lyons, returning after a two-year injury break.

Replacement Terry Hathaway and utility forward Alastair James added bite and power to North’s forward commitment, but the glory boys for North turned out to be winger Josh Purdy plus centres Tom Mayes-Welsman and Tom England, whose electrifying running worried Bream throughout.

It was Mayes-Welsman’s mazy run that beat a number of defenders to earn North an early lead, with Matt Hazard’s conversion making it 7-0.

Bream’s powerful pack, however, drove over to get to 7-5 and then, in a repeat manoeuvre, to 7-10, which left them ahead up to the interval.

Straight after the break, a lapse in the tackle area from several North Bristol defenders gifted a third try.

Ten minutes later, Bream’s lead was consolidated by a powerful solo burst from their fly half and North were struggling at 20-7 down.

However, another great run from Mayes-Welsman took him close to the try line, where full back Peter Swallow finished off with a dive to score a try.

Hazard’s crucial conversion took North to one score away at 14-20.

A Bream yellow card for stamping also eased things and North pressed hard, though they were unable to snatch a final game-changing score.

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