Exeter Uni kick off Blues gather and kick out of their half, Exeter Uni run back at Blues taking play across the pitch and up to Blues 22, their 7 Charlie Wright breaks through the Blues defence and runs into score, their 10 Harry Bazalgette converts giving them a great start 0-7 2mins

Blues restart and get a scrum when Exeter Uni knock on, from the scrum Blues put pressure on Exeter Uni’s defence and after several phases the ball is spun wide to Tommy Martin who scores wide out right, Dan Thorne kicks the conversion 7-7 6 mins

Exeter Uni kick off and Blues manage to get hold of the ball and soon have a penalty scrum, Blues pack shove Exeter Uni back getting a penalty, Blues play the advantage but play is brought back for the penalty which Blues kick to touch, lineout won Blues attack a knock on in the tackle gives Exeter Uni a scrum, Exeter Uni win the scrum and run the ball taking play up to the try line but cannot score instead they lose possession, Blues try running out of defence conceding a penalty at the tackle, Exeter Uni kick to touch.

Blues get a scrum at the lineout and take play up to halfway before a knock on halts their progress, Exeter Uni win the scrum and run at Blues taking play across the pitch and deep into Blues half, they knock on, Blues get a penalty at the scrum which is kicked to touch on halfway, Blues win their lineout and soon have another penalty which is kicked to touch close to Exeter Uni’s 22, Exeter get a scrum at the lineout and soon take play back into Blues half, a knock on gives Blues a scrum, from the scrum Blues kick, both sides try the kicking game before Blues knock on giving Exeter Uni a scrum just in Blues half.
Blues shove Exeter back and get a penalty at the scrum which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues take play into Exeter Uni’s half before kicking, Exeter Uni gather and run before putting a kick back into Blues half, Blues knock on. Exeter win their scrum and spread play across the pitch, a dropped ball gives Blues possession, Blues run then kick, Exeter Uni gather and a long kick bounces into Blues 22, Blues try running out of defence, a collision with the ref gives Blues a scrum, Blues win the scrum and after a couple of phases kick clear the ball bouncing into touch close to Exeter Uni’s 22. Exeter win their lineout and take play across the pitch getting a penalty at the tackle which is kicked to touch, Blues steal the lineout, Blues try to run out of defence but don’t make much progress so clear to touch still in their own half.
Exeter win their lineout and attack taking play deep into Blues 22, their forwards pick and drive and are soon over to score through their 3 Matt Johnson, Harry Bazalgette kicks the conversion 7-14 33 mins

Blues restart and within a few minutes are further behind when they knock on a Exeter Uni kick, Exeter win the scrum and get up to Blues line, again the forwards pick and drive this time their 1 Will Cutbill scores, the conversion is wide 7-19 37 mins

Blues kick off and manage to regather the ball, Exeter steal the ball in the tackle and take play back into Blues half winning a lineout, Blues get hold of the ball and clear to touch bring the half time whistle

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Dylan Stewart on Ollie Spanswick off half time
Blues kick off the second half needing a great 40 mins to turn the game around, Exeter Uni gather and return the kick, Blues attack taking play into Exeter Uni’s 22 before coughing up possession allowing Exeter Uni to kick clear, Blues again take play into Exeter Uni’s 22 but again lose the ball forwards, Exeter Uni play the advantage but play is brought back for an Exeter Uni scrum. Exeter Uni win their scrum and kick clear, both sides kick a couple of times, Exeter Uni break the kicking game running at Blues they take play into Blues 22 getting a penalty, they play the advantage and again their forwards pick and drive their 1 Will Cutbill getting over to score their bonus point try, the conversion is kicked by Harry Bazalgette 7-26 45 mins

Blues restart Exeter Uni gather and kick, Blues run the ball taking play back into Exeter Uni’s half getting a penalty which is kicked to touch in Exeter Uni’s 22, Blues get another penalty at the lineout, they tap and go getting a penalty scrum and Exeter Uni’s prop a yellow, some confusion on the front row replacements eventually sorted, Blues win the now uncontested scrum and after a couple of phases Chris Bird crashes over to score under the posts, Dan Thorne converts 14-26 50 mins

Jamie Futcher and Paul Sayers on, Alex Bancroft and Ben Hicks off

Exeter Uni kick off Blues gather under pressure and kick deep, Exeter run out of their half getting a penalty at the tackle which they kick to touch. Lineout won Exeter Uni run at Blues a knock on halts their progress, Blues win their scrum and some good running rugby takes play just short of Exeter Uni’s 22 before they are tackled into touch, Exeter Uni win their lineout and run the ball taking play across the pitch and back getting into Blues half, Blues concede a penalty at the tackle, Exeter Uni play the advantage but play is brought back for the penalty, Harry Bazalgette kicks through the posts 14-29 60 mins.

Blues kick off quickly and manage to regather the ball, Blues spread the ball wide taking play into Exeter Uni’s 22, Blues keep up the pressure getting over the line but are held up, Blues have a 5m scrum, the prop is back on so back to contested scrums, the scrum is reset and a short time out, Blues pack put in a big shift marching Exeter Uni backwards over the line allowing Josh Winfield to touch down Dan Thorne adds the conversion, 21-29 66 mins

Exeter Uni kick off, again both sides kick and again Blues lose out when Exeter Uni run at Blues breaking through Blues defence allowing their 17 George Strainge to scamper over Harry Bazalgette converts 21-36 68 mins

Ollie Spanswick on Duncan Craigen off

Blues kick off Exeter Uni return the kick, Blues run the ball getting a penalty for a high tackle, for the next 5 minutes both sides make errors and concede penalties meaning play see saws around halfway.

Alex Bancroft on Tommy Martin off 75 mins

Exeter Uni have the better of the final minutes spending most of it camped in Blues 22, Blues eventually earn a penalty which is kicked to touch, Exeter Uni steal the lineout and the game is over

Blues put in a good display against this very strong Exeter Uni side who now sit 3rd in the table

MOM and DOD Jack Walsh

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macaulay, Tom Erskine, Duncan Craigen, Jack Walsh,
Ollie Spanswick, Josh Winfield,
Tom Fieldsend, Dan Thorne, Toby Thorne, Chris Bird, Toby Holland, Tom Martin, Alex Bancroft
Paul Sayers, Dylan Stewart, Jamie Futcher

Blues next fixture is Sat 11th Jan away @ Exmouth 2pm KO, a must win game

Coach to Exmouth leaves NRFC at 8-30 picks up at the Walkabout in the town centre @ 8-35
Book your seat £20