The Stags were back in action on home soil this Saturday against an old rival who they last met in the 2018/2019 campaign where Wivvy won both encounters. No doubt the Wivvy supporters, who came in there droves, were expecting a repeat from the last time they graced our pitch, sadly not!

Wivvy won the toss and opted to kick to start the match. It was only a few minutes into the game when The Stags were penalised at the breakdown in there 10m area. Wivvy’s flyhalf, feeling confident he’d make the distance, slotted the ball between the posts to take the lead 0-3.

His opposite number, Tim Piper, responded soon after to level the score after 8 mins of play. Piper then put The Stags in front on the twelfth minute with another fine penalty 6-3 after Wivvy were again penalised at the breakdown..

As the game began settle, The Stags began to gain momentum, going through the phases keeping Wivvy on the backfoot. As many know, The Stags are dangerous with ball in hand and up stepped outside centre, Ryan Beard to slip a couple of tackles to score the first try of the afternoon. Piper adding the extras 13-3.

From the re-start, Wivvy were ferocious in the loose and turned the ball over on many occasions, giving them the possession they wanted. This frustrated The Stags and another Penalty was conceded. Up stepped there No 10, who we knew had the distance when kicking from the tee. 13-6 after the first quarter.
Piper also had his long distance boots on that day and responded with his own penalty from within the WIvvy 10m area to extend the lead back to 10 points. 16-6.

The Stags pack had made amends from last week’s performance and stood string to another well drilled opposite set of forwards. This gave the platform that that they wanted to unleash the back line and try scoring turbo pig, Will Hopkins, who continuously sets the bar and rarely fails to deliver, scores on the stoke of half time to extend The Stags lead 23-6.

Now , the second half was a stark contrast to the first, in the fact it was scoreless. That said, this is a huge credit to the home team who have conceded a majority of there points in the previous two fixtures. This clearly showed that the midweek training had payed off. They were dogged in defence and the discipline had improved two fold.

Wivvy, ran out of ideas and were unable to penetrate The Stags defensive line and were turned over several times out wide when there elusive pack couldn’t support the backs in line. Changes were made throughout the second half with Adam Peters returning to Hooker for Sam Wall, Ed lewis replacing the lightweight and svelte looking Nick Mcken, only to last 90 seconds on the pitch when he rolled his chocolate ankle, so McKen returned to complete the game at tight head prop and then Scott Mills (not the DJ) played somewhere on the pitch and replaced…………another Stag!

All in all a great performance and a well deserved win to take The Stags mid table.

Next Saturday The Stags are home again to Chard RFC who last met in the 2017/2018 season. No doubt, another tough match ahead.

The 2nd XV are also home who kick off there campaign against Minehead 2nd XV. Both games KO at 3pm.