The Saxons only really fired on all cylinders during a 20min purple patch early in the 2nd half, but were comfortable in victory against a Bees outfit that defended stoutly but rarely threated their line. The 4 try bonus point looked to have slipped their grasp when the Saxons pack were penalised during an attempted pushover in the 79th minute, but a fluffed Bees touch kick opened the door again and James Rodley finally barged over at the death as the Saxons threw the kitchen sink into a final assault on the Bees line.

There were positives all over the field for Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell, particularly a man-of-the-match performance by no.8 Drew Harper who drove and tackled tirelessly all game. Mark George coped comfortably with the powerful threat of Bees’ loosehead Matt Long, and Will Hurrell popped up all over the field to lead drives into a well-organised Bees defence. Veteran Adam Sturdy was inspired, lasting a full 80min and giving Saxons old boy Mike ‘Cheese’ Hill an uncomfortable afternoon.

Bees kicked off, the Saxons sporting their new pink away strip having elected to attack the North (M42) end 1st half. Typically for the season opener the early phases were strewn with errors, Ben Barkley’s hands letting him down on a couple of occasions, but the resulting scrums saw the Saxons pack having the upper hand as Bees ball was disrupted. The Saxons began to string some phases together, driving into the Bees 22 and securing an 8th minute penalty as a Bees 2nd row failed to roll away at the tackle. Tom Jarvis calmly slotted it between the uprights, 0-8.

A more difficult penalty kick opportunity was secured 10min later as Drew Harper managed to isolate a Bees ball carrier near his own 10m line, but Jarvis’s kick drifted to the right. Stefan Cooksammy replaced Ben Barkley (blood) on 22min, taking the left wing berth with the industrious Will Hurrell moving to inside centre.

The Saxons pack got up a head of steam at a maul following a Rich Stott lineout take, driving Bees back a good 10m enabling Sione Tu’ipolotu to kick deep into their 22. The lineout from the clearance kick was taken by Robbie Hurrell and fed rapidly left where a precision cut-out pass found Gary Dipple. Dips scorched round his opposite number, drew the fullback and fed Stefan Cooksammy to his outside with just the cover defence to beat, he took it at full pace and did well to ground it for the try despite the attention of 2 defenders. The conversion attempt drifted left, but after 29min the Saxons had secured a 0-8 lead.

Robbie Hurrell was penalised for a scuffle at a lineout following an AR intervention that halted a promising break created by Sione Tu’ipolotu, who was only brought down by a desperate ankle tap. A fairly innocuous set of Bees phases stalled with a forward pass, flanker Nigel Mukarati looking to have broken clear from the resulting scrum but penalised for slipping his bind following another AR intervention. The half ended without further score as both sides failed to find any momentum due to soft turnovers and penalties. Halftime score 0-3.

The team talk would have been laced with the words ‘depth’ and ‘pace’, many of the Saxons 1st half close drives having been too flat as Pete White found his support players stood static rather than running from deep.

The Saxons kicked off the 2nd half and immediately looked more threatening in attack as the ball was fed close to runners coming in at pace, frequently drawing 2 or 3 tacklers at a time. The Saxons advanced into Bees territory and forced a 45th min kickable penalty as the defensive line drifted offside at a ruck. Sensing the momentum was with them captain Nathan Bressington opted to kick for the corner where the Saxons pack laid siege to the Bees line. ‘Patience’ roared Neil Mitchell as the Saxons launched a series of close drives, but the pressure was lifted when Rich Stott got a dose of white line fever, drove without support and was penalised for hanging on to the ball as he found himself isolated.

Bees drove back but conceded a scrum at which their front row was penalised for standing up as the Saxons pack got a big drive on. Back into Bees territory went the line kick and, having learnt the lesson, the Saxons assault bore fruit as, after a series of phases, Drew Harper barged over from short range under the sticks. Tom Jarvis converted, 52min 0-15.

With their tails up the Saxons drove straight back into Bees territory, where quick ruck ball was secured on the right side and spun left to Stefan Cooksammy who outpaced the wide Bees defence to score his 2nd try. The conversion was missed, 56min 0-20, with Liam Wordley replacing Stewart Pearl at hooker shortly after.

Bees lost possession after a break saw them reach the Saxons 22 but they were comfortably held out by tackles from Tom Jarvis, Pete White & Gary Dipple. The Saxons secured possession which was fed back to Sione Tu’ipolotu for the clearance kick. Sensing the risk of a chargedown he opted to sidestep, but was dispossessed by the alert Bees runner who grounded the ball for the easiest of tries that went unconverted. 65min, 5-20.

The Saxons continued to run the ball at Bees, frequently stretching their dogged defence to the limits but unable to secure the 4th try. Pete White saw a gap and was just held up short before being replaced by Lucas Roy Smith who moved the Saxons upfield with some precision box-kicking.

Will Jones isolated a ball carrier to snuff out the last substantial Bees attack on 72min, this was kicked downfield where the Saxons set up another set of attacks that Bees repelled, Will Hurrell forced into touch just before he could ground the ball. But the Bees hooker threw not straight enabling the Saxons to opt for a scrum and pushover attempt. Up went the volume levels but a 2nd row lost his footing, bringing down Mark George who was penalised by referee Shane Lewis.

There was to be a sting in the tail for Bees though (sorry) as their kicker fluffed the touch kick, which was moved rapidly towards the left side where Stefan Cooksammy did well to gather a bouncing pass from makeshift centre James Rodley. Bees defended valiantly but the Saxons kept coming as the clock ticked past 80min. Finally the ball came back to Rodders as the defence ran out of numbers and he barged over to bag the 4th try. Tom Jarvis’s conversion attempt flew wide, the final whistle sounded and the Saxons had secured the win and bonus point.