Drew Harper helped himself to a hat-trick of tries at his old club, enjoying an armchair ride at the base, similarly Caolan Ryan found his goalkicking radar to hit all but the most difficult of conversions. Man of the match Nigel Mukarati put in a huge amount of work in both attack and defence, deservedly bagging the last Saxons’ try, while Bromsgrove gave the Saxons defensive structures a thorough workout and were well worth their 2 tries despite the 68th minute dismissal of Saxons’ old boy Wayne Cooper on a 2nd yellow card.

The pack was unchanged from the Stockport game the week before, while the backs featured 2 selectional & 2 positional changes, Nathan Roy-Smith and Caolan Ryan taking the starting half back spots with Sione Tu’ipolotu & Will Hurrell moving out one slot to accomodate. Loosehead Kevin Birt & utility back Sam Baker came on to the bench.

Mukarati was straight into the action winning an early penalty from an isolated home ball carrier. The Saxons were not to enjoy lineout supremacy as in the previous games and had the throw picked off by Bromsgrove’s 2 jumper, the error compounded as Robbie Hurrell was penalised for pulling down the subsequent maul. Bromsgrove’s hooker’s radar was off beam as he overthrew the lineout from the clearance kick enabling James Rodley to gather but the ball got turned over in the tackle. The hosts were also unable to retain possession long enough to advance and a loose ball was hacked downfield by a Saxons boot, good chase work by Tu’ipolotu & Roy-Smith pressurising Bromsgrove fullback Aaron Higgins whose clearance kick failed to get beyond touch-in-goal.

Bromsgove replaced their hooker who had suffered a clash of heads in the build-up, but it was their loosehead who got penalised for standing up as Mark George put the squeeze on at the 5m scrum. The Saxons opted to scrum again and referee David Proctor was playing a penalty advantage for Bromsgrove’s front row collapsing as their scrum disintegrated and Harper bagged a pushover try which Ryan converted. 7min 0-7.

Roy-Smith attempted return of the restart was charged down, had the chaser not fumbled the regather it might well have cost points but as it was Harper secured the ball, it was recycled from contact and booted clear. Bromsgrove kicked it back setting up a Saxons backs move in which Jamie Hearn made good ground up the left wing before Ryan’s booming kick reached the right touchline inside Bromsgrove’s 22. Their replacement hooker threw not straight and it came as no surprise when the Saxons opted to scrum. On came the drive, this time the tighthead got penalised and scenting blood the Saxons declined the 3 points and kicked for the corner. The throw went to Robbie Hurrell at the tail and the driving maul was only denied by a cynical side-entry offence by Bromsgrove 2nd row Wayne Cooper that earned him a yellow card. Bromsgove’s 7 man pack couldn’t hold up the scrum drive and Harper bagged another pushover try under the sticks, Ryan converting. 14min 0-14.

Bromsgrove’s next attack drew a penalty at the post-tackle, enabling them to kick for the corner and attempt a catch & drive. A further penalty award was kicked to the same place but Bromsgrove’s scrum half was forced into touch following the lineout. Their lineout from the clearance kick was again scrappy, Robbie Hurrell securing the ball to launch a threequarter attack to the right that stalled when Bressington knocked on. An innocuous Bromsgrove punt upfield was secured by Tom Jarvis who sent Hearn running down the left flank, quick ball was spun wide right where Bromsgrove ran out of defenders and Tu’ipolotu crossed to score in the corner. Ryan landed a difficult conversion, 22min 0-21.

Bromsgrove drove back into the Saxons half where Jarvis’s slow roll away from a tackle earned a lecture for captain Bressington. Bromsgrove again declined the 3 points and went for the corner and a catch & drive, but the ball went loose and they had to settle for a scrum from a Saxons knock-on. Stewart Pearl secured a strike against the head, enabling Roy-Smith to kick clear. Bromsgrove countered but seemed intent on playing a narrow game and at times lacked any width in their attacking formations. Patient, disciplined and structured Saxons defence kept out waves of attacks until the hosts finally knocked on just 5m from the line.

Higgins’ return of a long clearance kick sailed straight into touch, enabling Pearl to find Hurrell again at the tail of the lineout. A Jarvis chip & chase left the defenders little option but concession of a lineout in their own 22, this time Rich Stott took the throw to set up a driving maul. George’s pass from the base found Tu’ipolotu who drew the defenders and linked with Will Hurrell who barged through to score the bonus point 4th try, Ryan again converting. 33min 0-28.

With a Stott obstruction from the restart giving them a kick in front of the posts Bromsgrove skipper Critchlow decided he’d spurned too many scoring opportunities with fruitless kicks to the corner and settled this time for points on the board with a successful shot at goal, 35min 3-28.

A knock on at the restart resulted in a scrum where Tom Brown was penalised for pulling round, Bromsgrove secured subsequent lineout ball but were again held out by solid Saxons defence until Will Hurrell secured a turnover that was kicked clear. Halftime 3-28.

The 2nd half started scrappy with both sides turning over possession through errors, the Saxons too often guilty of over-complicating their attacks. Jarvis fielded a speculative infield Garryowen but the arriving support went off their feet to concede a penalty, the error compounded by throwing the ball away to concede a further 10m. Declining the 3 point opportunity Bromsgrove threw the dice again with a kick to the corner, catch and maul that advanced slowly until 6 of their backs joined in to force it over, their 6 scoring an unconverted try. 46min 8-28.

It didn’t get any better at the restart, the Saxons’ game well off the boil as Ryan’s kick went into touch on the full. The sides traded further scrappy turnovers before Ryan redeemed his error with a long clearance kick to midway that pitched less than a metre inside the touchline. Bromsgrove’s lineout was again not straight but the Saxons attack stalled with the ball carrier forced into touch. The 5min spell that followed was littered with infield kicks, knock-on’s and penalties conceded by both sides for going off their feet at the tackle, the stalemate ended by the unusual spectacle of tighthead Mark George securing ball at yet another overthrown Bromsgrove lineout and booting it quite tidily down the touchline into the Bromsgrove 22 where the chase forced a knock on and 5m attacking scrum.

On came the Saxons shove, up went the hosts’ front row again and out came Mr Proctor’s arm for penalty advantage, Bromsgrove’s openside flanker lucky to escape a yellow card for cynically encroaching to steal the ball from the base. The Saxons opted to scrum again and Mr Proctor lost patience with Bromsgove’s loosehead prop who picked himself up off the floor to see a yellow card being brandished. Back on came the previously substituted tighthead, the openside flanker was sacrificed and the 7-man pack got shunted back again in a scrum that produced Harper’s hat-trick try following an AR confirmation of the grounding. Ryan converted, 58min 8-35.

Rodley secured the restart and launched a move that saw Will Hurrell make a clean linebreak but the pass that put Mukarati clear in the hosts’ 22 was marginally forward. No matter the Saxons won another scrum against the head, the ball shipped right enabling Tu’ipolotu to slip a tackle and score, Ryan again converting. 62min 8-42.

Bromsgrove’s next attack was halted by a deliberate knock-on which yielded a penalty that Bromsgrove kicked into in the Saxons half only to throw not straight. An attack was launched after a huge scrum drive led by replacement tighthead Nick Adams, but the Saxons were again guilty of forcing the moves with another pass going forward. The play reverted to scrappy kick exchange & knock-on until Ryan spotted a gap behind the Bromsgrove defensive line, chipped ahead and looked to chase only to be halted in his tracks by a fairly unsubtle Cooper obstruction which earned him a 2nd yellow card and consequent red.

The Saxons concentration went missing at their catch & drive, a Bromsgrove forward managing to force himself through the maul to secure ball which was kicked deep infield. The Saxons backs countered, and after several phases it was worked to the right where Robbie Hurrell found Bressington who drew the final wide defender to link with Mukarati who finished the move with a try in the right corner that went unconverted. 71min, 8-47.

The Saxons were unable to advance the restart and Nick Adams then rather needlessly conceded a penalty at a scrum. They took a quick tap and drew another penalty when Stewart Pearl failed to roll away at the tackle. To the corner it was kicked where Bromsgove’s jumper was legitimately ‘sacked’ but the Saxons shipped another penalty for going off their feet & killing the ball. Bromsgrove reloaded and continued to hammer away at the Saxons line, Mr Proctor finally losing patience with their persistent slowing of the ball and Tu’ipolotu saw yellow for attempting to play the ball while off his feet. With the clock ticking down Bromsgrove ran it and despite a further penalty against Adams for side entry were eventually able to put their 2nd row over for a well-deserved converted try. Full time 15-47.

Commenting on the performance, Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell said ‘we had a dominant scrum, an aspect of our game which - injuries & fitness permitting - will come into its own as surfaces get heavier. Man of the match Nigel Mukarati put in a huge amount of work. But I was unhappy with our 2nd half performance. The halftime instructions were clear, with the bonus point in the bag we just needed to play simple rugby and go through the phases. Instead of that we went showboating - senior and junior players alike - forcing the plays and putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves through turnovers. That simply isn’t acceptable in a side that has aspirations of promotion.’

Coach Mike Umaga observed ‘we’ve come here and done a job, we know we can perform with ball in hand but I was particularly impressed with our defensive performance today where we took some big strides forward, the work intensity was impressive’.