All six tries were scored by the threequarters, several of them long-range efforts arising from interceptions or turnovers deep in the Saxons half. Man of the match Richard Stott enjoyed an immense game, tireless in both defence and attack and locking together a Saxons pack that gave their opponents no change whatsoever, not only shutting them out for the duration of 2nd row colleague Robbie Hurrell’s sin-binning but also providing a platform for 2 tries to be scored during the period.

The starting XV was unchanged from the Bromsgrove game, the only changes on the bench with Jordan Page back and a most welcome return for Ben Hughes who had undergone surgery in the summer.

Lucs kicked off and were offered an early opportunity to get on the scoreboard when a Saxons forward was penalised post-tackle. They declined, opting for currency of higher denomination and kicking to the corner but the Saxons defence had little trouble holding out their catch & drive and subsequent threequarter moves. After another penalty they tried again but were held out and conceded possession when the ball went unplayable. Lucs’ loosehead was then penalised in the scrum for an unsubtle upward drive enabling the Saxons to clear their lines.

Further Saxons post-tackle misdemeanours allowed Lucs to return to their 22 to attempt another catch & drive, but they were again held out by the defence. Lucs eventually kicked the ball dead after running out of options, but ran the deep dropout straight back into the Saxons 22 where a neat loop put a runner within a metre of the line before he was held up. Several clearance kicks were run straight back by Lucs until Ryan managed to put one deep into their 22. A good chase caught the Lucs’ fullback in possession just short of his tryline and forced a penalty as he held on. Ryan fancied the penalty attempt which he duly slotted with a favourable rebound off the left upright, 15min 3-0.

Another Lucs scrum penalty preceded some aerial ping-pong, a Saxons attack stalling with a dropped pass picked up in an offside position. Lucs kicked it into the Saxons 22 again, but couldn’t drive the maul forward and the ball was spilt by their backs enabling Ryan to launch another deep infield kick & chase which resulted in the Lucs 15 again being caught & turned over near his own line. The Saxons moved the ball quickly right for Bressington to skip through a disorganised defence to score an unconverted try in the corner. 25min 8-0.

The restart drew a Saxons fumble, the pack getting a drive on at the resulting scrum but penalised by Mr Maxwell-Keys for pulling round. Back to the corner went Lucs – this their 4th spurned kickable penalty – but their lineout was disrupted and they then turned over possession from a knock-on. The Saxons stole the lineout throw but then couldn’t advance a maul and conceded possession before Robbie Hurrell got a 10min rest from proceedings for a high tackle.

To the corner went Lucs once more but their maul got held up over the line and then they were pushed backwards by a Saxons scrum comprising 7 forwards plus the captain at makeshift blindside flank. Lucs managed to move the ball wide though and were only held out by a last-ditch tackle before their loosehead prop was penalised for holding on. The clearance kick only reached the Saxons 22m line and was soon coughed up to put the Saxons straight back into defensive duties. The Lucs openside ran into Will Hurrell without close support and found the ball ripped from his grasp near the Saxons 22m line. With Lucs fully committed to the attack there was no one home in defence, enabling Hurrell to run 80m to score in the corner, Ryan landing a difficult conversion just before the halftime whistle blew. 40min 15-0, a scarcely credible return considering Lucs’ first half domination of territory and possession.

With Robbie Hurrell still in the sinbin for the start of the 2nd half the Saxons elected for a long range kick at goal from a penalty award for holding on. The ball flew to the left of the posts into the hands of Lucs’ fullback, who again looked to run from deep and attempted a chip over the heads of the advancing Stewart Pearl and Will Hurrell. But the chip was fatally undercooked, Pearl snatched it out of the air and fed it to Hurrell near the Lucs 22m line, gifting him a 2nd run in while his brother was still cooling his heels. Over went the conversion, 43min 22-0.

A sloppy Saxons’ knock on conceded a prime attacking position that Lucs squandered through an overcooked chip kick. But a further penalty conceded enabled Lucs to claw their way back into the Saxons’ 22 where their threequarters drove it right. After several phases play was just short of the Saxons line when the Saxons were penalised for side entry. The pressure finally told and it was veteran Lucs forward & DoR Alex Davidson who breached the Saxons line near the posts as Lucs ran it. 53min 22-7.

Hughes & Sam Baker replaced Mukarati & Will Hurrell. The next 2 Saxons forays into the Lucs half ended with penalty concessions, both of them tapped and run by Lucs scrum half who clearly wanted to up the tempo. They had reached the Saxons 22 when Davidson attempted a rather telegraphed cut-out pass to the backs to his left. Bressington spotted it coming, raced to grab the interception and became the 2nd Saxon to score following an 80m run in. The bonus point secured, Ryan bagged another conversion, 60min 29-7.

Lucs were awarded another penalty in their own half when Tu’ipolotu got isolated in the tackle, again they went for a quick tap and should have scored with a mismatch of numbers to the clubhouse side but instead knocked it on near the halfway line. The ball was quickly worked to Jamie Hearn who took it at pace, cut back inside to beat the cover and ran it in under the posts. 63min 36-7, on came Pete White & Page for Lucas Roy-Smith & Pearl, with Nick Adams on for George shortly after.

Lucs’ 6 saw yellow for getting involved in a skirmish that was none of his business, and with fatigue and a rash of replacements on neither team was able to sustain any pressure for the next 5min or so, the Lucs pack noticeably struggling to keep up with the tempo. A Lucs’ attack stalled with the ball ripped from them near the Saxons 22 and Tu’ipolotu showed great vision to spot a huge hole in the Lucs’ backfield defence. His long punt was chased by Hearn who gathered it to run in another long range effort that was scored with barely a defender in the 22. 75min 43-7.

The Saxons forced a scrum penalty which was kicked to Lucs’ 22 but they were unable to get a drive on and were content to contain Lucs in their own half until the final whistle went.

Commenting after the game, coach Mike Umaga observed ‘We knew Lucs would come and compete up front, the turnovers our defence forced were key to today’s win. I was also pleased with the way our backs reacted to what was happening in front of them, that vision enabled us to score those tries from deep’.

Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell added ‘Lucs are by far the best side we have played so far, they dominated territory and possession and came with a spoiling mentality that made the game scrappy at times. That made it a very different kind of game today, one in which our attack was quiet and some players went missing for periods of time. But we worked hard in defence, holding out their drives and punishing their mistakes heavily – I was especially pleased with the way we lifted our game and scored 2 tries when we were a man down’.