Back in November Sheffield had become the first opponents to take a point from a game against the Saxons, on this occasion they were firmly shut out by a solid defensive performance in which flanker Ejike Uzoigwe was outstanding.

Scrum half Pete White ran an early penalty conceded by the visitors in their 22, a set of attacking phases drawing a further penalty that Jamie Hearn slotted for an early 3-0 lead. The Saxons next drive stalled with an isolated ball carrier penalised for not releasing, and with the visitors’ well organised defences holding firm it took a neat chip from scrum half Pete White to establish an attacking platform then multiple phases of Saxons’ attack before outside half Sione Tu’ipolotu’s direct run saw him plough through the defences in the right corner. After Hearn coolly slotted the extras the Saxons’ spent the next 20 minutes unable to convert their considerable dominance in possession & territory into points before Tu’ipolotu was the man to end the drought when he added a second from another short-range drive. With Hearn unable to convert this time the halftime score was 17-0 leaving the Saxons still plenty to do.

Shortly after the restart Tu’ipolotu featured again, putting in a neat crossfield chip following a break by centre Will Hurrell. Winger Nathan Bressington gratefully collected the kick in space to score untroubled by the defence. A worked move saw Will Hurrell clean through but to the bemusement of the home spectators he was called back by referee Mike Cooper’s whistle for encroaching before the lineout had ended. Flanker James Rodley and 2nd row Rich Stott entered the fray from the subs’ bench, Stott spotting an opportunity for a quick throw-in that he fed to Rodley who scorched through fending off two defenders to score on the hour mark. 7 minutes later he was on the shoulder of centre Gary Dipple to take a scoring pass after a line break near half way, fellow sub Caolan Ryan bagging the conversion this time. The final score came after Will Hurrell recovered a loose pass to switch the angle of an attack, the ball shipped right to Bressington who crossed for his 2nd try.

Coach Mike Umaga commented “It’s always pleasing to ‘nil’ opponents, and though our first half performance denied us the opportunity to win big, the intensity and precision of our 2nd half was outstanding. ‘Edgie’ led the way giving us the extra inch in both attack and defence, and our lineout also delivered the goods today with Stewart Pearl on form and Robbie Hurrell returning from injury. We’ve 4 big games to come, the next one possibly the biggest of the lot up at Hull Ionians who will be only too aware that they have to beat us to remain in contention”.