This was to be the first game in 2012, and not having played since November, the build up to this game had been disrupted by the adverse weather conditions. Most recently the frozen pitch meant that training sessions had been restricted to fitness, touch rugby with a focus on continuity, support play and mauling, but no full contact or tackling, so it was with a little concern about those aspects that Luxembourg arrived at Nivelles.

The RCL/CSCE boys however were up for the contest and even took an early lead when Robert Hopwood who was playing scrum half on the day converted a penalty. The RCL scrum, and front row specifically, were dominant. The front row of Charel Poppelaars, Luca Lentz and Gauthier Munch were relishing the contest. Charel and Luca are both part of the National U18s selection and it is clear the time Jean Benel the RCL forwards coach has spent on the scrum is paying off. Assuring possession on the Luxembourg put in, and frequently winning or disrupting the opposition ball, the scrum was providing a stable platform for the backs to attack from. The partnership of Robert and William Cope at fly half was working well. Both were making good use of the strong ball carrying of Gauthier and Charel to breach the defence. The forwards were then committing sufficient numbers to the ensuing breakdowns, and the rucking and mauling was very good on the day. Strong rucking on opposition ball often provided counter attacking opportunities for the Luxembourg backs.

The makeshift centre partnership of Sacha Ernstberger and Henry Jaz (both normally flankers) shut the opposition out in defence most of the day, but couldn’t always benefit from the attacking opportunities. Shortly before half time the Nivelles backs breached the Luxembourg defence, a try that was converted, to give the home team a 7-3 lead.

Shortly after half time the referee, who had good control over the match, issued a general warning to both teams for persistent high tackles. The tackle was certainly an area where the Luxembourg team was rusty, too often going in too high trying to stop the opposition. It was shortly after this warning, that Valter Queiros who had a good game on the blind side flank, was considered to have gone too high in the tackle and shown a yellow card. The Luxembourg team did not let this disrupt them and continued to press for a score. Robert and William had spotted that the Nivelles defence was often lined up very flat and started to put little chip kicks in behind the defence allowing Andreas Hacker and Charles Xavier Ramillon, on the wings, to have a go. The wingers worked well in defence as well, both making try saving tackles.

The referee proved his consistency when he showed a Nivelles player a yellow card for a high tackle, 8 minutes later followed by another yellow card when a Nivelles player chasing his own kick through, missed the ball and charged into fullback Jack Dempsey who came up to claim the ball. Adrian Costa and Conor Sutherland, playing together in the second row, continued to chase and harass the opposition, often tackling the Nivelles players behind the gain line, allowing the Luxembourg team to keep playing on the front foot.
RCL continued to pile on the pressure and were winning the ball in a ruck, when a Nivelles player played the ball whilst on the ground. As the referee was about to award a penalty to RCL, Antoine Fontan who otherwise had a fine game on the open side, used his boot to clean out the ball, which the referee interpreted differently and branded a red card. A man down, and with time running out, captain Hamish Cullen and Conor Sutherland tried to their might to break the defence, but to no avail.
Heartbreakingly, in one of the last actions of the match, on a rare break out, Nivelles managed to evade the Luxembourg defence and score in the corner which could not be converted. Time had now run out and the Luxembourg team had to concede defeat in what had been a very good game for the Luxembourg team.

Final score: 12-3 to the league leaders Nivelles. RCL are playing at home against Le Far Est on January 28th and will be taking a lot of heart from this match against Nivelles.

Team: Charel Poppelaars, Luca Lentz, Gauthier Munch, Adrien Costa, Conor Sutherland, Valter Quieros, Antoine Fontan, Hamish Cullen (c), Robert Hopwood, William Cope, Andreas Hacker, Sacha Ernstberger, Henry Jazz, Charles Xavier Ramillon, Jack Dempsey