As a mark of respect, both teams held a minute’s silence before the game in memory of the young Crusader’s player that sadly passed at the age of 18yrs. As a further mark of respect, neither side wore the 18 shirt.

The atmosphere was one of reflection and unity, with players, coaches, and spectators all participating in a heartfelt tribute. The gesture highlighted the strong sense of community and solidarity within the rugby family, reminding everyone of the values that underpin the sport.

Once the game got underway, Norwich quickly found themselves up three tries to nil. Crusaders responded with two quick tries of their own before, on the 30min mark, a minor altercation led to a scuffle, that ended with one player from both sides seeing yellow (Luke Furness).

Half time score = Lions 33 – 12 Crus 2’s

As the second half got underway, due to injuries to a couple of Crusaders players, Norwich lent them Oliver Wipp.

The Lions refocused after the break and soon extended their lead considerably.

 Roughly halfway through the second half Crusaders opted to play for another 10mins and conceded the game. The Lions went on again to score a couple more tries before Oliver Wipp went over to score for Crusaders.

A further Crusaders injury saw Olli Youngs don the Crusaders shirt for the last few minutes of the game. Lions scored 11 tries and Man of the match, Charlie Proffit getting 9 of the 11 conversions.

Final score = Lions 73 – 17 Crus 2’s

Graham Furness' report:

Crusaders kicked off and for the first 5 minutes or so the packs got to know each other.

From a scrum the ball was worked out to Vunivosa who kicked over the crusaders defence, Laverua kicked it on and collected the kind bounce of the ball to score under the posts. Charlie profit converted.  7- 0.

Shortly afterwards a ruck developed and Ollie Youngs emerged with the ball. He broke through a couple of challenges to score. Charlie converts 14 – 0.

Next up from a lineout, the ball was worked through several pairs of Norwich hands, ending up with Patryk who scored out wide. No conversion. 19 – 0.

Norwich won a scrum and, as the ball was passed, the receiver dropped it, Charlie Proffit alive to the danger tried to kick it clear. However the ball hit a Crusaders player and fell over the line. A nearby Crusaders player touched it down. Phil O’Brien converted. 19 – 7.

Crusaders had their tails up at this point and another break found them about a metre out. Norwich took the ball carrier into touch and some Norwich players seemed concerned about an apparent injury to a Crusaders player. Crusaders took a quick line out and scored. No conversion. 19 – 12.

Norwich scored next through Patryk under the posts from a break. Charlie converted. 26 – 12.

Norwich then took a quick line out, with Roko kicking it up field for Lav to chase. He collected the ball and passed to Charlie Proffit to score under the posts. He converted his own try. 33- 12 at half time. 

From a scrum, shortly after the restart, deep in the Crusaders half, Captain Mak Dorsett picked up from the back to score. Charlie converted. 40 – 12.

The next move saw new player and debutant, Archie Gibbs making great ground, breaking 3 challenges before passing to Nas who whistled away to score under the posts. Charlie converts. 47 – 12.

A lovely move involving several players followed, Alfie Barnes broke clear and offloaded to Mak who was upended by Rout. He passed back to Alfie who in turn passed to Luke to score. Charlie converted 54 – 12.

Crusaders lost a player so Ollie Whipp moved over to Crusaders and Tyler Westgate came on for Whipp.

The said Ollie Whipp then scored against us, going over out wide. No conversion. 54 – 17.

Crusaders lost another man to injury so the recently replaced Ollie Youngs went on as a back for the yellow and greens.

New player, Alex Fisher also went on for his debut. Luke F broke clear and passed to Alfie B in the tackle, for Alfie to score, favour returned. Charlie converts. 61 – 17.

Crusaders were visibly tiring at this stage and 2 more quick tries followed after long searching runs. The first was for Harvey Wilson , converted by Proffit. The last was a second for Nas, no conversion. 73 -17.

The game was called off 10 minutes early after Crusaders picked up a couple more knocks.

Full Time   73 – 17

Another good solid performance by the Lions. Three new players in their first games all did well, but this was very much a team performance, with every player doing their jobs well.

I thought Charlie Proffit’s shouted instructions and advice from Full back were a good addition to our game and I also noticed Dom Millward- Stone having a good game, relishing the front row and again our scrum work was strong.

It may be a long break until the next one, but  a friendly is trying to be arranged.

Thanks to Crusaders for the game, to the referee and finally to Justine and her team in the kitchen for the post match meal.

Man of the Match : Charlie Proffit

Dick of the Day : Ollie Whipp 

Team in Number order (1-15) Archie Gibbs, Oli Youngs, Dom M-S, Ollie Whipp, Eroni Drodrolagi, Jack Dampier, Luke Furness, Mak Dorsett, Alfie Barnes, Emosi Vunivosa, Joe Bisset, Jake Bailey, Ratu Laverva ( Lav ), Patryk Golebiowski, Charlie Proffit. Subs : ( all used ) Eroni Drodrolagi, Harvey Wilson, Alipate Rokova, Fyn Youngs, Alex Fisher , Sano Nasokidi ( Nas)

Graham Furness