Sat 11 Oct 2025
It's early in the season, and we are still settling in with our senior men's squad. The team for the 1st XV's big home game against Sidmouth needed to be as strong as possible, and so it was that Marlborough took a very young and inexperienced 2nd XV to face Corsham on Saturday 11 October.
To give you all an idea, eight of the starters are playing their first season of senior rugby and, whilst this speaks volumes for the ever-improving pull-through from our Colts, it adds a certain amount of pressure when the boys travel to play other club's 1st XVs. In addtion, we had two Club debuts - for Ali Edington and for 19-year-old Max Khawaja, the latter only joined the Club last Tuesday! Although Max did give us a glimpse of what we can look forward to in the future, coming off the bench onto the wing and showcasing a magnificent side-stepping and tackle-breaking run that set up a try for full-back, Rustee Kalouniviti.
We had experience in team captain, Seb Grew, albeit he was playing out of position at Number 8 - he normally lines up in the centres. And Club stalwarts Adam (and son Bradley) Whatley and Stu (and son Ed) Mills always add much-needed rugby nouse on the field. Those former Colts who are now playing in their second or third season with the senior men are growing into their boots in tremendous fashion.
But on the whole the Marlborough Nomads were out-muscled, particularly in the forwards, by a larger and more experienced Corsham team. The boys' efforts were not helped by match-ending injuries to four players, which (once we had used all the substitutes) meant we had to play the final quarter with only fourteen men!
The coaching staff and team management are keen to point out the highlights for this young team: Max Khawaja's run to set up the first try - when the backs did get some ball they caused Corsham some problems; our scrum-half, Josefa Rokoua, scored a very good individual try, picking up from the back of the scrum and running in from 25 metres; and - most pleasingly for a young team very much "under the pump" - none of these men let their heads drop and all of them fought to the end.
Final Score: Corsham 1st XV 69 - 10 Marlborough 2nd XV
To give you all an idea, eight of the starters are playing their first season of senior rugby and, whilst this speaks volumes for the ever-improving pull-through from our Colts, it adds a certain amount of pressure when the boys travel to play other club's 1st XVs. In addtion, we had two Club debuts - for Ali Edington and for 19-year-old Max Khawaja, the latter only joined the Club last Tuesday! Although Max did give us a glimpse of what we can look forward to in the future, coming off the bench onto the wing and showcasing a magnificent side-stepping and tackle-breaking run that set up a try for full-back, Rustee Kalouniviti.
We had experience in team captain, Seb Grew, albeit he was playing out of position at Number 8 - he normally lines up in the centres. And Club stalwarts Adam (and son Bradley) Whatley and Stu (and son Ed) Mills always add much-needed rugby nouse on the field. Those former Colts who are now playing in their second or third season with the senior men are growing into their boots in tremendous fashion.
But on the whole the Marlborough Nomads were out-muscled, particularly in the forwards, by a larger and more experienced Corsham team. The boys' efforts were not helped by match-ending injuries to four players, which (once we had used all the substitutes) meant we had to play the final quarter with only fourteen men!
The coaching staff and team management are keen to point out the highlights for this young team: Max Khawaja's run to set up the first try - when the backs did get some ball they caused Corsham some problems; our scrum-half, Josefa Rokoua, scored a very good individual try, picking up from the back of the scrum and running in from 25 metres; and - most pleasingly for a young team very much "under the pump" - none of these men let their heads drop and all of them fought to the end.
Final Score: Corsham 1st XV 69 - 10 Marlborough 2nd XV
