Sat 22 Nov 2025
Time was, a Marlborough 2nd XV journeying to Devizes would be playing their 3rd XV and wallowing about in the mud on the pitch right at the back of the Sports Centre... oh, how times have changed!
Now competing at Counties 1, our Nomads face off against the Devizes 1st XV and can be very proud of their appearances at this level, having been promoted last year, winning the league to boot!
But it does mean we now come up against some pretty slick squads, and the Devizes 1st XV is no exception. From the off, they had the better of us - pushed back in the slippery conditions from the kcik-off and failing to clear, we were punished with a soft try by the men in black and it looked like it could be difficult afternoon...
So it was! Try as we might, we couldn't find the gears and failed to get any proper, flowing rugby going. We lacked on-field coordination and our kicking and decison-making was not good enough. There were some really good individual performances, notably: in the forwards by Frank Diggins, Ed Mills, and Conner Pacey (who had to move to scrum-half...!); and in the backs by Freddie Allen and Taine Pollinger, although the latter went off injured in the first half...
Our scrum was dominant, but we failed to capitalise on the decent ball and all too often spilled it in contact or found the ball-carrier isolated and were turned over. Devizes had some very swift running backs and they got beyond the gainline and into our 22 frequently and often.
We were not performing as a team of fifteen and, despite some moments when it looked like we could start to claw back a little bit of the deficit, the overall effort was insufficient and our skills were lacking in the face of a determined 1st XV.
The final score of Devizes 1st XV 63-0 Marlborough Rugby 2nd XV belies the never-say-die attitude the boys displayed - the heads never went down and everyone on that team did their best under the circumstances.
Rugby is a funny old game at times and this team is comprised of very resilient players. They will bounce back, find their form again, and prove that promotion was justified and that this is their natural level. Come on, you Nomads!
Above: the team takes to the field...
Below: line-out...
Bottom: scrum time...!
