I am sure that everyone at Colchester Rugby Club on Saturday will join me in thanking Lee Soper for the speech he made before the club lunch and the tribute he led on the pitch before our 1st XV kicked off against Old Priorians. It was an emotional moment and a stark reminder of the sacrifices and risks our armed forces willingly accept so we can live our lives in freedom.

On the pitch, it was a game of two halves. With a 19-0 half time lead a big score and a bonus point win looked on the cards, but Old Priorians came back hard in the second half and their backline threatened to make a comeback that looked very unlikely at half time. Despite an admirable fightback, our forwards staged a strong driving line out in the final quarter of the game and Eli Castle bagged his second try and seized the four-try bonus point and, ultimately, secured the win.

After conceding a raft of largely avoidable penalties early in the game (including a ten-minute spell in the sin bin for Matt Wadling) the deadlock was broken by a well worked try from Will Brown. The try originated from a line out and five-phase move when George Liversidge found some space on the right flank after Man of the Match Joe Beckett ran interference and consequently opened a channel for Brown to exploit with his blistering turn of speed. This move showed the virtues of Brown's pace and the often "unseen" work that loose forwards like Dan Whiteman, and in this case Joe Beckett, do for the team.

After starting the game largely in defensive mode, by the fifteenth minute the pack wrestled control of proceedings and then began to dominate their opponents in almost every aspect of the game; they were especially dominant in the scrum and it was soon abundantly clear that the front row of Mitchell, Hartley and McMillan would be able to exploit this advantage in the Priorians "red zone" and a seven-point penalty try in the 20th minute reflected this dominance. In the last three games our scrum has looked rock solid and, in my opinion, the the best front row in the league. At this level it is rare to have a front row that can dominate a scrummage with such assurance, yet also contribute so much to open play. The coaches have arrived at a front row that is balanced and very much a reflection of the skills and attributes of the personnel. James Mitchell at tight head provides the solid base and driving point in order to prevent the oppositions surge. The tight head has both shoulders fully engaged into the scrummage so they have to maintain a straight and square line on their opponents in order to avoid conceding penalties. Joe McMillan has the right frame, skills and attitude for a loose head prop. Typically, the loose head will have more of an 'open' role around the pitch and because they engage with just one shoulder they have the freedom to look for gaps and chinks in their opponents front row to generally disrupt, aggravate and needle their opposition!

Another high point in the game was provided by the 'evergreen' Eli Castle! Eli bagged a brace of tries and his return has not only increased the carrying options, but it has added experience and drive to the structure and organisation of the side. Eli was a serious contender for Man of the Match, but this week Joe Beckett got the Milsoms Restaurant Voucher and Prosecco from Nethergate Wines for his ability to read the game and disrupt the opposition and their possession with his energy and tackling. Unfortunately Joe picked up a hand injury during the game and will now need to take a back seat for a couple of weeks in order to heal up.

The scores from London North 1 this weekend threw up one very interesting result; seventh placed Fullerians inflicted a shock defeat on Amersham and Chiltern. This result means that we move up to third place in the table, five points behind second place Brentwood. With Brentwood taking on Chingford in two weeks time and our trip to Amersham on the same day, there is an opportunity narrow that gap and force some changes in the top 4.

This season, results in London 1 have been rather unpredictable and I think this is largely down to player availability. Every squad possesses some very capable players, but keeping them fit, on the pitch and available to play is not always straightforward! Almost any team in this division who can field a fully fit, first choice 18 will offer serious resistance and cause one or two upsets. The adaptations to the laws of the game have also resulted in an increase in the number of red and yellow cards which, in turn, can influence availability. Referee's and their interpretation of what makes a 'safe' tackle appear less than consistent at the moment. So far this season I have seen some incredibly dangerous tackles go unpunished and largely ignored, whereas some safe, albeit robust tackles, have been instantaneously penalised. It will take some time for these changes to embed, but then it is highly likely that the IRB will introduce more adaptations to the laws of the game next season! It's not an easy situation, but players must simply learn to adapt.