14 - 39

Our squad, wearing our brand new kit (Thanks to Alexander Auld for the picture)

Uppsala kicked off their season with a 14-39 victory over the hosts Attila.

All the preparations had been made to make us as physically and mentally ready for this moment.

A gruelling preseason fitness program led by Jorge Campos, training sessions with experienced campaigners Vance Thomsen and Pascal Rapon plus a great tour to Trelleborg... Uppsala felt ready and confident.

As the game kicked off, Uppsala felt confident and took control early on, applying the pressure and through the trusty boot of Luke Perrin we scored our first 3 points of the season. Uppsala were over eager and that manifested itself into an array of penalties that had the potential to throw the game into a full on meltdown. Our Pleb of the year for 2014, prop Ryan Mintz  was sent to the sin-bin for a mistimed yet not malicious tackle on an Attila player.

The penalties continued to mount and for a while Uppsala as a whole seemed to be falling apart and panicking. The leadership of Erik Wärnberg allowed us to calm down and get back to basics, thinking clear under pressure. Our scrum-half Dan Naylor started bringing the burly frames of Adam Lund and Danny Ghazi into the crash balls and both kept on making the hard yards count, time and time again sucking in their forwards until an overlap appeared and the creativity of the backs, led by the vision of Tim Dodd and the sheer pace of Luke Perrin brought home our first try of the season. 

Even though we conceded 16 penalties in our first half and played with 14 men for 10 minutes, we didn't panic when the half time score read 8-7 in our favour. It was clear that at below our best we still contained the game and absorbed everything Atilla had thrown at us. 

The second half was a tale of Uppsala. Phillip Denbaum was everywhere and his combination with Danny in the second row clicked in the second half and when it wasn't Phillip it was Danny who was carrying violently through their defenders. The mobility around the park and tenacity of giant prop Peter J. Andersson won us many turnovers which allowed us to retain control and play our own game. Uppsala slowed themselves down, got into a rhythm and took over the game with instinct and discipline. 

The ferocious hitting of relentless flanker Jeremy Shore and Ryan took the air out of the opposition. At one point the recipient congratulating them on the devastating hit he took!

Our fullback Alberto made metres with every carry, running great lines that both confused the opposition and delighted the spectators. Centre Elliot Piper continued with his usual hard running style, slick distribution and brutal tackling holding the midfield as a no-go zone. Nils Fredrik returned to us from a season in the Scottish leagues and his improvement has been vast.

In any case, It was number 8 Stewart’s clever interlinking between backs and forwards that allowed for the game plan to work. His involvement so vital it was highlighted by the greedy bastard’s scoring a brace of tries and setting up another one for Luke Perrin.

With the game secure coach Thomsen rolled in the changes. It was great to see all the boys getting involved and none more so than our canadian carrier Sam Blyth who scored a try on debut from a beautifully executed drive ball from a line out.

The fitness levels proved a key component and what was noticeably different this time around was our ability to keep the foot on the pedal and not be afraid of winning. Uppsala kept at it and at it and at it. When the game seemed like stalling the players picked it up a gear and just kept smashing, bashing and running everything. 

The boys' ability to adapt and not panic is the real credit here. It allowed us to asse the problem,  address the problem, implement the changes necessary and improve the execution. So simple yet so hard. Credit goes to our leaders who inspired it and to the players who made it happen.