A beautiful day for rugby at Stormont and the first run out on the front pitches following the closure of the cricket season.

A young Service team took the field with an average age under 25, that is a stunning fact, especially considering the squad included Hoskins, Morgan and Murray. Indeed youth and excitement are two key parts of our growing numbers at training and we continue to welcome more new faces weekly.

The game itself started with an unfortunate error as Service sliced a kick off into the wind and the ball failed to cross the 10 before being played. Indeed an early opportunity for those in the pack to show the work they have been putting in at training focusing on their set piece.

The opening 10 minutes saw both side jabbing like experienced boxers probing one another. It was Cavan who eventually slipped through the defence first and dotted down. Service guilty of spurning chance after chance did manage to cross the line before the half making it 7-21 as the referee blew for the break.

The second half was a 'colourful affair,' as one Cavan player described it after the game. Indeed yellow was the colour most seen as the referee was penalising ill discipline on both sides with card after card as the game broke down.

Flashes of brilliance and determination from the younger Service side and a special mention for Dave Houston on debut at no. 8, he flew about the pitch like a gazelle hunting down the opposition and made several breaks in attack. Sadly a lack of consistency saw the visitors march on to claim a 12 - 40 victory, their reward for clinical punishment on any Service error.

The sidelines, full of people, saw the great potential of this squad and are rightly excited to watch what they can achieve going forward, especially with improved availability of the many who were on the sidelines

Civil Service (NI) RFC

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