Big win for the 3s against Wasps!

After the 3s first game of 2025 got called off the week before due to frozen pitches, the 3s made their way down to Acton to face Wasps 2s. Wins had been few and far between for the 3s so it was important that they started the year off properly with a solid W. Strong starts were something that Hammers teams weren’t always known for, so it was nice to see Hammers putting the pressure on the Wasps try line early on and after a driving maul from a lineout, the ball was dotted down by the oldest man on the pitch (Rob “Luggage” Mckeon). Conversion missed and 5-0 to the Hammers. The 3’s were back on the attack soon after and after some slick hands from the backs, Serhii found himself with tin open space and crossed for the second try of the game. Conversion hit the cross bar and the score was 10-0 to the Hammers.

The message sent to the team was clear: lets keep the pressure on and don’t allow Wasps back into the game. What followed on was the complete opposite, with sloppy penalties allowing wasps easy access to the try line to make it 10-5. Not long later, Wasps were piling the pressure on the Hammers try line and scored their Second try of the game, and with the first successful conversion of the game, Wasps lead 12-10. One of the highlights was Serhii backtracking to cover a Wasps attack only for him to trip himself up and get a good laugh from the sidelines (video available on request). On the stroke of Half time Hammers stole a Wasps line out and instead of kicking the ball out, Arpad got himself his second dick of the day award of the season by doing a solo pick and go and almost getting turned over instead of allowing the ball to be kicked out. His first Dick of the Day came back in November when he was put in charge of picking up the Kit and decided to bring the womens kit instead of the mens kit.

HT H&F 10 – 12 Wasps

The second half started in similar fashion to the first half. From a scrum 5 meters out, Rob Hulmes (Debut) picket up the ball from the back of the scrum and powered over the line. With the conversion successful, Hammers were 17-12 up. Not long after the first score of the second half, Hammers found themselves back on the attack and Hammers found themselves going over the line for their forth try of the game through second row Oscar Newcombe. With the conversion missed the lead for the mighty 3s grew to 22-12.

Like with the first half, The Hammers turned off the pressure button and allowed Wasps back into the game with two more tries to be trailing 24-22. Not long after the second score of the half from Wasps, they almost got in for a third but thanks to a try saving tackle from Noam, the scoring opportunity was gone. With about 5 minutes to go, Hammers won a penalty just outside the wasps 22 and Danby stepped up to try and get the 3 points to put the boys back in front. Unfortunately, he pushed the ball just wide of the upright. The ball was kicked deep back into the Hammers half and the boys knew it was now or never to get the score to win the game. It was hen that Rob the younger found himself in space and ran down the left wing towards the Wasps 22. A few phases later and with the clock in the red, the 3s were awarded a penalty just outside the 22 in front of the posts. Danby stood up to take the shot at goal and was able to slot it to win the game 25-24.

The boys were battered and bruised, but enjoyed the sound of the final whistle. Man of the match went to George Riley for being an absolute tackling machine for 80 mins, winning turnovers at the break down as well as in the lineout. Notable mentions have to go to the front row trio of Luggage, Steve Danby and the worlds best ruck inspector Seb Money. Tom Kell controlled the game well at 10 on debut. The centre partnership of Oli Robinson and Harry Philipson also worked well with both on debut.