Baleares U16 and U18 face Madrid in Spanish Autonomous Tournament

Nonetheless the U16 home team began the match well, showing their strength in the scrums and putting pressure on the visitors. Unfortunately the Baleares defence wasn’t able to keep the Madrid three quarters players away from the try line and by half time the score was 0 points to 44. As replacements were made during the second half with less experienced players for the home team the scoreline crept up and finished with a resounding victory for Madrid by 0 points to 96.

The U18 Baleares team fared a little better, although it was expected that the match go the same way as their younger counterparts. The U18 team however were better able to keep up with their opponent’s pace and intensity and were able to score some points. The final score was a win for Madrid by 24 points to 46 although this wasn’t totally representative of the effort put in by the Baleares U18 players.

Baleares Senior League
The Men’s Senior league continued with games between TRUC Menorca and RC Ponent in Minorca on Saturday. The home team have several new faces recently joined them and their effort paid off throughout the first half of the game with a 7 points to 10 score early on. RC Ponent dominated the match throughout and, although Menorca put up a good fight, stretched the score to 22 ahead by half time. At the beginning of the second half the home team again applied the pressure but were unable to make headway, partly due to the lack of replacements, and the visitors won by a big margin of 7 points to 77. As always in Minorca the players appreciated the camaraderie shown by the Minorcan players and supporters.

Bahia RC faced the combined Corsaris RC and Dimonis RFC who, this season have joined forces to be sure of presenting a complete team. In a competitive game the teams were evenly matched for most of the time, reaching a tie of 17 points each shortly after the half-time break.The impasse continued throughout most of the second half with neither team able to break through the solid defence. The home team, although with fewer replacements, finally scored in the closing minutes of the match to take the win by 27 points to 17.

For the El Toro RC players against Ibiza RC the game was also very intense as always against this team. The visitors applied the pressure from the beginning and with consistent effort were ahead by half time with 10 points to 33. The home team changed tactics and their forwards were far more involved throughout the second half forcing mistakes and penalties from their opposition and allowing the scoreboard to turn in their favour. In the closing minutes El Toro RC were still just ahead and a converted try took the score to a one point difference in the home team’s favour.

U14 League
The second game in the U14 league between El Toro RC and RC Ponent took place on Saturday with both teams putting up a strong performance and giving an exciting match for the spectators. The difference was that the home team took possession for a large part of the game and were able to use this to score points. RC Ponent defended well and were also able to push through to the try line, scoring 31 points to El Toro RC’s 38. Mistakes were made by both teams, however there is plenty of the season left for these to be worked on.

Coming up:
Next weekend Babarians XV have a tough game away against CP LAs Abelles in Valencia on Saturday.

The third round of the Baleares Senior League sees games between Shamrock RC and Ibiza RC in Son Roca, El Toro RC meet RC Ponent in Son Caliu and Bahia RC are at home to Menorca TRUC. and Bahia RC are due to play Union RFC. The youngsters have a Rugby Day in Son Roca on Saturday.