Rugby is back and boy, have we missed it! A cracking 1564 turned up at Goldington Road on Saturday afternoon as Bedford Blues got their pre-season campaign underway in a triangular tournament against Ampthill and Old Albanians.

Director of Rugby Mike Rayer made full use of his squad with 28 players being used across the two 40 minute games.

Being the politest of hosts, the Blues played up the slope in both encounters with the first being against Ampthill who were promoted to National One last season.

The Blues came out all guns firing and were award four quick penalties in the first four minutes. All made their way to touch through the boot of Myles Dorrian with the final one – on the Ampthill five metre line – resulting in a try for Hayden Thompson-Stringer. The Blues kicked on with a rolling maul and the dual-registered number 8 went over from close range but there was no need for conversions.

Bedford continued to dominate the early exchanges and showed plenty of power in the pack but were unable to turn chances into points. Mike Le Bourgeois had a couple of good efforts while Sam Blanchet looked lively out on the wing.

Ampthill came more and more into the game and gave the Blues an excellent work out in defence. Bedford were pegged back in their own 22 and following several pick and goes from the visitors pack, former Gloucester prop Aleki Lutui drove over from close range to level the scores.

Bedford stepped up the pace as the game entered its final stage and strung some excellent phases together through Peter White, Dorrian, Henry Staff and Dean Adamson, but Ampthill defended well and saw the game out 5-5.

After a short break, the Blues were back out with a different 15 ready to face James Shanahan’s Old Albanians and didn’t take too long for the opening try. Nick Fenton-Wells and Billy Harding linked up well before teh ball was sent along the Blues back line to Joel Conlon who dotted down in the corner.

Old Albanians went on the attack following the restart and put a lot of pressure on the Blues try line, but Bedford turned the ball over and set up an attack with Pat Tapley bursting ahead and then kicking on for Jordan Burns who outpaced everyone to OAs 5m line but couldn’t take in the ball as it bobbled from him.

It didn’t matter too much though as the Blues doubled the score line a few minutes later when Burns and Conlon linked well before Steffan Jones burst through to score.

Again, the visitors continued to press the Bues defence, but a handling error brought a decent looking attack to an end before Sam Blanchet and Piers O’Conor returned to the field in place of Myles Dorrian and Henry Staff.

Tapley was in attacking mode and his fellow winger Elliot Clements-Hill was throwing himself eagerly into every challenge and kick chase possible while Mark Flanagan was an imposing figure more than capable of disrupting any lineout or box kick.

Bedford’s third try came from a good Old Albanians attack which looked like a certain score before Jones made an excellent tackle and stripped the ball before popping it to Burns who showed a clean pair of heels and ran some 85 yards to score.

There was time for a restart and one more Bedford try with Harding again involved following a good break by Fenton-Wells. Harding drew the final defender before passing to Jones who still had ground to cover to score his second and the final of the afternoon.

All in all it was a great workout for the Blues and there will be plenty of positives to take from the games as well as a chance to identify areas that need more work. Bedford head off to Devon for a training camp and tough game against recently relegate Plymouth Albion next weekend.

COME ON YOU BLUES!!!

Starting line-ups:

v Ampthill: 15. Piers O’Conor, 14. Sam Blanchet, 13. Henry Staff, 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Myles Dorrian, 9. Peter White; 1. Camilo Parilli-Ocampo, 2. Sam James, 3. James Currie, 4. Mike Howard (c), 5. Harry Wells, 6. Justin Blanchet, 7. Josh Buggea, 8. Hayden Thomson-Stringer.

v Old Albanians: 15. Steffan Jones, 14. Pat Tapley, 13. Henry Staff(Piers O’Conor), 12. Myles Dorrian (Sam Blanchet), 11. Elliot Clement-Hill, 10. Jake Sharp, 9. Jordan Burns; 1. Jack Culverhouse, 2. Billy Harding, 3. Phil Boulton, 4. Paul Tupai, 5. Mark Flanagan, 6. Brian Tuilagi, 7. Nick Fenton Wells (c), 8. Joel Conlon.

Pictures courtesy of Nigel Rudgard – click here for more pictures