Heath travelled away to Worthing for the second Counties 2 league game of the season accompanied by the Rams who were playing on the next door pitch against Worthing 4s. A glorious sunny day on the coast greeted the teams as both games got underway with an early kick off given the RWC2023 schedule that evening.

On the main pitch Heath had a disastrous start, coughing up possession from the kick off and conceding a penalty that was kicked to the corner leading to a driving maul and an early 5-0 lead for Worthing.

With ball in hand Heath looked lively and spun the ball with adventure. However, despite two trips to the red zone the ball would not go to hand and they came away pointless. That failure to be ruthless with the ball was punished by Worthing who worked their way up to the other end of the pitch through a long kick and good forward play and then quickly moved the ball wide to score a second try for a 12-0 lead.

With a quarter gone an innocuous scrum to Worthing just inside their own half was taken against the head by Heath leading to important territory gain by way of a series of pick and goes. When the ball was moved to the backs fly half Tom Wharton found inside centre Christian Streeter running an inside line to carve his way under the posts. Wharton knocked over the extras for 12-7.

Although Heath now had a foothold in the game, a loss of concentration and some mediocre tackling saw Worthing pounce through the middle for a score and 19-7. Back Heath came playing their fast style of rugby and a quick tap penalty in the Worthing half went through fast hands for winger Cam Reed to go over in the corner for 19-12.

Heath had to make adjustments due to injury with skipper Wilf Bridges moving to centre being replaced at number 8 by Charlie Bennett. Another Worthing scrum, this time just outside their 22, was disrupted by a huge shove from the Heath pack allowing scrum half Jamie Thurston to nick the ball as it shot out and beat the covering defence to dot down in the left hand corner. Wharton banged over the conversion from out wide for 19-19 which remained the score at half time.

Ten minutes into the second half and a booming Worthing boot from their centre sent the ball into touch deep in Heath territory. An alert Will Galbraith-Gibbons at full back took a quick throw and ran the ball back before some sharp inter-passing down the left wing saw the impressive Takhy Ndiaye-Marrero acrobatically touch down in the corner for 19-24 and a hard-earned Heath lead.

Worthing tried to get some traction in the game by kicking for territory but an immense defensive effort from Heath kept them at bay. That defence was epitomised by a thunderous tackle in midfield from Bennett allowing Bridges to jackal and win the penalty that was kicked into the opposition half. A well taken lineout was moved to midfield where back row Otto Serjeant burst through the ruck, drew defenders and put supporting hooker Jack Herbert in position to outpace the home tacklers and score under the posts. Wharton converted for 19-31.

Worthing pressure and a score for their big centre who was a handful all day pulled the score back to 26-31 but Heath's defensive effort held out to the final whistle for another bonus point win which delighted the Heath coaches Martin McTaggart and Graham Childs.

On the adjacent pitch the Heath Rams dug deep against a bigger and very physical opposition to run away with a 22-52 victory. The pack fronted up very well and the backs showed some fabulous running with ball in hand to carve out regular opportunities to score. Tries for Fraser Russell, Austin Adams, Oli Schlup, Charlie Fenwick as well as two each for Sam Walker and debutant colt Ollie Simpson, together with a hatful of conversions for Josh Mann, saw the Rams to a well-deserved victory. Great camaraderie between the two Heath teams made the trip south enjoyable for all and a return to the Clubhouse for England v Chile gave the squad even more to celebrate. Anyone looking to get back into rugby, whatever age or ability, should contact rugby@hhrfc.co.uk or go along to the next live RWC2023 England match being screened in the Clubhouse at Whitemans Green – all welcome.

1st XV squad : Joe Elyas; Will Purdy; Seb Broster; Dan Shotton; Ellis Dubois; Otto Serjeant; Ben Eustace; Wilf Bridges(capt); Jamie Thurston; Tom Wharton; Takhy Ndiaye-Marrero; Christian Streeter; Chris Neill; Cameron Reed; Will Galbraith-Gibbons; Jack Herbert; Harry Edwards; Charlie Bennett

Rams Squad: Martin McDonagh (capt); Flinn Herbert; Badders, Henry Dickson; Charlie Fenwick; Elliott Higgin;Tom Smith; Angus Tranter; Sam Walker; Fraser Russell; Jacob Golbey; Charlie Richardson; Josh Mann; Henry Starkey; Charlie Freeman; Oli Schlup; Austin Adams; Ollie Simpson