TringRugby get off to a flyer as Luton are given a mauling

It was a fairly even encounter for the first 10 minutes but, as time wore on, Tring started to dominate in the set pice with winger Tom Ward being put away in the corner to get his side on the scoreboard.

Before half-time, Tring had extended their lead to 21-7 after tries from Gayton and Liam Chennells, while the only score from Luton came from a clever interception from number 8 Michael Weston.

After the break Tring extended their lead with tries from Gayton, Criddle and Chennells; Criddle’s try being a clever kick and chase to score under the posts.

All the tries were converted – five by Newton and the last by Chennells who won man of the match for some strong defence, clever running lines and his two tries.

Tring showed excellent defence throughout the game which, apart from the intercept, was never breached.

Elsewhere, the Tring second XV took a mixture of youth and experience to Hemel Hempstead looking to capitalise on the hard work put into pre-season.

Tring played most of the first 30 minutes defending in their own half through penalties and poor ball retention.

Their first trip to Hemel’s half was rewarded, though, via great phase play which pulled in Hemel’s defensive line and unleashed Johan Rheeder to score in the corner; this was converted by Mitchell.

Tring continued applying pressure straight from the restart, and Dan Fay turned on the gas for a sprint to the try line. Mitchell converted as Tring ended the first half 14-0 ahead.

The second half changes came into play and Tring gave away too many penalties, finding themselves under pressure from the Hemel pack.

Hemel capitalised on this and scored a try under the posts which they converted.

Tring continued to put themselves under pressure and, after playing some good rugby, Hemel intercepted a pass in their 22 and sprinted towards Tring’s try line. Mitchell managed to chase them down, but Hemel had good support and scored in the corner. The conversion was missed, making the score 14-12 with 25 minutes left.

However, Tring regrouped and Charlie Goss-Lambourne raced down the wing from the halfway line to score. Mitchell was unable to convert.

Tring continued to build on their hard work and, when Tom Geere took a quick penalty on Hemel try line and scored under the posts, Mitchell converted for 26-12.

Soon afterwards, Joe Oaks drove low and hard into a tired defence, with Mitchell converting to win the game 33-12.

Tring also hosted an inter club pre-RWC warm up game between Tring England and Tring Barbarians.

A free-flowing match with lots of tries and not a lot of tackling ensued, with Barbarians running out 51-42 winners. Try of the match was scored by old boy Mike Ward who managed a 50m sprint to the line without pulling his hamstring.

Tring Rugby welcomes players of all standards; training for the serious ones on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, and touch for the not so serious ones on Tuesday at 7pm followed by darts in the bar.