New Milton RFC beaten 101-0 at Portsmouth in Counties 1 Hampshire

It was a day to forget for New Milton Rugby Club in Counties 1 Hampshire on Saturday.

New Milton were beaten 101-0 at Portsmouth, who reached treble figures for only the second time in their history.

The tone was set after three minutes when a scrum penalty was marched forward 10 yards for dissent before a kick to the five-metre line was well-defended. A forward pass in the build-up was then missed and Bryn Rainford scored an unconverted try in the corner.

Two minutes later, New Milton lost their scrum in the middle of the field and after a couple of scrappy kick-ons, the ball was touched down and within the first 10 minutes, Portsmouth had scored two further tries.

New Milton never really got their hands on the ball and when they did they were isolated. Although Portsmouth were bigger and stronger, they got the rub of the green with their next try before many missed tackles from the kick-off resulted in another touchdown.

Trailing 49-0 at half-time, it took just 20 seconds for Portsmouth to add their first second-half try as a tough afternoon was only getting worse.

Some good defending prevented Pompey scoring in the corner, only for the resulting goal line drop out to fall straight to a home player to score. New Milton were rarely out of their half and when they did emerge, Portsmouth somehow managed to work the ball the length of the field to score.

Although they never gave up trying, New Milton were just unable to compete in all positions across the field. Each restart kick resulted in Pompey quickly regaining possession, working the ball for a try, and then starting the process over again.

New Milton will be grateful for a rest weekend before returning to action at home to Basingstoke on Saturday, March 1.

There was better news for New Milton 2nds, who won 39-19 at Portsmouth 3rds in Hampshire Premiership South.