All Blacks lose Sussex Shield final

By The Newsroom
Published 29th May 2017, 22:40 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 03:24 BST
Burgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve BlanthornBurgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve Blanthorn
Burgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve Blanthorn
Last Saturday Burgess Hill RFC, the Sussex All Blacks travelled to East Grinstead RFC to face Kent 1 champions Hastings and Bexhill RFC in the Sussex Shield final.

Having beaten Sussex 1 champions Crawley at the end of March the build up to the final had been some time coming with seven weeks without a game.

Having lost to H&B in the national cup regional quarter final earlier in the season the All Blacks came into the game as the underdog.

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The All Blacks selected a strong squad of 22 and wore their 7s kit in aid of the hot, dry and sunny conditions.

Burgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve BlanthornBurgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve Blanthorn
Burgess Hill v Hastings and Bexhill in Sussex Shield Final. Picture by Steve Blanthorn

The first half was a tense affair with both teams struggling to create anything with both defences putting in crunching tackles. All Blacks fly half Owain Jenkins (OJ) was giving a master class in territory rugby pinning back the dangerous H&B back three. In retaliation the H&B back row were racking up metres with ball in hand and were turning over ruck ball.

The first score came following a kick return by All Blacks winger John Rainima who beat the first defender before being tackled by 2 players. At the ruck the H&B forwards swarmed in and turned over the ball. The turnover caused much confusion in the All Blacks line and a slick break by the H&B centre saw their prop score i