Century Win Moves Avon 4th

The newly promoted Barbarians were ruthlessly exposed with half of last season’s successful team retiring or moving on to other clubs and felt the full force of an inspired Avon performance as they ran in 18 tries in a rampant performance where everything clicked into place.

With Alex Gapper and Tom Boreham pulling the strings at half back and Will Hayward putting in an immense shift in the loose, Avon had a constantly supply of front foot possession which they exploited with a mixture of powerful running and deft offloads.

The main beneficiaries were Zak Harwood with 4 tries in a man-of-the-match performance at centre and Xander Davis who celebrated his 20th birthday with another 4 try haul. Debutant Iain Parris also marked his debut with a hat-trick of tries on the wing. Another landmark was set as the 3 Book brothers also scored a try each in the same game for the first time in their careers as hooker Sam, prop Kane and skipper Scott all touched down over the whitewash.

Despite the Baa-Baas never giving up tackling, Avon led by 41 points at the interval as their powerful runners sucked in their opponents defence before utilising the gaps out wide to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Playing down the slope in the second half, Avon continued in the same vein with a devastating display of multi-phase support which yielded further tries for Chas Meddick, Dan Griffin, Ian Burnell and Jonny Batchelor who also added 6 conversions.

To their credit, the Baa-Baas continued to put in a spirited performance to the final whistle and scored an excellent consolation try after a mazy run through midfield. Tom Boreham (2) and Zak Harwood also added conversions to complete the scoring to lift Avon to 4th place in the league. Josh Harding-Wyatt also played.

Meanwhile Avon 2nds launched their campaign against Frome 3rds in the Bath Combination Merit Table. Playing an 11 a side match in line with the ethos of the competition, Avon lost by 38-5 but welcomed back Steve Ealey from Australia and also new South African prop Wayne Geerts.