Holt hat-trick helps Holbrook to a dominant defeat of Rye

Over 40 past players and guests enjoyed a great lunch before taking to the sidelines in North Heath Lane to watch the match in good conditions on a perfect pitch.

Hosts Holbrook started the quicker, scoring an early try by Danny Conway, who burst through the defence from a few yards out.

Holbrook started to dominate proceedings, both in the pack and out wide and it wasn’t too long before the crowd had another score to cheer. A scrum to Holbrook 10m out saw the Rye players capitulate and Simon Ley, playing at 8 took his opportunity to pick up the ball and drive off the back to dive over the line.

Rye bounced back with a try almost immediately as Holbrook switched off, missing a vital tackle that saw them convert from beneath the posts.

It was probably the wake up call that Holbrook needed and they played with a sense of confidence, control and belief that has occasionally been in short supply this season.

A terrific line-out just inside the 22 saw a finger tip catch by Tom Bouet, who threw a ball off the top to scrum half Jamie Boon. Jamie quickly released Nick Holt, who took the ball at pace to step inside two players and score on the stretch. It was the best try of the day and put Holbrook 15-7 ahead at half-time.

Holbrook continued to press Rye in the second half with some good moves and a dominant pack.

Nick Holt scored his second from a switch by Paul Davey from inside the 22, and sensing a big win, Holt scored his third with a kick through on a loose ball. And though Rye managed a second try of the game, further Holbrook scores came from Harry Swetman and Glenn Westoby as the home side ran out convincing 41-14 winners.