The last Oranje series of the year had arrived on a sunny day in Amsterdam. The home team, Amsterdam Touch, played host and turned up with a very strong squad. In total seven teams from across the Netherlands were registered to play in what was going to be a fiercely competitive series.
We started off our day against the Lowlanders Touch, a somewhat new Touch club who are still finding their footing this great game, meaning there was a bit of a power mismatch. The story from last Oranje series that we really had to grow into the tournament was not applicable this time, as right out of the gate we managed to score 4 tries in quick succession. Afterwards, some mistakes started creeping in and we had to work harder for our scores, while the Lowlanders also started threatening our line more. We still managed to score two more tries down and keep them out, ending the game at 6-0.
We were going to need the confidence we built up from the previous game, as Amsterdam touch was our next opponent. Unfortunately, any semblance of confidence we might have had was quickly squashed, as Amsterdam put two quick scores on us due to some defensive errors. After that we managed to clean up our game and it became much more of an arm wrestle, but unfortunately the damage had already been done, with a 2-4 final score.
No time to mourn the previous game, as we had to go straight into our 3rd game in a row, this time against Eindhoven touch. You could see the game against Amsterdam was still in our heads, as we had a lot of trouble getting into this one. Luckily as the game progressed we gained some of our mojo back, and managed to score some really nice tries from midfield. Final score: 5-1.
As if having to play four games in a row was not enough, our very own Brad decided that assist the team he co-coaches, and complimented our next opponents Rotterdam Touch. With his slick skills and giving momentum and leadership to our southern rivals, we dug deep and grind our a 3-1 victory.
After finally getting a much needed break our next opponent was another rival but this time from the midlands – it was Utrecht Touch. After a much needed break, it took time to get back into our rhythm. Our sub-box moves were poor, and drives getting up the pitch were far too slow and inevitably Utrecht took an early lead. We quickly responded to draw level and subsequently rediscovered the form from previous games, ultimately winning 4-1.
The final game was against the Barbarians team, comprising of players from Enschede, Hermes, and Eemland. These are all clubs new on the Touch scene, which is great to see as the sport is finding its footing in the Netherlands. We also got some great reinforcements for this game as our very own Moses from the youth group joining us, as well as Maud from Amsterdam Touch. The game ended up being a fun and open game with some nice scores from both sides, ending at 7-2.
So that was the last Oranje series of the year, probably not the result we wanted and we have plenty to think about from our loss to Amsterdam. What more motivation for HRC Touch as we defend our title in the the Dutch Cup on 6 June!
