Twickenham held in fine finish

12:10pm Thursday 24th April 2008

Twickenham 5 London New Zealand 5

Twickenham captain Charlie I'Anson was doubly unfortunate on Saturday having turned an ankle warming up he was then unable to partake in Twickenham's best game this season by far. The foundation was built on the front row with prop Greg Bustin and hooker Michael Nicholson not conceding an inch to the opposition, ably supported by the strength and mobility of tight head Richard Moses. Stewart Ware and Adam Wakefield, playing his best ever game for Ts, took their fair share of lineout ball and drove good distance with ball in hand. The back row of Micky Dever, Dougie Stewart and Andy Keane, who punches way above his weight, made life difficult for the visitors and kept them on the back foot with a series of hard tackles and drives. Behind the pack scrum half Ben Smith looked very comfortable and was sharp with his passing while stand off Jimmy Peters, safe rather than spectacular, gave plenty of ball to the backs. Inside centre Phil Moses started as he carried on leaving his opposite number flat on his backside after a futile attempt to tackle him. Phil Astbury had his usual good game and was supported well by the back three of Anthony Sharp, Aaron Beasley and Rupert Freeman, who was the Twickenham try scorer after the sixtieth minute when he cut through a number of defenders to score in the corner. It was not as if the New Zealanders just rolled over and gave up. They added in equal measure to the fantastic match and came back to even the scores in the final minutes of the game. Twickenham: R.Moses, M.Nicholson, G.Bustin, A.Wakefield, S.Ware, A.Keane (P.Wadden), D.Stewart, M.Dever, B.Smith, J.Peters (A.Wadden), P.Moses, P.Astbury, R.Freeman, A.Sharp, A.Beasley.

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