The Raleigh Redhawks finally opened their 15s season this past Saturday, playing against rivals the Raleigh Rattlesnakes, and coming away convincing winners.

The Redhawks were scheduled to play their first 15s game about a month ago but a non-rugby-related COVID infection among two players in the team forced the Redhawks to withdraw from that event.

So ready to play in mid-February they have had to wait until now to actually get going and play their first match in a year.

As expected the teams were excited to play but the timing of their passes and accuracy in execution was somewhat lacking. In the early going, several overlaps and sure scoring opportunities were lost due to off-target passes. But as the game progressed, the Redhawks started to piece it together. After some sloppy early play, they settled down on their way to a 9-1 try advantage, finishing with a commanding 56-5 victory. The coaches said they were especially pleased with a five-minute goalline defensive stand put in near the end of the game, when several of the reserve forwards were on the pitch. A determined and quite large Rattlesnake forward pack bashed against the Redhawks line but were turned back repeatedly. Finally the Redhawks forced a turnover, got the ball to fyhalf Aidan Laros, who kicked clear. The Redhawks then pressured themselves and scored the final try of the game to end the contest.

Particularly impressive for the Redhawks was freshman flanker Jack Netherland, who was a tackling and rucking machine, and senior lock Cam Wilson, who covered the park like a third flanker, constantly finding work. In the backs, junior wing Jaylen Webster scored four tries, with some simply outpacing his opposite and others making multiple defenders miss. Picking up where he left off last year, senior captain Aidan Laros orchestrated the backline and game plan and kept the Rattlesnakes under continued pressure. Notching two tries himself, Laros's playmaking launched several other tries. Junior fullback Nahuel Wingord also scored two tries, set up several others, and was very strong defensively.

This was a good start for the Redhawks, but the coaches added that while they liked the effort level, the tackling needed to improve. For the Rattlesnakes, there's still plenty of time to improve and work on securing better ball and getting through tancious defenders.