Baggieland's first ever foray into an international rugby tournament didn't get off to the best of starts, however, there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game. The game took place at the impressive King Otumlo Stadium in front of 87,000 passionate fans who had made the journey to see these two teams in action. The Throstles were up against 40th ranked Aji No Moto who were playing in their lurid yellow and purple kit. Despite Baggieland being unranked, they gave their more experienced opponents plenty of scares.
The Throstles thought they had opened the scoring when full back Vincent Tank placed the ball over the try-line, only for the touch-judge to rule that Tank's foot had gone out of play just before he dived for the line. The rest of the first-half saw both teams trying to break each other down, but it looked like the half would end scoreless when the Motos scored the first try.
As the second-half got under way the Throstles had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit when they were awarded two penalties. Unfortunately, the usually reliable Pilkington didn't have his kicking boots on and Baggieland failed to get on the scoresheet. As the half wore on, the Throstles could be seen to be tiring and the more experienced Motos scored two more tries to finish the game off.
No points either on the pitch nor in the group table, but it was a good performance from the newcomers against a highly skilled and seasoned team. C'mon you Throstles!