After a big win last week, Southampton Seconds came back down to earth with a bump as they came up against a dominant Basingstoke side.

The visitors used their big runners to run crash lines off the breakdown and racked up a bagful of tries early on, with Southampton having had little time on the ball. When Saints did have ball in hand they worked together well, forwards and back combining to put Basingstoke on the back foot.

With such big units in the visitor's ranks, Southampton were keen to play quickly and test their fitness. Riccardo Scala saw an opportunity to do this with a quick tap penalty but he comically knocked it on. Everyone on the pitch saw it bar the ref, so Rico sheepishly picked it up and lined up the kick to touch as if it had never happened.

Southampton's first try came as they put Basingstoke under pressure close to their own line. As the visitors tried to work a position to clear the ball, Rico Scala nipped in to snatch an interception and touch down for the try. A second followed soon after when Dave Ward took a quick tap penalty on the Basingstoke five meter line and forced his way through the defence.

But Basingstoke dominated the half and had a healthy lead at half time, despite some dogged defence from Southampton which included holding up the Basingstoke hooker over the line to prevent a try.

Despite the size of the Basingstoke pack, Southampton's forwards held their own in the scrum. Ben Vine returned to the side to add his strength alongside Luke Inder. Mark Mauger and John Redell brought their experience to the front row, where they were joined by Romsey's Tom Richardson. Ian Mwau was a constant threat from number eight, where he was always on the lookout for a chance to pick and go and catch the defence napping.

In the backs, the Southampton's partnership with Romsey saw Will Murrant join Chris Magrane at centre, last week's debut try scorer Cam Thomas on the right wing, with Carl Shodeke and Silas Clarke completing the back three.

Basingstoke dominated the second half as well, continuing their game plan of attacking through the big forwards. But the game's stand-out try came from Southampton when a Basingstoke attack was halted and the ball turned over inside the Saints' twenty-two. Two quick passes put the ball in Carl Shodeke's hands and he darted through a crowd of players to break clear. He then outpaced the chasing defence to run in from long range, for his first try for Southampton.

It was only a consolation as Basingstoke were comfortably ahead, with the visitors coming away with a bruising 19-88 win. The scoreline doesn't reflect the commitment shown by the Southampton lads, who threw themselves into tackles from start to finish and put together some excellent rugby when they were able to keep possession for long enough.

Ian Mwau took Man of the Match, with Carl Shodeke enjoying his first pint on a chair for his superb solo try. His pint-downing skills may need some work, however. Basingstoke's hooker took Man of the Match for the visitors, with their scrum half quite rightly earning Dick of the Day after living up to that title for most of the match.