Islington Police Warthogs endured a baptism of fire in their inaugural fixture against a Haringey Rhinos veterans’ team at New River Sports Centre.

The newly-formed Warthogs were hit by injuries and late withdrawals and had to borrow players from their hosts – who promptly proceeded to score a series of tries.

An early try from Carl Brown set the tone for the game and hard tackles and solid rucking forced the hosts to ship the ball wide, highlighting the gaps in the Warthogs defence.

But the Police side fronted up with strong running and quick offloads, with Ben Hazell breaking the Haringey line to storm over the whitewash and score his side’s first ever try.

The Rhinos responded by capitalising on the lack of first-time tackles to put more points on the board, but Warthogs fly-half Karl Latham released Owen McKenna to run in a try from inside his own half.

That turned out to be Islington’s last meaningful offensive and fatigue, hard knocks and the wind did nothing to diminish the Rhinos’ appetite for points as they finished 96-17 winners.

Warthogs captain Dan Quinn said: “It was a great inaugural fixture on a fantastic pitch – a hard-fought but good-natured game is a great way to kick off our club.

“Man of the match is Dan Owen, who grafted hard in the centres despite a ferocious Haringey attack.”

The team, who were sponsored by the Old Red Lion Pub for this fixture, is open to all those with any level of experience who want to play casual, social rugby.

Email ipwrfc@gmail.com or tweet @ipwrfc for more information.