A Milton Keynes try in the last minute put pay to a brave AEI effort on a day when many would have preferred to stay in the bar. With a contingent of AEI players on duty at Twickenham, the selection committee again had a difficult mix and match task, and came up with yet another permutation in the front row. However, the pack worked well together and, despite playing uphill and against the wind in the first half, AEI’s teamwork and determination kept MK to only a 3-0 half-time lead.
The second half brightly for AEI who soon took the lead following a 50m dash to the line by stand-in fly-half Mark McDonough. Jocky Corbett capped an excellent game as stand-in hooker by scoring the conversion from in front of the posts. However, the turning point of the game came soon after when centre Nick Hayward left the field with a broken collar bone, leaving AEI with only fourteen men. AEI spent most of the remainder of the match defending and as they clung on for victory towards the end of the match, MK won a 5m scrum and the AEI defence was eventually over-run.