The English polo season has its first international result, and it is a good one for the home side. England beat South America 11.5-8 on Saturday to lift the St. Regis International Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club, winning back some pride after losing 11-9 to the same opposition in the Cowdray Test a year ago.
The line-ups
The Hurlingham Polo Association confirmed the England side a week or so before the match. Luke Tomlinson captained a 26-goal team of his brother Mark Tomlinson, James Beim and Max Charlton. Their opponents were a 27-goal South America four of Eduardo and Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Guy Gibrat and Nacho Figueras, with Figueras leading the visitors. Under the handicap arrangements England began with a half-goal advantage, which is where the half in the final score comes from.
How the match went
South America led after the first chukka, but England edged in front soon afterwards and hung on to that lead for the rest of the match. There was no collapse and no dramatic late rally: England simply kept their composure and kept scoring when it mattered. The afternoon belonged most of all to Beim, a seven-goaler, who was named most valuable player and also won the Polo Times best playing pony prize for Yacht.
A fathers-and-sons game was scheduled to follow the main match, and tickets were available on the gate at fifteen pounds, with free entry for HPA members, so the Test Matches remain very accessible occasions.
The season ahead
This was the first of four Test Matches planned for England in 2014. The next is the Audi International at Beaufort Polo Club on Saturday 21 June, where an England side still to be chosen will face a 25-goal Goldin Group Hong Kong team of Luis Lalor, Guillermo Terrera, John Paul Clarkin and John Fisher. The Cartier Queen’s Cup begins at Guards tomorrow.
It has been a strong spring for English polo: the Tomlinsons and Beim were also part of the England team that won the Copa de las Naciones at Palermo last month.
Sources: Polo Times: England beats South America in Cowdray Test Match, Polo Times: England team confirmed for Cowdray Test, Polo Times: Opposition line-ups announced for Cowdray and Beaufort internationals
