Minchinhampton v Clifton

With an unbeaten record and a place in the quarter finals of the Gloucester Cup on the line, the team travelled to Minchinhampton to play what we knew would be a very tough outfit. The expectation of a stern test was born out in the first 5 minutes in which both sides struggled to gain the upper hand. However, after some very physical rucking, straight from the training ground Ben Clarke picked up the ball and smashed over the gain line to put the opposition on the back foot. We then shifted the ball quickly to Ollie for a very determined run, followed by a number of rucks until Sam Read was released and went over for his first try. Unfortunately, one of the coaches, who wanted to remain anonymous (Gary), managed to bring the wrong tee out for the kicker who missed what would normally have been a straightforward conversion.

Unfortunately, after some miscommunication at one of our own line outs, the swarming Minchinhampton forwards managed to get a turnover and scored a try in the corner.

It could be argued that we needed a shock to the system to get our focus back and the Minchinhampton try certainly provided that. We then took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored 3 further unanswered tries before the half time whistle. The first of these was scored by Matt after a stunning phase of attack which involved too many players to mention all of whom ran fast direct lines and released the next player at the perfect time. More champagne rugby flowed with our back line releasing Sam Read to score again after a dominant scrum in the opposition 22. The last of the first half tries came after Matt caught a huge kick from the opposition fly-half and ran hard and fast for a 40 yard gain until he was snagged in the mid-field. The forwards got to Matt quickly to secure position at the ruck and then shifted the ball to the crash ball lion otherwise known as Dom, who fended off 3 tacklers and ran 30 yards to put the ball over in the right hand corner. Try of the match … so far !

22:5 at half time.

We started the second half in the same way that we finished the first, with Dom crashing over from 5 yards this time, after a stunning series of rucks set up by our dominant forwards. Hugo tapped over the conversion.

At 29:5, the game was clearly getting away from Minchinhampton, but testament to their spirit and tenacity, they came back with a very well executed line out move to score their second try of the game. They converted this try to make it 29:12.

Shortly after this, we witnessed perhaps the most bizarre incident that any of us had ever seen on the rugby field. After a period of solid defensive play in our own 22 we were awarded a penalty for the opposition handling in the ruck. Ordinarily we would clear our lines with a safe kick into touch from Elliot or Hugo … but Riley had something very different in mind and grabbed hold of the ball. Many of us thought he might be considering a tap and go, or maybe to go into contact and set up one of his fellow players. But no … we were all wrong, he was actually planning to attempt the longest drop goal in history. Yes, for those of you who were not there, you are reading this correctly. Despite it being our penalty, Riley drop-kicked the ball straight to the opposition’s most dangerous player whose return run nearly saw us concede another try. Legendary, but not in a good way. Needless to say that the coaches are all looking forward to seeing Riley at training on Wednesday.

But there was time for another memorable Clifton try. After some great defensive work close to our own try line, Matt and Elliot broke out of our 22 and exchanged passes until Elliot ended up with possession of the ball near the opposition 22. Given the great handling and running lines that we had displayed for most of the game, it was somewhat of a surprise to see Elliot kicking the ball along the ground towards the opposition try line. Despite the howls of derision from all the players and virtually everyone watching, we hadn’t seen what Elliot claimed afterwards that he had seen … a rampaging Louis making steady progress towards the opposition try line. Louis gratefully collected the ball and went over for our sixth and final try. End to end stuff indeed.

34:12 at the final whistle.

I told the forwards before the game of the old saying that “forwards win matches, backs determine by how many”, and I think this was true of today’s game. Against a large and determined pack, our forwards had the upper hand throughout the game. The style of play that we have been encouraging the forwards to play was executed with aggression and precision. But the backs provided much of the champagne rugby with great running lines and simply stunning handling. Ultimately, the integrated play between the forwards and backs gave us the victory today … one of the very best team performances that the boys have put in this season. Perhaps this was best summed up by the head coach of Minchinhampton after the game when he said that we were “the most complete side” that they have played against.

Thanks to Minchinhampton for a very tough rugby challenge and a lovely lunch afterwards.

See you Wednesday (especially Riley)

Gary