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Old Priorians 30 Wasps 12
Richard Green25 Mar 2013 - 16:20
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Match report by Dave Farmer
OLD PRIORIANS 30 WASPS 12
WEATHER! WHAT WEATHER?
With the rest of the games in the League cancelled because of inclement weather or unplayable surfaces the men of Old Priorians and Wasps took the bull by the horns and sauntered over to the dry sunny outskirts of Englefield Green in Surrey to play their game, where they found a wet, flat playable surface being blasted by an icy wind. There were no complaints about the conditions by either side or the Referee and a fine afternoon’s entertainment took place.
The game started at a pace and Priorians playing with a slight advantage because of the angle of the stiff breeze were quickly into attacking mode. They found Wasps equally quick at showing their defensive capabilities and a fair and equitable five minutes of manly rugby took place, with both sides testing their opponent physical resolve by playing fairly directly.
Even at this early stage it was possible to see the structure and organisation of Old Priorians, the unbeaten League leaders, who were comfortable with their patterns of play and clearly knew what was being attempted at every phase they played. They regularly used their large No;s 4 and 8 as main ball carriers around and from rucks and mauls trying to either break through the middle or set their backs up. Wasps were committed to making tackles and were also not missing them, the first quarter of the game passed quickly with Priorians attacking more, but Wasps asking questions when in charge of the ball. Both sides probably tried to play too much rugby in this first quarter and dropped passes and turnovers blighted both sides on occasions. The Referee had started soundly and was helped, in the condition, by both sides ability to present the ball effectively at the breakdown, along with their ability to listen and respond to his observations.
The first twenty minutes had seen much huffing and puffing but no clear cut chance being created, but Priorians had clearly had the better of this first session of plays. After twenty-two minutes Priorians were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck, on the Wasps twenty-two and slightly to the right of the posts, their goal kicker took this opportunity to open the scoring with a well struck kick. Old Priorians 3 Wasps 0. Wasps should have taken this as a complement because the Priorians line-out had already shown itself to be in order, but with a wet ball and a quarter of the game gone it was an opportunity not to be missed.
The next five minutes saw a very even contest played out almost exclusively between the two ten metre lines, with neither side keeping hold of the ball for long enough to create any sustained pressure. There were numerous dropped passes, great tackles and turn-overs by both sides with the game being played at quite a pace for the wet-ball conditions and both sides deserved credit for their endeavours and commitment. There was, however a subtle difference in that Priorians began to kick more to gain field position rather than trying to run through the Wasps defence.
On the thirty two minute mark, after a series of rucks and drives form near the halfway line, a Priorians player broke loose and chipped the ball over the last Wasps defender, he kicked ahead and just won the race to the ball, scoring the first try of the match, this was converted from the fifteen metre line to the left of the posts to make the score 10 points to 0 points in Priorians favour.
The game restarted and continued in its previous pattern, with both teams playing a fairly close driving game hat suited the surface and reduced the number and length of passes, with a very wet ball. With halftime almost upon them Priorians were awarded a penalty for a side entry by a Wasps forward. The kick was no more difficult than the first kick of the day, but on this occasion Priorians kicked to the corner for an attacking line-out. This turned out to be a good decision, when they caught the incoming ball, set up a solid maul and the slowly drove in a controlled manner over the Wasps line for their second try. The reasonably difficult conversion was narrowly missed and the score had moved on to a more comfortable 15 – 0 in Priorians favour.
The game restarted and there was time for a knock-on, a scrummage, a kick into touch and it was halftime. Both teams eagerly ran from the pitch to the shelter of the considerably warmer changing rooms, unfortunately for both of them they knew that in a few short minutes the Referee would call them back to the pitch to face the wet shirts and that icy wind. One of the Wasps Australian players was heard to lament that it had been 38˚C in Melbourne yesterday. This was of course wishful thinking in the middle of an English cold snap.
The second half started again with a few minutes of play between the two ten metre lines with both teams intent on driving plays. Wasps turned ball over just outside their opponents twenty-two and began to pick and go, only on this occasion they just kept picking and going and refused to let the ball be released to the backs. They moved forward in slow and quick spurts in an almost direct route, all the way to the Priorians line, where Greenie doubled his try count for the season by diving over to score. In the final ruck one of the Priorians forwards leg had become entangled on the floor and he
twisted or bent his knee, appearing to receive a fairly serious injury, he was assisted by his team Physio before being helped from the pitch. Your correspondent hopes that it was not as serious as it looked and he regains fitness as soon as possible.
Players from both teams were gently running to keep warm whilst the injury was being dealt with. On the restart of the game the conversion, from between the fifteen metre and five metre lines was missed by Blayne, but Wasps were now on the score board and a t15 – 5 were back in the game.
The game continued in its previous pattern, with Priorians kicking a fair percentage of their possession for good field position and Wasps rather naively trying to play their way down the field, from inside their own half on occasions. Wasps were making too many handling mistakes and giving away just enough penalties to be kept far enough away from the Priorians line, to make the chances of putting a series of passes together, to score almost non-existent. Consequently Wasps were the side under most pressure, much of which was self-inflicted.
Both sides continued to spar for openings and both sides and the Referee deserve huge credit for the manner in which the game was being played, it was highly competitive but in no way feisty, both teams were totally committed and in terms of the breakdown and tackle situations the team with the ball was generally controlling it well. It was only on the balls exit into open play, when movement and more width was strived for that both sides made errors.
Having worked their way to within five metres of the Wasps line Priorians were penalised for a player in front of the ball blocking off Wasps defenders, thus giving Wasps an opportunity to kick up field for their own line-out which they did. From the line-out on their own twenty-two, Wasps won the ball but knocked it back loosely, a Priorians forward was through in a flash grabbing the ball going to ground and setting up a ruck, this was supported by some ‘pick and goes’. Wasps were out of position having expected to secure the line-out and were having difficulties in stopping Priorians from going forward, after two or three more pick and goes against a retreating, reorganising defence, one of the Priorians second-rows drove over for an excellent turnover try. The conversion needless to say sailed through the posts to compound the mistake. Old Priorians 22 Wasps 5.
The next few minutes saw the game return to the middle section of the pitch with both sides continuing to be as positive as they could in the wet conditions, but the cold was now the main factor and a limited number of handling mistakes was becoming a major factor as both sides error count increased.
Priorians were still kicking a fair percentage of any possession they had and from one such kick Aussie Alex caught the ball a tried to run it out, he was tackled and tried to move on again whilst being held, he was penalised and Priorians kicked for the corner once again. Their catch and drive line-out drill was repeated, although this time, against a much more serious effort to stop its progress, the ball was being picked up and driven in field with successive tackles, in the end the Priorians number eight found a weak link in the Wasps defence and drove over for his team’s fourth, and bonus point try. The conversion was missed but at 27 – 5 down Wasps were now playing for pride.
From the restart Wasps regained the ball and put together a series of drives, Tim, now playing scrum half, managed to break around the short side of a ruck, set up by a driving Luke and got in behind the Priorians defence, two quick passes saw Ticks running for the posts, last week’s Irish beer seemed to be working in his favour as he developed a full head of steam, only to be tackled a metre short. From the ensuing ruck two more passes to the right saw Jack cross over for an excellent try This would have been a quality try in any conditions, but in these wet conditions and with players by now really showing signs of genuine coldness, it was outstanding. It deserved to be converted and Blayne struck his kick straight through the middle to take the score to 27 -12 in Priorians favour.
With three minutes to go Priorians were awarded another kickable penalty near to the Wasps posts with their last two line-outs having gone amiss, through frozen fingers, they elected to take the points and their kicker duly obliged taking the final score to Old Priorians 30 Wasps 12. For Wasps this was ten points worse than their defeat by Priorians earlier in the season, but in truth, was a much better performance and a far more competitive game. The right team had won but they had been asked to perform in order to do so.
From this match Wasps should have noted that a team that trains together as a unit and gets itself well organised, has far more to fall back on in any game situation. Being naturally talented and committed to play will certainly get you a long way but having real trust in your structures will normally win through.
Congratulations to Old Priorians, for taking their League results to 20 wins from 20 games. They showed a good all-round game in which their second row and number eight both contributed massively to their team’s performance, but they were both possibly quietly put in the shade by their Hooker who did all of his basic chores well, played like an extra back-row in his tackling around the fieldand tidied up numerous loose balls during the game.
For Wasps all players must be mentioned in dispatches. Tim played solidly as he shivered his way through the game at full back and then warmed himself up at scrumhalf. On the wings Ben defended well but never got a chance to run with the ball, George as usual managed a couple of aggressive sorties into the opposition. Sam Bryn and Jack sealed up the middle of the park defensively and Jack finished off an excellent team try. Blayne played solidly at fly-half and kicked two fine goals. In the forwards the back-row members Tysen, Aussie Alex, Freddie and BJ, in his newly found position, all contributed massively both with and without the ball. Ticks was his laid-back steady self in the second row, alongside Griff, whose contribution to all facets of the game, on his return from University, was to his usual high standards. In the Front-row Adam, Cam and Greennie were in the vanguard of all rucks and mauls throughout the game, whoever had the ball, they also contributed massively to the forwards efforts and scrummaged all day.
However, on a day when any man of the match award was going to be difficult, because each and every player deserved an award for just surviving 80 minutes in the arctic conditions, Luke was selected for his immense game, his scrummaging was sound, his line-out support excellent but his performance in the rucks and mauls was above and beyond the call of duty. He has been playing well in recent games but in this match he went to a whole new level.
WEATHER! WHAT WEATHER?
With the rest of the games in the League cancelled because of inclement weather or unplayable surfaces the men of Old Priorians and Wasps took the bull by the horns and sauntered over to the dry sunny outskirts of Englefield Green in Surrey to play their game, where they found a wet, flat playable surface being blasted by an icy wind. There were no complaints about the conditions by either side or the Referee and a fine afternoon’s entertainment took place.
The game started at a pace and Priorians playing with a slight advantage because of the angle of the stiff breeze were quickly into attacking mode. They found Wasps equally quick at showing their defensive capabilities and a fair and equitable five minutes of manly rugby took place, with both sides testing their opponent physical resolve by playing fairly directly.
Even at this early stage it was possible to see the structure and organisation of Old Priorians, the unbeaten League leaders, who were comfortable with their patterns of play and clearly knew what was being attempted at every phase they played. They regularly used their large No;s 4 and 8 as main ball carriers around and from rucks and mauls trying to either break through the middle or set their backs up. Wasps were committed to making tackles and were also not missing them, the first quarter of the game passed quickly with Priorians attacking more, but Wasps asking questions when in charge of the ball. Both sides probably tried to play too much rugby in this first quarter and dropped passes and turnovers blighted both sides on occasions. The Referee had started soundly and was helped, in the condition, by both sides ability to present the ball effectively at the breakdown, along with their ability to listen and respond to his observations.
The first twenty minutes had seen much huffing and puffing but no clear cut chance being created, but Priorians had clearly had the better of this first session of plays. After twenty-two minutes Priorians were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck, on the Wasps twenty-two and slightly to the right of the posts, their goal kicker took this opportunity to open the scoring with a well struck kick. Old Priorians 3 Wasps 0. Wasps should have taken this as a complement because the Priorians line-out had already shown itself to be in order, but with a wet ball and a quarter of the game gone it was an opportunity not to be missed.
The next five minutes saw a very even contest played out almost exclusively between the two ten metre lines, with neither side keeping hold of the ball for long enough to create any sustained pressure. There were numerous dropped passes, great tackles and turn-overs by both sides with the game being played at quite a pace for the wet-ball conditions and both sides deserved credit for their endeavours and commitment. There was, however a subtle difference in that Priorians began to kick more to gain field position rather than trying to run through the Wasps defence.
On the thirty two minute mark, after a series of rucks and drives form near the halfway line, a Priorians player broke loose and chipped the ball over the last Wasps defender, he kicked ahead and just won the race to the ball, scoring the first try of the match, this was converted from the fifteen metre line to the left of the posts to make the score 10 points to 0 points in Priorians favour.
The game restarted and continued in its previous pattern, with both teams playing a fairly close driving game hat suited the surface and reduced the number and length of passes, with a very wet ball. With halftime almost upon them Priorians were awarded a penalty for a side entry by a Wasps forward. The kick was no more difficult than the first kick of the day, but on this occasion Priorians kicked to the corner for an attacking line-out. This turned out to be a good decision, when they caught the incoming ball, set up a solid maul and the slowly drove in a controlled manner over the Wasps line for their second try. The reasonably difficult conversion was narrowly missed and the score had moved on to a more comfortable 15 – 0 in Priorians favour.
The game restarted and there was time for a knock-on, a scrummage, a kick into touch and it was halftime. Both teams eagerly ran from the pitch to the shelter of the considerably warmer changing rooms, unfortunately for both of them they knew that in a few short minutes the Referee would call them back to the pitch to face the wet shirts and that icy wind. One of the Wasps Australian players was heard to lament that it had been 38˚C in Melbourne yesterday. This was of course wishful thinking in the middle of an English cold snap.
The second half started again with a few minutes of play between the two ten metre lines with both teams intent on driving plays. Wasps turned ball over just outside their opponents twenty-two and began to pick and go, only on this occasion they just kept picking and going and refused to let the ball be released to the backs. They moved forward in slow and quick spurts in an almost direct route, all the way to the Priorians line, where Greenie doubled his try count for the season by diving over to score. In the final ruck one of the Priorians forwards leg had become entangled on the floor and he
twisted or bent his knee, appearing to receive a fairly serious injury, he was assisted by his team Physio before being helped from the pitch. Your correspondent hopes that it was not as serious as it looked and he regains fitness as soon as possible.
Players from both teams were gently running to keep warm whilst the injury was being dealt with. On the restart of the game the conversion, from between the fifteen metre and five metre lines was missed by Blayne, but Wasps were now on the score board and a t15 – 5 were back in the game.
The game continued in its previous pattern, with Priorians kicking a fair percentage of their possession for good field position and Wasps rather naively trying to play their way down the field, from inside their own half on occasions. Wasps were making too many handling mistakes and giving away just enough penalties to be kept far enough away from the Priorians line, to make the chances of putting a series of passes together, to score almost non-existent. Consequently Wasps were the side under most pressure, much of which was self-inflicted.
Both sides continued to spar for openings and both sides and the Referee deserve huge credit for the manner in which the game was being played, it was highly competitive but in no way feisty, both teams were totally committed and in terms of the breakdown and tackle situations the team with the ball was generally controlling it well. It was only on the balls exit into open play, when movement and more width was strived for that both sides made errors.
Having worked their way to within five metres of the Wasps line Priorians were penalised for a player in front of the ball blocking off Wasps defenders, thus giving Wasps an opportunity to kick up field for their own line-out which they did. From the line-out on their own twenty-two, Wasps won the ball but knocked it back loosely, a Priorians forward was through in a flash grabbing the ball going to ground and setting up a ruck, this was supported by some ‘pick and goes’. Wasps were out of position having expected to secure the line-out and were having difficulties in stopping Priorians from going forward, after two or three more pick and goes against a retreating, reorganising defence, one of the Priorians second-rows drove over for an excellent turnover try. The conversion needless to say sailed through the posts to compound the mistake. Old Priorians 22 Wasps 5.
The next few minutes saw the game return to the middle section of the pitch with both sides continuing to be as positive as they could in the wet conditions, but the cold was now the main factor and a limited number of handling mistakes was becoming a major factor as both sides error count increased.
Priorians were still kicking a fair percentage of any possession they had and from one such kick Aussie Alex caught the ball a tried to run it out, he was tackled and tried to move on again whilst being held, he was penalised and Priorians kicked for the corner once again. Their catch and drive line-out drill was repeated, although this time, against a much more serious effort to stop its progress, the ball was being picked up and driven in field with successive tackles, in the end the Priorians number eight found a weak link in the Wasps defence and drove over for his team’s fourth, and bonus point try. The conversion was missed but at 27 – 5 down Wasps were now playing for pride.
From the restart Wasps regained the ball and put together a series of drives, Tim, now playing scrum half, managed to break around the short side of a ruck, set up by a driving Luke and got in behind the Priorians defence, two quick passes saw Ticks running for the posts, last week’s Irish beer seemed to be working in his favour as he developed a full head of steam, only to be tackled a metre short. From the ensuing ruck two more passes to the right saw Jack cross over for an excellent try This would have been a quality try in any conditions, but in these wet conditions and with players by now really showing signs of genuine coldness, it was outstanding. It deserved to be converted and Blayne struck his kick straight through the middle to take the score to 27 -12 in Priorians favour.
With three minutes to go Priorians were awarded another kickable penalty near to the Wasps posts with their last two line-outs having gone amiss, through frozen fingers, they elected to take the points and their kicker duly obliged taking the final score to Old Priorians 30 Wasps 12. For Wasps this was ten points worse than their defeat by Priorians earlier in the season, but in truth, was a much better performance and a far more competitive game. The right team had won but they had been asked to perform in order to do so.
From this match Wasps should have noted that a team that trains together as a unit and gets itself well organised, has far more to fall back on in any game situation. Being naturally talented and committed to play will certainly get you a long way but having real trust in your structures will normally win through.
Congratulations to Old Priorians, for taking their League results to 20 wins from 20 games. They showed a good all-round game in which their second row and number eight both contributed massively to their team’s performance, but they were both possibly quietly put in the shade by their Hooker who did all of his basic chores well, played like an extra back-row in his tackling around the fieldand tidied up numerous loose balls during the game.
For Wasps all players must be mentioned in dispatches. Tim played solidly as he shivered his way through the game at full back and then warmed himself up at scrumhalf. On the wings Ben defended well but never got a chance to run with the ball, George as usual managed a couple of aggressive sorties into the opposition. Sam Bryn and Jack sealed up the middle of the park defensively and Jack finished off an excellent team try. Blayne played solidly at fly-half and kicked two fine goals. In the forwards the back-row members Tysen, Aussie Alex, Freddie and BJ, in his newly found position, all contributed massively both with and without the ball. Ticks was his laid-back steady self in the second row, alongside Griff, whose contribution to all facets of the game, on his return from University, was to his usual high standards. In the Front-row Adam, Cam and Greennie were in the vanguard of all rucks and mauls throughout the game, whoever had the ball, they also contributed massively to the forwards efforts and scrummaged all day.
However, on a day when any man of the match award was going to be difficult, because each and every player deserved an award for just surviving 80 minutes in the arctic conditions, Luke was selected for his immense game, his scrummaging was sound, his line-out support excellent but his performance in the rucks and mauls was above and beyond the call of duty. He has been playing well in recent games but in this match he went to a whole new level.
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