X-Men exact revenge

Fielding a team with some unfamiliar names, TJs were this week on the road at Westcombe Park. Over the past few seasons the Warriors have had some hard fought tussles with Combe and invariably these have been brutal affairs won and lost in the Forwards. Combe in their opening games of the league season had narrowly lost at home to Barnes (31-33) and away at Worthing (35-32). Following the TJs 1st Team win against Combe a couple of weeks ago it was inevitable that Combe would be seeking revenge in this local derby.
The Warriors front 8 only contained 4 regulars from last season with one of those, Freddie Hewett, playing out of position at Hooker for the second week running. The Backs were also hosting relative newcomers in the form of Jimmy Morgan, George Lawson and Adam Danckert.

Combe kicked off and started the stronger of the two sides. Warriors competed well at the set piece disrupting the first Combe lineout and holding their ground in the first scrum. Combe spurned an early chance for points seeing a Penalty kick (awarded for TJs collapsing a maul) rebound off the right post. However, they were afforded another Penalty kick opportunity 5 minutes later when TJs were caught not releasing – this time Combe made no mistake (3-0 after 9 minutes).

Warriors responded immediately from the restart; the Combe clearance kick was collected cleanly by Jonny Farmer who embarked on a scything run through the Combe defence culminating in a well timed pass out to George Lawson on the right wing who scored (3-7; conversion Adam Danckert, 11 minutes). Within 4 minutes Warrirors extended their lead with another score from George Lawson and conversion from Adam Danckert – this Try created by a ferocious double tackle by Louis Ventin and George Lawson with George able to collect the resulting loosened ball and run clean through (3-14).

It was now the turn of Combe to up their game and pressure produced results with another 3 points coming from the boot following a Penalty for off-side (6-14). The onslaught continued from the restart and only solid Warriors defence (special mention for Connor Teeling and Freddie Hewett) held Combe at bay.

Having weathered the Combe storm for 10 minutes the final 15 minutes of the half were dominated by TJs. However, despite controlling territory and possession the Warriors could not add to their points tally – the closest they got was a difficult Penalty kick which fell short of the posts. It felt as though the Warriors were pushing the pace just that little too much resulting in handling errors; there was no doubt that Combe were happy to go in at half time no worse off than 6-14 down.

The second 40 started with Combe in the ascendancy. Straight from the TJs kick-off they reduced the deficit through a converted Try resulting from missed tackles in mid-field – the worst possible restart for the Warriors (13-14). James Collins replaced an injured Sean Wright. TJs confidence appeared to have been knocked and some composure was required as Combe continued to pile on the pressure.

After 50 minutes Combe were awarded a scrum; Warriors managed to rotate the scrum and were awarded the put-in on a reset. However, we were then turned-over on our own scrum leading directly to a Try for the Combe back row (18-14 – conversion missed).

End-to-end action then ensued with both sides wanting to play expansive attacking rugby. The breakdown was heartily contested with both sides conceding turnover ball on occasions – TJs showed a tendency to play back row moves off their scrums but then got isolated and were turned-over or penalised. The next score, after 58 minutes, came to the Warriors. Pressure on the Combe line looked as though it had been relieved when Combe stole possession but, in passing back over their line for the full back to clear, the ball was knocked on and Adam Danckert got downward pressure on the ball to score and make the conversion (18-21).

Within 3 minutes Combe had levelled the scores at 21-21 with a Penalty kick. Sam Davies replaced Louis Ventin. A TJ Penalty kick attempt from almost 35 metres out fell short a few minutes later.

The most curious event of the match then occurred with 15 minutes left on the clock. A Combe scrum was driven back and wheeled 180 degrees by the Warriors but the referee did not give anything and somehow Combe managed to recycle the ball. Despite good counter-rucking from TJs Combe managed to get behind the defence with a neat chip and collect to score (26-21; conversion missed). The game was effectively put beyond reach by another converted Combe score at 75minutes (33-21). The Warriors fought to the end for their bonus points and were rewarded by a 4th Try with the last play of the game, the Try coming from line-out ball cleanly taken by Adam Manktelow and fed to Jonny Farmer who made another of his trade-mark runs before passing to George Lawson for his 3rd Try of the match (conversion Adam Danckert).

The final score of 33-28 was harsh on TJs who looked the stronger side for large parts of the game – in reality a draw would have been fair to both teams. Aside from taking the 2 bonus points from this game the Warriors should take considerable encouragement from the fact that the Backs gelled better here than of late and that the far from settled Pack did more than hold their own. Three key lessons to be taken away from this fixture: when enjoying dominance in territory and possession make sure we keep the score board ticking over, avoid getting isolated with the ball and work on flowing attack in the Backs as too often passes were going behind receiving players either because our line was too flat or the passes were too deep. Finally, we need to ensure our heads are in the right place when under pressure (whether ahead or behind) – we are on a par with most of the teams in this league and need to believe in ourselves.

A highly enjoyable game to watch on a glorious Autumn afternoon; good rugby by both sides played in a sporting manner throughout. Can’t wait for next week!