1st XV Match Report - 3rd September 2016

To coin the phrase used by Chairman Briggs this week; “One swallow does not a summer make”, two wins on the trot at the start of the season, does not a successful season make, but however does augur well for this season’s refreshed Ripon squad. It has been many years since Ripon last won their two opening games and whilst neither victory; last week’s Yorkshire Shield ousting of Yarnbury by two points and today’s disposal of WPL by five, showed Ripon in their best light, there is still much to be enthusiastic about. The commitment of regular players, as well as the introduction of some new blood, and the influence of the newly bolstered coaching team, made a big difference and may that soon be turned into a sustainable winning streak on the park.

A win is a win and as Yorkshire Division Two becomes increasingly more competitive, this game against newly relegated West Park Leeds, was about teamwork, responsibility on the pitch and simply scoring more points than the opposition. With some sterling individual, solid unit and cohesive team efforts displayed throughout the afternoon, Ripon bashed out a win. Nowhere near the result predicted by a WPL pundit, Ripon were happy to take the league points and WPL must be happy to have taken the losing bonus point from a game they never looked like winning.

In weather conditions that were never going to promote an expansive running game, both sides perhaps played their cards to close to their chests for too long? What transpired was more a game of attrition and robust defence, than of who had the most potent strike force. Many handling errors forced by the wet conditions hampered the flow of the game for both sides and made the game a stop start affair.

The game in general did fail to excite and for long periods, sound defence from both sides snuffed out any glimpses of attacking brilliance either way and with one try apiece, that was probably a fair reflection of each side’s endeavours. Ripon perhaps looked to probe deeper on more occasions and through breaks by the likes of Rowntree, Butler, Taylor Jnr, Seal and Spilman, the visitors’ defence was asked a number of questions. Indeed, the only threat posed by the visitors resulted in a second half try to put them one point in the lead for the second time in the game.

The key difference between the two sides had to be the scrummage, in which Ripon pretty much dominated throughout. Memories of two seasons ago, when Ripon backpedalled against most sides were distant, as the home side all but destroyed the visitors’ scrum, winning numerous penalties into the bargain.

Ripon were however beset by continuity difficulties and key losses though injury were Scurr, cruelly too early on to exploit the Ripon scrum dominance and then Butler and Micklewright, both with head wounds. We wish them all the best for speedy recoveries. These injuries saw almost the entire coaching team taking to the field as replacements from the bench. Director of Rugby, Ian Hassall, was spared the responsibility of joining the game, as Dave Robinson, Pete Taylor and Tom Gilchrist all added their considerable experience to the second half.

From the kick off, which Ripon received, neither side made much in the way of advances and the first ten minutes focused on the middle of the pitch. Ripon pressed incrementally, but the stout defence prevented any breakthroughs. At 25 minutes, a well won Ripon line out on the half way line, saw scrum half Rowntree jink through the melee of forwards to make a 30 metre break, which saw him bundled into touch.

Taking the initiative from the lineout, WPL pressed up-field and with the home defence momentarily fazed, the visitors’ number 10 calmly slotted over a 30 metre drop goal to open the scoring. From the restart, Ripon kicked long and erroneously the ball went to touch. WPL won their line out put in, but a miscommunication in the backline as they attempted to run out of defence, saw Dom Butler intercept a floated pass and hack the ball on towards the visitors’ line. In a two-person race to field the ball rolling towards the WPL line, the visitors’ Full Back shoulder barged Butler unceremoniously out of the way. Pin-wheeling manfully to stay on his feet, Butler followed the ball over the line to finally fall and touch down for Ripon’s opening try. Tombling added the conversion to nose Ripon ahead 7 – 3.

Apart from a 40-yard break by Matt Taylor on his 1st XV debut, in which he shrugged off a couple of would be tacklers, there was no further excitement in the half.

The second half was more of the same, with the Ripon scrum increasing in dominance, snuffing out attacking options and the home backs defending cleverly. Even the much-vaunted WPL line out came under attack, with Pete Taylor and Britton taking more than their fair share of possession.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the game in the middle of the second half, came when Sam Britton was asked to leave the field for a while due to an alleged offence. The visitors seized on the power play opportunity and pressed home to see through their first cohesive attack of the day to score an unconverted try and granting the lead to the opposition for the second time in the afternoon. Ripon stepped up their game and using their set piece dominance, set out to create more scoring chances. Numerous penalty opportunities arose from the visitors’ crumbling scrum and in the closing 10 minutes, Tim Tombling calmly added a further six points to Ripon’s score with two well struck penalties.

At the final whistle, a score line of 13 – 8 reflected a game of missed opportunities, weather related errors and early season lack of match experience. To their credit, WPL fought to the finish and their man of the match Number 10 had a cracking game with his probing kicks and seemingly untouchable status. Notable for Ripon was Tom Newby, playing out of his preferred position on the wing, but creative in attack and effective in defence.

Next week, Ripon take to the road for their first away game of the season with a visit to Halifax based outfit, Old Rishworthians. A third win would be good, but one step at a time is the most conservative approach. Rishworthians, always a force to be reckoned with, will provide a useful test as to how well Ripon travel.

Travelling supporters for the game will be very welcome as usual, kick off will be 3.00pm and details of the meet time will follow.