1st XV Match Report Saturday 1st November 2014

Leeds Medics and Dentists 0 (7) – 0 (5) Ripon

With a crowd vastly outnumbering the student’s friends and families, this was more like a home game than away. Were it not for the lack of roads and atmosphere in the “View Bar” it could have been mistaken for another sunny afternoon at Mallorie Park. The View Bar, functional as it was, could have provided a more welcoming venue perhaps if it was more orientated towards the Rugby pitch rather than the Hockey enclosure. Perhaps that might explain why the Student Rugby players don’t frequent the hostelry after the game, who know? That aside, the multitude of Ripon supporters were a clear boost to morale and an indication of their faith and loyalty to the Club, home or away.

Before waxing lyrical in the style of the previous week’s much acclaimed match report from the LMD game against Old Rishworthians, this will be a factual account of what transpired to be somewhere in the region of the twelve minutes of Rugby actually played. However, due to the brevity of the playing time, in order to maximise printed space available, the following may contain some artistic licence.

Arriving in plenty of time to prepare for what promised to be a high paced, counter-attacking game, Ripon took the pre-match very seriously and with the influence of 2nd XV Captain Dan Watson supporting Head Coach Ian Hassall, were in no doubt as to what was expected of them. The warm up went well and the casual observer of the opposition saw nothing to be particularly concerned about. All boded well for a stern, yet positive encounter for Ripon, with a genuine belief that some decent league points would be forthcoming in their battle to clear the relegation zone.

As far as the game is concerned, the first minute passed in somewhat of a blur, but on reflection, it went along the lines of: Leeds Medics kicked off, with the ball not travelling 10 metres, keen to establish some expected forward dominance, Ripon opted for the scrum from the halfway line. Penalised for “foot up”, Ripon were caught wrong-footed as the Student’s Scrum Half took a quick tap, used the Referee as a shield to break the “not ten” barrier and slip a soft pass to the Full Back, who scythed through the Ripon bystanders for a try between the posts. The conversion was added effortlessly within the two minute mark.

Spurred into action, Ripon pressed from the restart and pinned the students in their own half for the next few minutes and were rewarded with a scrum 20 metres from the home line. Making no mistake this time, the Hooker kept his foot down and the powerful Ripon pack bludgeoned the Students off the ball sufficiently to create enough space for Dud Stead to launch a one man back row move. Driving through several defenders, Stead powered his way over for his first Ripon try. Unfortunately, evergreen Scrum Half Bob Whitaker couldn’t follow his example and narrowly missed the conversion.

What happened next was an unfortunate sequence of events, in that the Students restarted, Ripon secured and counter attacked with a clear overlap, but a poorly floated pass saw Mpyana nowhere near close enough to the ball for the try scoring opportunity to go begging. The students cleared their line from the ensuing line out, to put themselves back in the Ripon half when at around the 11 minute mark, the Referee took to the ground and blew his whistle to stop play. Despite being attended to by Leeds Medical & Dental School’s finest as well as Ripon’s own newly qualified Chartered Physiotherapist, Jenna Wilkes; the Referee decided that discretion was the better part of valour and called the game suspended. After this was much coming and going by officials to try and find a replacement Referee and establish the rules for such circumstances. Finally and after Ripon had beat themselves at Touch Rugby and the Students had held their own goal kicking competition (both in order to keep warm), the match was declared void at approximately what would have been the half time mark.

A very disappointing afternoon for both teams as well as the Referee, who we all hope recovers from this unfortunate and untimely injury.

This weekend then, Ripon are extremely likely to have a “Groundhog Day” experience, by going back on the road again, instead of taking a well-deserved rest. Leeds Medics and Dentists have appealed against the “replay on the next available Saturday” rule, on the basis that they are in a University Cup Competition against Manchester University. It would appear that the Yorkshire Division Two rules take precedence over all other and so the two sides are likely to be compelled to play each other again. Whilst Ripon have no legitimate grounds for appeal, it would be helpful to avoid this critical replay just now as, with the prospect of their first free Saturday for 10 weeks, many of the Ripon squad have made other arrangements, including a contingent travelling to support England versus New Zealand. The Club will however await and abide by whatever the powers that be decide. That said, with some 11 members of the 1st XV squad unavailable for various reasons, this week, it will be a real challenge to field a side suitably competitive to secure the vital league points necessary from this encounter.

In the event that Ripon do play the medics again, it will be a 12.00 meet at Ripon RFC in time to depart for a 2.15 kick off. Again all travelling support is more than welcome.