In another top drawer team performance, Ripon ripped through their lack lustre local rivals on Saturday, to claim their fifth successive bonus point; rack up 307 points scored this season so far and consolidate their third place ranking in Counties 2 Yorkshire A Division. In an eight try rout, The Blues again proved to be a dominant force up front, with a rock solid set piece and laser precision strike moves through incisive back play. With a stand out performance from Ripon’s back row, including man of the match award for Freddy Wharton and Player Coach Allan Hudson, bagging a hat trick of tries to boot, this current squad is really gelling as a high performing team.

Notable again for the fifth week running, was the reliance on the availability of the same squad of players, to minimise the disruption of line-up changes. With just one change in personnel from the previous week and a handful of positional tweaks to accommodate, consistency is key and is certainly paying dividends. A solitary cautionary note however, remains this team’s propensity for getting on the wrong side of refereeing decisions. Conceding a further thirteen penalties this week, as well as suffering the indignity of the fourth yellow card in six matches, is not sustainable and will be punished by more effective opposition.

The starting line-up this week had a very familiar look and a winning feel to it. James Cooper started at Full Back and looks to be making that jersey his own, contributing some solid fielding and adding two conversions to make his season’s tally to 47 points so far and keep him at the top of the leader board. Matt Binks, despite pining for his beloved 2nd XV, put in a solid shift on the Left Wing and Tom Graham stepped back into the Right Wing berth from last week’s bench. The Centres saw Fletcher and Barrett pairing for the second successive week and adding plenty of go forward and defensive grit. Harry Drane held his position and nerve at Number 10, with a more rounded performance this week as he and his Scrum Half partner Max Marston develop a greater understanding of each other. With a try apiece, this half back duo has potential for a long and happy relationship.

Up front, Dan Rayner stepped up from second row to Loose Head and did a creditable job, as well as scoring a first half try. Callum Burton made his second start at Hooker, while skipper James Pearce took it easy at Blind Side for a change. The primordial Adam Newcombe took the Tight Head role to another level and delivered yet another master class in scrummaging and driving maul management. The second row may have been lightweight by comparison to the opposition, but try scoring Tom Austin and Jordan Layne certainly packed a heavy punch and delivered way above expectations in all phases of the game. Completing the back row were “Flying” Freddy Wharton, who unselfishly avoided this week’s score sheet, at Open Side and “Unstoppable” Allan Hudson owning the base of the scrum at Number 8. The bench gave Morgan Clark a further opportunity to ease his way back into the squad and with three second half conversions, took his season’s points tally to 40. Harry Veitch added some oomph as utility replacement after a weekend off guesting in Kent and Head Coach Adam Scott Paul slipped into his boots again as front row replacement. His second half display beefed up both the scrum performance and penalty count, and with his try and yellow card, completed an unusual double.

The mood in the recently refurbished and highly professional looking dressing room was quietly confident, with everyone clear about expectations. With Scott Paul immersing himself in the moment, it was down to Archie and Robbo to give the pre-match encouragement. No shouting or expletives necessary these days, just a reassurance that winning is a state of mind and pride in what the team achieved on the pitch was sufficient motivation. An even simpler message, to outwork, outrun and outscore the opposition would have the desired effect. To score a minimum of four tries was the ask and perhaps a bonus point before half time. There may be a familiar look to the faces around the room, but this Ripon squad is very different in terms of preparation, attitude and delivery, from previous seasons. There’s a strong vibe in the club at the moment that this could be Ripon’s year to fully exploit their potential. That can only be achieved through maintaining winning ways and eliminating errors, both very doable.

After a gesture of remembrance with a minute’s respectful silence, Ripon opted to receive the initial kick off, as the gloom encroached and the thin drizzle permeated through Mallorie Park. Hudson gathered and from the first contact, Pearce plunged into the opposition before the move petered out into touch. Hudson stole the first Harrogate line out ball and again The Blues set off. This time a knock on forced a visitors’ scrum, which Ripon duly annihilated, for a penalty. The incentive was short lived as the first of several penalties for ineffective driving from line out play gave Harrogate some respite.

After a good ten minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, The Blues opened the scoring with a Hudson try after a successful line out drive. Cooper added the extras for 7 – 0. It was a further ten minutes before Ripon opened up the gap further with another driving maul for Dan Rayner to claim the touchdown. Cooper was just astray with the conversion for 12 – 0.

The early exchanges weren’t all about “blunt force trauma” though and with plenty of useable and high quality ball, Ripon were able to vary the options, with Fletcher, Barrett and Graham making good inroads into open space, Pearce and Newcombe hitting strong lines and Austin and Wharton bossing the breakdowns. Next up on the scoreboard was a fine move to put Max Marston into space. From the base of a scrum, Hudson broke to feed Marston and then onto Graham to release Barrett up the touchline for 30 odd metres. Marston was on hand for the offload and Ripon’s third. Cooper’s conversion took it to 19 – 0 with ten minutes of the half left.

The closing moments of the half saw strong breaks from the likes of Rayner and Pearce, with Jordan Layne unfortunate to be held up over the line. The fourth and bonus point winning try did eventually come from Hudson, when a penalty in front of the posts gave the quick thinking Number 8 the opportunity to tap and touch down. Cooper was just wide with the conversion attempt but at 24 – 0 at half time, Ripon were well-pleased with a solid first half performance.

With the slope and the barely perceptible breeze in the second half, Ripon restarted with their tails up. The “bomb squad” replacement plan to bring on Scott Paul, Veitch and Clark for Newcombe, Layne and Cooper, delivered fresh legs and ideas, as well as an additional tour de force at scrum time. Not one to waste time, the man, the legend; Allan Hudson struck again with just two minutes played. In a carbon copy of the end of the first half, a penalty in front of the Harrogate posts was seized by Hudson to tap and go again for his hat trick. Clark added the conversion for 31 – 0.

Within a further ten minutes, Ripon pretty much had the game in their complete control and when Harry Drane followed up his own chip and chase to dab down between the posts, there was much to celebrate. Clark made no mistake again and the conversion took the score to 38 – 0 and Harrogate needing divine intervention to save them from further embarrassment. Next up was the mighty Adam Scott Paul, providing both the irresistible force and the immovable object from a penalty line out catch and drive. The burly Coach steered the maul some fifteen metres to touch down for his first try in a while and Ripon’s seventh. Clark narrowly missed the conversion for 43 – 0.

No sooner had the dust settled from the restart but The Blues were off again, chucking the ball around as if it was sevens season again. Barrett made some good ground supported by Pearce, who then offloaded to the ever-present Tom Austin to touch down for Ripon’s eighth. Clark struck the conversion sweetly for a neat 50 – 0. What could possibly go wrong?

With Ripon in the ascendancy, something had to give and some successive breakdown infractions resulted in Scott Paul being yellow carded with ten minutes of the match left to play. This loss gave Harrogate the incentive and motivation to up their game and they started to put together some incisive moves with the possession and numerical advantage they had. In the dying minutes, looking almost fully resuscitated, Harrogate benefitted from a further couple of penalties in the home half. From a penalty line out, the visitors quickly spun the ball wide to touch down for their consolation try and with the conversion, a face saving final score of 50 – 7.

Despite the soggy weather, another successful crowd pleaser at Mallorie Park and what’s not to love about another strong home win. For the purist perhaps, still some work to do on discipline and reading the referee, but keeping this squad together and keeping up the winning culture, will yield further positive results.

Next weekend Ripon 1st XV take a well-earned break from league rugby to prepare for their journey over to Grassington to take on Wharfedale 2nd XV on Saturday 21st November. The Hornblowers line up for a second round cup tie versus Richmondshire away. Further details to follow.
Let’s get all local support behind The Blues for what promises to be a high octane and thrilling encounter with more local rivals. Note that kick offs have now moved to the earlier time of 2.15pm unless notified otherwise.