1st XV Match Report - Saturday 12th October

Ripon took to the road this week in a confident mood arising from two good wins in succession and a sustained effort from the squad on the training pitch. Despite the appalling weather conditions at home, the club has minimised the impact on training schedules and maximised availability of workable ground to train on. In years past, with levels of rain as experienced recently, the grounds of Mallorie Park would be sodden and grass a thing of the past. Thus the club’s focus on strength and condition as well as overall fitness and match preparation continues regardless of the weather.

The journey to Wath in the South Yorkshire Barnsley District was uneventful and uninterrupted by geese this year. In brightening weather conditions, the Dearne Valley Park, or traffic island conservation area as it’s becoming known, was a joy to behold. The welcome at the Club itself was traditional and warm. Warm as the fine freshly baked pork pies set out on the bar.

The Blues’ squad showed some minor changes from the previous week and apart from debuts by Morgan Clark on the Wing and Matthew Barrett as a finisher in the pack, the remaining team was a mere matter of reshuffling, with a bit of recycling. Nick Perez returned to the “Bear Pit” at Loose Head and Slator propped up the Tight Head side, with Newcombe at Hooker. The “Land of the Giants” pairing of Skipper Barker and Alex Oliver continued and going from the sublime to the ridiculous, the “Hobbit-like” back row comprised Nicholson, Burgin and Findlay.
At half back, the youthful Mainey and Williams looked to continue to develop their understanding on the pitch, outside of whom were Newby and Pillar in the Centres. The back three comprised Graham, Ben Taylor at Full Back and emerging kicking legend Clark on the other Wing. Joining Barrett on the bench were utility forward Baldwin and a welcome return to the squad for utility back Tim Tombling.

A classic game of two halves, in which Ripon barely played in the first and delayed their presence far too late in the second, saw a hefty defeat for the Blues. Perhaps the 30 – 0 half time score in favour of the hosts marginally overstated their grip on the game, but clearly indicated that stronger physicality was the order of the day. Whilst Ripon did manage an admirable come back to only lose the second half by 17 – 12, it was simply not enough to compete with the hosts, who played simple Rugby, but with clearly more passion. Despite the lack lustre performance overall, some encouraging individual performances shone through, but not enough to turn the tide. The Blues’ fortunes were not helped by the devastating loss of two influential players: Ollie Williams with a shoulder injury and Alex Oliver with an arm injury. Both may be incapacitated for a while, will be missed by fellow squad players very much and will pose difficult questions as to how they are replaced. We wish them well for speedy and effective recoveries.

The first half was one in which Ripon just didn’t get going. Despite a well-functioning Ripon set piece, the hosts defended well and made Ripon’s attacking options look very shallow and ineffective. Poor tackling by the Blues in defence, saw three converted tries run in by Wath with minimal opposition. Poor discipline also let Ripon down, resulting in three Penalty Goals for the hosts. There were a number of flurries of activity by Ripon, but none so conclusive as to make either decent ground, nor appear to be close to scoring.

The half time talk focused on increasing physicality, faster line speed in defence and getting onto the front foot. Seemingly obvious topics of discussion, but critical in setting about recovering from a 30 – 0 deficit. With Williams removed from play just prior to half time whilst making a brave tackle, Tombling stepped in to his berth, Barrett dropped into the front row to replace Perez and Baldwin came on for Burgin.

The second half was a more evenly matched competition, with Ripon stepping up a gear and Wath seemingly tiring somewhat. After a scrappy beginning, in which penalties were exchanged, Ripon looked to be more composed and creative in attempted line breaks.
In carrying on a decent period of driving play, Oliver succumbed to his injury, which not only removed him from the game, but allowed the hosts to relieve the pressure. Thus it was the hosts who gained the momentum from the next play and at nine minutes into the half, a Number 8 break from a scrum on the home 22 metre line, saw a calm offload for the Scrum Half to score under the posts. Thankfully the easy conversion attempt was missed, keeping the score to 35 – 0.

Next up was a Ripon attack, which resulted in a home transgression to give away a penalty. From the touch kick and line out, Tombling shovelled the ball out right to Newby, who broke the line and then neatly chipped the Full Back. Gathering the ball cleanly on the first bounce, Tom Newby cantered over to open the scoring for Ripon. Clark immediately stepped up to show off his amazing kicking skills and added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 35 – 7.

After a relatively lean period in which neither side made particular inroads, at 27 minutes into the half a home scrum caught the Blues on the hop momentarily and put them on the back foot. The quick ball to their Outside Centre was perfectly timed and he ran in their fifth try, which again went unconverted, to open the gap further to 40 – 7.

Undeterred, Ripon fought back into the game and forced a number of errors by the hosts and got good ground through touch finding penalty kicks. Moving deeper into injury time, Ripon grew from strength to strength and through a penalty line out catch and drive, Burgin emerged from the heap to claim Ripon’s second try of the game. Tombling was just wide with the conversion attempt, but the 40 – 7 score line was looking more creditable.

Fate however, was not smiling on Ripon and in the 47th minute of the second half, an unplanned for break out by the hosts resulted in a further converted try to take the final score to 47 – 12. A creditable performance by a worthy Wath side, who kept it simple and played to their strengths. Solid one up runners and clever territorial kicking may not be attractive Rugby, but it can deliver six tries and serious winning margins. We look forward to the re-match later in the season and hope that Ripon’s fortunes change soon and significantly.
Next week’s Yorkshire Division Two action sees Ripon entertain current leaders Roundhegians at Mallorie Park. All support will be most welcome and hopefully spur the Blues back into winning ways.