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With Derwent vs. Halifax cancelled due to the latter’s player shortage - a seemingly chronic problem for college rugby this year - there was just the one match this weekend. As veterans Alcuin took on a newer Vanbrugh side at York RI. And although the final result was a comfortable win for Alcuin, the big score line belied a tense, close second half.
Replicating last week's opening against Goodricke/Langwith/Wentworth, Alcuin came steaming out of the blocks to score three tries in the opening ten minutes. The first came from a telegraphed Vanbrugh pass too close to the onrushing Alcuin defensive line, allowing York Sport College Sport Officer Paul Guest to intercept and comfortably jog through to score under the posts. After Guest had done what Alun-Wyn Jones could not, winger Thomas Gibby stepped up to convert, but narrowly clipped the upright, denying Alcuin the extra two points.
And soon after the restart, Alcuin struck again. Having ripped the ball from Vanbrugh as they carried it into contact, Alcuin set their backs free down the right wing, with inside centre Ben Howes crossing the whitewash. With Gibby succesfully converting this time, Alcuin were already 12 - 0 up and looking comfortably in control. But far from slow the game down, they proceeded to score again from another turnover, this time winger Benoit Jamous running in the try.
Though Guest missed the conversion from a wide angle, Alcuin appeared satisfied to have asserted their dominance, and slackened the frenetic pace a little. Vanbrugh took full advantage of this, camping in Alcuin's half and developing the confidence to run at a drift defence slow to press up and tackling loosely.
And soon the Vanbrugh pressure told, and after a lineout on the Alcuin five metre line, Vanbrugh’s forwards built a powerful maul and crashed over the line, Nick Skeavington claiming the five points from the bottom of the pile. Though the angle proved too wide for the conversion, Alcuin heard the wake up call, and pulled off two more sleek backs moves finished by Voigt and Howes, making the score 31 – 5 at the break.
If you take out those first three quick tries, 21 – 12 is a much fairer reflection of the scoreline.
However, their more than comfortable lead made Alcuin overly complacent in the second half – ignoring captain Giles Raymond’s demands for safe, uncomplicated rugby, Alcuin simply forgot to do the basics. Vanbrugh were given time and space to run at a ragged defence and make considerable ground, raising their confidence with every phase. Although Alcuin frequently turned the ball over, they consistently failed to properly clear their lines and handed Vanbrugh back possession time after time.
Some fine personal performances held the Alcuin fort – notably one-time flanker Dan Hunt proving he can still play back row with his excellent fringe work and hard tackling, and loosehead Johnny Hamilton rucking to perfection. But Vanbrugh soon took advantage of their sustained possession to cross the line twice from close range. Though their first effort was ruled held up over the line, the second was never in doubt, with winger Serge Mazodila spying the gap from five yards out and accelerating through it to score on his rugby debut and claim his Man of the Match award.
Kicked back into life by the shock of conceding for a second time, Alcuin regained their composure and started to play as a team again, and Vanbrugh's dominance evaporated. Good support play allowed Alcuin to retain possession through offloading and quickly won rucks, and with the ball secure Alcuin marched back into Vanbrugh’s half. Lock Ty Partridge made excellent ground with a surging run, before Alcuin capped off the game with Voigt's second try in the last move of the game.
The final score of 36 – 12 sees Alcuin move top of the Emperor's College Rugby Championship: with the old guard of Alcuin, James and Derwent all on two wins out of two, James’ points difference of 63 is narrowly pipped by Alcuin’s of 65.
Speaking after the game, Raymond said, “Obviously I’m very happy with the win. But not with our second half performance – we have a lot to work on in training to try to stop that from happening again.” Meanwhile, Vanbrugh captain Jordan Abbott – a former Alcuin player – commented, “Clearly we were beaten by the better team today, but if you take out those first three quick tries from before we’d settled, 21 – 12 is a much fairer reflection of the scoreline.”
There are no college rugby fixtures this weekend, but next Sunday sees Derwent vs James and GLW vs Vanbrugh at Archbishop Holgate’s School and Alcuin vs Halifax at York RI.
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