James crowned college rugby champions

Alcuin 15 – 22 James

James-Alcuin was easily the most hyped game of college rugby 15s so far. Even before this season began, James were undeniably the team to beat, having won last year’s tri-college competition against Alcuin and Derwent and the one-day 10s tournament, as well as beating the College Barbarians in the Charles de Ladoucette memorial match. And this term had only strengthened their reputation, with an unbeaten season, a triple-figure points difference and only one try conceded.

Alcuin, however, were scarcely far behind, having beaten James in the last 15s match between the two colleges, and lost by a mere two points in the final of the 10s. Indeed, this season they were actually in front, sitting at the top of the table with four wins out of four – although half of those were walkovers, with Halifax and Derwent forfeiting because of player shortages.

And so the stage was set: Alcuin were one point ahead going into the game, so matching or defeating James would see them lift the currently-absent trophy. The complications of bonus points aside, James needed to win the match. Regardless, neither side had any intention of playing to draw.

But despite the drive and talent on both sides, the first half proved to be largely a stalemate. The breakdown was very scrappy indeed, with referee Tom Weir (of the university first team) allowing the game to flow to an extreme, as countless infringements went unpunished. Consequently, although play was not broken up by the whistle, both sides struggled to put phases together, as turnovers abounded from the rucks.

It was James who took the initiative early on though, kicking well to dominate territorially and pin Alcuin in their own half, but Alcuin’s defence held firm. And as scrappy as the rucking was, scrums were an entirely different matter, as the Alcuin pack dominated proceedings – to the point of injuring James hooker Michael Moloney in the very first scrum. But despite this supremacy up front, Alcuin’s backs, faced with the onrushing James defence, struggled to make the most of their time on the ball, forced into contact all too often.

Alcuin played exceptionally well, but there's no substitute for match practice.
President Alex Muntus

Nevertheless, it was Alcuin who drew first blood. After gaining ground back with good territorial kicking, they won a penalty in the centre of the park within kicking distance, and Paul Guest stepped up to slot the three points just before half-time.

But Alcuin’s momentum had come at precisely the wrong time, and James stormed out of the blocks cross the whitewash in the second minute through outside centre Chris Smith. Alcuin looked shell-shocked, and soon another slick backs move saw a second James try from their outstanding fullback Aaron Rolph.

12 – 3 down, Alcuin pulled themselves together and drove into the James half. Finally retaining possession long enough to put phases together, they rapidly approached the James five metre line, where a pick and drive from gargantuan lock Ty Partridge set up number eight Ross Gehnich to power across the line.

But just like the typically accurate James fly-half Alex Muntus earlier on, Guest fluffed his in front of the posts, and James remained four points ahead. Not content with such a narrow lead, winger Ollie Woodward seized an opportunity down the left flank, using his pace to convert a series of grubber kicks and widen the margin to 17 – 8.

In the final quarter of an hour, James swept forward to seal the victory, but again Alcuin’s defensive line was solid under the ferocious assault. And ten minutes later, Man of the Match Gehnich struck again, popping up in the centres to intercept a long pass and sprint across the try-line, bringing the scoreline to 17 - 15 and giving Alcuin hope of overturning James' two-point lead.

They clinically punished us with some great counter attacks and played better tactically.
Alcuin captain Giles Raymond

Alcuin battled harder than ever, but simply could not break out of their half, such was the pressure of James’ blitz defence and the tactical awareness of their kicking. And in the very last play of the game, Woodward repeated his grubbers down the left and College Rugby President Muntus leapt onto the ball to secure win and title.

Alcuin skipper Giles Raymond commented, “It’s a really hard loss to take – not just because of the magnitude of the game, but also the nature of it. I don’t think they were significantly better than us, but credit where it’s due: they clinically punished us with some great counter attacks and probably played a better tactical game than us.”

Muntus concurred, adding, “Alcuin played exceptionally well, but this game showed there is just no substitute for match practice. I’m very impressed that Alcuin haven’t played in a month and were still very much in the game. Next time will be far too close to call!”

As President of the Emperor's College Rugby Championship, Muntus also expressed his delight at how well the inaugural season had gone: "We've played 15 matches this term and only three were cancelled, which for the first season with all colleges is amazing. A big thankyou to the university rugby club for providing refs, use of the scrum machine and even kits. We are particularly indebted to the captain Alex Redshaw and Rupert Grant for helping us with scrummage training, and of course Tom Weir for reffing today!"

In a tight game, James deserved the victory, their extra match-practice showing as they kept calm and took their chances well. Alcuin will be frustrated not to have got something from a game they were very much in contention for, and next term will definitely be challenging for the title once again.

James: 1.Stuart Palmer 2.Michael Moloney 3.Tom Rodliffe 4.Tom Pinney 5.Sam Burgum 6.Bruce Green (c) 7.Gideon Heugh 8.Giles Welford 9.Huw Harrow 10.Alex Muntus 11.Oli Woodward 12.Tom Prifti 13.Chris Smith 14.Ben Ivory 15.Aaron Rolph Subs: Alex Prowse, Rob Hanley, Dave Wilcock, Griff Chatwin, Anthony Matthews, Adam Biggs, James Paul.

Alcuin: 1.Johnny Hamilton 2.Tom Fitz-Hugh 3.Matt Forrest 4.Simon Owen 5.Ty Partridge 6.Ben McNorton 7.James Arnold 8.Ross Gehnich (v-c) 9.Giles Raymond (c) 10. Johnny Barratt 11.Tom Gibby 12.Ben Howes 13. Paul Guest 14. Brad Voigt 15.Rhys Spong Subs: Dan Hunt, Tom Rider, Adam Morrey, Benoit Jamous, Chris To, Andreas Papadolambakis.

Derwent 12 – 3 Goodricke-Langwith-Wentworth

Although the top two spots were now all sown up, Derwent could still take third place from Vanbrugh with a victory, but an upset was lurking in the form of the best side so far put out by GLW, or The Demons as they have christened themselves of late.

Nevertheless, Derwent dominated early on, retaining possession and sending loosehead prop Rob Johnson crashing into the defensive line time after time. Comfortably camped in the GLW half, Derwent eventually sent right winger Jamie Cresswell across the line with a simple spread from a central scrum.

However, with the introduction of University Football 2nds captain, Ben Smith, as the GLW fly-half, the dynamics of the game were completely changed. Smith showed terrific pace, cool-headedness and a great boot to retain possession and gain good ground. But even at the height of their forward progress GLW could not quite cross the line. From 5m out, the Derwent defence proved unbreachable, and so the half-time score remained 7 – 0.

The second half started as the first had begun, with GLW in the ascendancy and Smith at the heart of play. In stark contrast, Derwent lacked creativity, perhaps suffering from two of their more skilful forwards, Sean Glas and captain Joe Rankin, being locked into scrums at second row.

Winning a central penalty just inside the Derwent half, GLW were clearly put off another direct assault on the solid blue wall, and so opted to kick, but Smith knocked the ball just wide of the uprights.

Unbowed, Smith tried again from another penalty further into opposition territory, rewarding his team’s faith with a calmly taken three points. However, with GLW still four points behind, and Derwent still looking far more dangerous in the final third, the decision to kick the points looked unwise, revealing GLW’s continuing lack of confidence.

A genuine moral victory.
GLW's Charlie Fikry

And indeed events went against them. After conceding, Derwent roused themselves and reverted to their opening style of play, building up good phases of play to carry the ball closer and closer to the opposition try-line. With three minutes to go, centre Alex Littlechild – moved to flanker halfway through the match – spotted a gap in the defence and raced through it, flooring a prospective tackler before grounding the ball under the posts to finally guarantee Derwent victory.

Speaking after the match, Rankin said, “Obviously I’m glad we won, and we deserved it in the end. Individual errors cost us ground and possession. It wasn’t our best performance, but at least it leaves us room to improve.” He named winger Krish Yellapa as Man of the Match, who caught many a kick and made good ground with some tidy runs.

GLW played far better than in any previous game this season, showing coherence to back up the passion so obvious in their previous performances, and can be proud to have kept the game in the balance for so long. As vice-captain Charlie Fikry put it, “People cared and you could trust the man outside you. A genuine moral victory.”

Next season sees them combine with Halifax, and alongside the introduction of coaches from Durham University's 1st team, for the team nicknamed The Demons, things can only get better in the new year.

Derwent: 1. Rob Johnson 2. Freddy Harris 3. Bert Bayley 4. Sean Glas 5. Joe Rankin (c) 6. Chris Craddock 7. Tolga Necar 8. Conor Scanlan 9. Callum Douglas 10. Dom Caunt 11. Krish Yellappa 12. Alex Littlechild 13. Dan Crehan 14. Jamie Criswell 15. Olly Wessely Subs: Henry Guest, Seb Cowell de Gruchy, Bradley Lineker, Dave Harder, Alex Wilson.

GLW: 1.Andy Carpenter 2.Josh Potter 3.James Bowdler (c) 4.Will Appleton 5.Jonathan Daniels 6.Charlie Fikry (v-c) 7.Alex Farrow 8.Harry Shaw 9.Cameron Craig 10.Martin Ferry 11.Will Stevens 12.Christian Hammer 13.Nick Abbatt 14.Roray Mclaughton 15.Ben Murphy Subs: Ben Smith, Lewis Gray.

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