Fixture

Saturday 14 September 2019

Rhiwbina 17 Rumney 20

With injuries to Dave Gilbert and Pat Ware, some adjustments were made to the team that faced Barry in the Squirrels’ first home game in the league.  In stepped James Griffiths at 9 and up stepped Morgan Kneath to the bench.

The Squirrels had most of the possession in the first fifteen minutes but the Rumney defence was organised and resolute.  Dabs, Chris Williams and Dave Walsh carried the ball well to keep gaining yards from a series of rucks, and the backs showed their intent early on, to spread the ball wide. 

Jack Zilch and Tom Slocombe had try scoring chances in the first quarter but both were denied by some last gasp tackling.  The patience and structure were rewarded though after 18 minutes when some slick passing between forwards and backs gave Ben Shariff the chance to show his finishing skills.  A floating pass from Jamie DeAbreu set up the chance for Ben to beat two tacklers to cross over the whitewash for the first points of the game.  The conversion from the touchline was unsuccessful but Rhiwbina were ahead by 5.  

It looked like the Squirrels would turn the pressure into more points with a series of positive phases of play but on 30 minutes, against the run of play, Rumney pinched the ball and broke from their own half to score a great try, which was converted by their outside half. 

Before the half ended, Rumney took advantage of some indiscipline from the Squirrels by slotting two penalties from distance.  At the break, Rumney were ahead 5-13. 

Despite some early possession in the second half and clever kicks to space by Ryan Stacey, the Rumney defence held strong. It was time for some changes and on came Nick Saunders at 10.  Stacey moved to full back and Elliott Jones moved from 15 to the centre.  The tactics changed with Scouse making some trademark breaks to create offloads beyond the gain line.  Some further changes were made by the Squirrels after fifteen minutes into the second half with Mark Desogus and Morgan Kneath replacing Dan Schwartz and Tom Simister, respectively.

Some driving mauls from lineouts and back of the scrum pick ups created some chances but were thwarted by errors and very quick defensive lines.  The patience paid off after 24 minutes into the half when, from a driving maul, Morgan Kneath found a small gap in the defence to cross for a try.  The Squirrels were back in the game at 10-13 and were seemingly in the driving seat again. 

As in the first half, when it looked likely Rhiwbina would turn pressure into points, Rumney managed to stifle the forward momentum and win the ball.  From a scrum inside Rhiwbina’s half, a clever kick from the outside half created an opportunity for the Rumney right wing to gather the ball and race over in the corner for another try.  It was again converted by the blue and blacks’ number 10. 

Despite going behind again, the Squirrels’ supporters were confident their side would come back into the game, and the response was immediate.  A try from Tom Slocombe, converted by Nick Saunders, brought Rhiwbina to within 3 points of their opponents, at 17-20. 

The game was now into injury time and Rhiwbina were on top once again.  Some ill-discipline from their opponents gave Rhiwbina a succession of penalties but they were all too far out for an attempt at goal.  Instead, they were kicked to touch downfield in the hope the dominant pack could set a platform for another try.  Unfortunately, the pressure could not be converted into any real opportunities and Rumney held on to take all the points.      

Dai and Jon would have taken a lot of positives from the game, not least the performances of players off the bench.  We travel to Brecon next Saturday in the Specsavers National Plate.  It will be a great opportunity to avenge last season’s fourth round defeat in the competition.