Bishops Stortford 1st XV v UCS 2nd XV

Bishops Stortford 1st XV v UCS 2nd XV

Result: Loss 07-46
Man of Match: Tom Vunipola Saunders
Tries: Tom Vunipola Saunders
Conversion: Dill

Unfortunately, our home game was moved to the wondrous green pastures of Finchley late in the
week so a merry band of 15 men headed up for a crunch game with a strong Bishops Stortford side. In
the spirit of how sport should be played BS leant us a prop so we could have a proper game.
Trever Turton must have eaten a fine breakfast. His opposition prop was 23 stone so he had to muster
all his indomitable strength to contain this portly beast. It is with pride that I report that the beacon of
hope for the west midlands was undimmed. This included a superb try saving tackle with Paul Dillon in
the second half, 2 great men in unison, heavy duty poetry in motion. The pluming smoke of the west
midland biscuit factories symbolise their hope in reaching for the skies so that they might get close to
their great man who walks amongst us as a giant.
Durand Chastel captained superbly yesterday and great pass from the floor like an experienced
matador felled by the raging bull but still swishing his Matadors cape still around the field of battle.
The day to me was on of serendipitous partnerships.

In the second row we had Dillon and Bard; In the annals of 2nd row membership they are certainly up there with the biggest members.
Dillon was always a dominant force going forward with over 10 carries that shuddered through the
opposition midfield. He also was significant in the try but more of this later.

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Bard was a sturdy oak at lock as always but I particularly enjoyed that the opposition captain
commented on his dashing good looks when questioning a referee’s decision. Our chairman Adonis
made a superb tackle close to our line that had a hint of swinging arm. His renaissance on the pitch
continues to gather pace with the muddy fields of London as his catwalk on which he struts!

Brunas is a quiet unassuming man who lets his rugby do his talking. At the bottom of most mauls and
rucks he did the dirty work of 15 men. His wife can stroke his sleeping head with great pride on
Sunday after the great shift he put in on the rugby park of dreams.

Nick Field was his usual ebullient self and covered every inch of the pitch. His cover was outstanding.
So unfortunate he was to miss a last ditch tackle having covered back a sprinting 50 metres. As in life
we do not always get chance to climb the jasmine strands a kiss each sweet lover. Sometimes the
chase is gallantry in itself as we move on to the next challenge. Coming back from sever knock to his
knee to carry on at the same pace is a sign of the man indeed.

Tom “Vunipola” Sanders was absolutely immense yesterday. His granite shoulders are wider than the
Grand Canyon and I lost count of the number of tackles and devastating surges he made. I am no
Gauss but he made well over 15 runs and at least 15 tackles. It is not however the immense work he
put in that won him a deserved man of the match, nor was it the superb cover tackle in the corner to
avert a definite try. His man of the match performance was for his excellent rugby intelligence. You
can only make tackles or runs if you know where the ball is! This is the sign of a great player rather
than individual moments of brilliance. Brilliance is a by-product of physical ability but most
importantly Rugby Intelligence; a Rugby Gauss indeed!

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This leads me to describing our only try of the match: Dillon takes a beautiful high ball with the
delicate touch of a unicorn’s farrier. With a deft touch he passed to Gunning who continued the
move, Gunning hands off to the mercurial Yousefian who makes a stunning break. Yousefian suggests
a dummy and passes on to the approaching steam train Tom Vunipola Saunders. What a team try. My
rugby heart wept.

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Jonny Gunning admirably agreed to play 9 even though he had never played there before. Well, at no
point did he look out of place. So comfortable was he at 9 that he even secured the same cheeky
verbosity we often see in quality number 9s. His retort to the oppositions cry of ‘Only 5 metres to go’
at an attacking 5 metre scrum was to urge his troops with ‘Only 95 metres to go!’. Communicative
genius and not unimpressive Maths.

One fine run through the heart of BS defence of 40 metres (fed by Sanders of course) lit up the dreary
afternoon. A number of times an opposition forward was felled with me expecting a back row to be
dusting himself off in the aftermath but often the muddied face of Gunning rose from the turf.
His half back partner Yousefian was so close to Sanders in winning man of the match. Alex should be
the poster child of rugby. Brave, dynamic and so full of rugby energy he should be sponsored by
Duracell.

I mentioned earlier that this game was signified by great partnerships. If, metaphorically, Forwards
are men and backs are ladies, then the rugby love affair between Sanders and Yousefian was a thing
of great beauty on the field. Sanders was Anthony to Yousefian’s Cleopatra. Rugby can be romantic!

Collier was as brave as 100 men yesterday. His courageous tackling was unfortunately his final
undoing. We wish him well in recovery from a dislocated collar bone. Before his injury he made
countless tackles and one catch continues to install him further into the Harlem globetrotter’s hall of
fame.

Hirschovits had another fine game yesterday after his late entrance powdering his nose. His pace
from the WC to pitch was like the wind but he continued this fine running throughout the game.
Owen Lewis is still learning his trade but made a superb tackle on their biggest player. In rugby, as life,
muscles can never outdo heart.

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Juan Bazan hands should be sponsored by super glue, one take above his head was carried out with
such nonchalance I could swear he closes his eyes to make it harder for himself. A number of surging
runs came from tremendous catching on the full and he was unlucky not to set up another try for
sanders after a great break

Jack Parncutt graced a rugby field for the first time and this tall languid rower made a superb tackle
yesterday that had the whole afternoon smiling with rugby joy. We hope to see him on the green
fields of Union once more.

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In Conclusion I think the great Trever Turton summed it up well. Bishops Stortford had everyone in
the correct position.
We had people out of position, a winger who had never graced this great game.
However, when we review deep down we still showed more fight and more talent within each man.

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