UCSOB 1ST XV Run Riot
UCSOBRFC – 82 (Home) v HILLINDON RFC – 5
After receiving the ball from the kick off, UCS immediately demonstrated their intent to run the ball with some hard carries from the forwards. The excellent support play and commitment at the breakdown from the UCS pack resulted in quick ball for Arthur Coates at nine who’s distribution was accurate and rapid. With front foot ball, the UCS backs looked dangerous all game as Tom Arnold and Lloyd Hughes made a number of scything breaks with Matt Jacobs, linking the play from twelve, putting his teammates into space. After some early pressure by UCS, Arnold made one of his many breaks into the Hillingdon half setting up a good field position for the home side. After a couple of surges from the supporting forward pack, Coates took advantage of the quick ball and sniped down the blindside from just inside the opposition’s 22 to score the first try in the corner.
UCS failed to recover the restart and it looked like Hillingdon would enjoy some possession of their own in UCS’s half. However good line speed and committed tackling together with some smart scavenging at the breakdown ensured that UCS recovered possession as Hillingdon were penalised for holding on. UCS found touch from the penalty, secured the line-out and after a number of phases put full-back Elliot Duke through in the corner for another try after some quick hands from the backs.
UCS were able to claim the restart on this occasion and again enjoyed possession and territory. When Hillingdon did get their hands on the ball their clearance kick was returned with interest by Ben Boyles who showed good pace, beating a couple of defenders and keeping the ball alive by linking up with the support players. The ball was quickly moved wide from the breakdown to Jacobs whose delayed pass sent Scotygyptian prop-forward Ahmed Ghanem crashing through the midfield and over the covering fullback for a try.
The first half continued in much the same vein, with UCS dominating possession and territory and when awarded a penalty in front of the posts, Arnold ambitiously opted for the scrum rather than a kick at goal. The scrum provided a solid platform all afternoon and on this occasion UCS marched the opposition backwards before Stefan Filip picked up from the base and offloaded which afforded the space for Boyles to score in the corner. The first half concluded with UCS wing Will Doble scoring another try in the corner after multiple phases of UCS attack and more good hands from the backline to take advantage of the overlap. The half time score was UCS 30 -0 Hillingdon.
UCS kicked off the second half and the ball was immediately reclaimed by lock forward Chris Pope. After several phases, Jacobs found himself in space on the blindside and released Chris Bean down the wing who turned the ball back inside to the supporting Jacobs for the opening try of the second half. UCS scored again only a few minutes later as Arnold hit Hughes off first phase ball and the outside centre screamed through a gap in the midfield and stepped past the fullback for a fantastic individual score.
With so many points on the board UCS became complacent and allowed Hillingdon to build some momentum of their own. The away team held onto the ball for a sustained period and went through the phases, gradually advancing towards the UCS try line. Having set up a ruck just inside the UCS 22, the Hillingdon pack made some inroads around the fringes before shipping it wide whereupon their winger scored in the corner.
Having conceded for the first time UCS looked to strike back and went about their defensive work with renewed gusto and aggression. The intensity at the breakdown was particularly impressive and yielded a number of turnovers with Arnold, Lloyd and Doble profiting with tries “sparked” directly from turnover ball. When in possession, the ball retention was good as UCS went through the phases with Coates changing the point of attack intelligently. UCS continued to use the blindside to good effect and when Jacobs set Doble free down the left wing, the winger returned the favour passing inside to the centre to score his second try of the game. The penultimate try of the game came as Coates broke blind himself and fed the ball to veteran winger Joe Samuel who showed remarkable pace to outstrip the Hillingdon defence. The final play of the game resulted in another UCS try off the back of a typically destructive break by flanker Will Jones. With UCS camped on the opposition’s 22, the forward pack made a few hard yards before Coates shifted the ball away from the breakdown to find Ghanem who came onto the ball at pace and from depth, blasting his way through the defence to score.
Team: Ghanem (Nze), Bean, Abrham Atlass, Pope, Brown (Collier), Jones, Turton, Filip, Coates, Doble, Arnold, Jacobs (Samuel), Boyles, Duke