Southampton University 1st XV 13
AECC RFC 15
AECC travelled to Southampton for this first round cup tie against higher-league opposition with numbers thin on the ground. Injuries to Dan Pollard, Joe Frost, Jose Vargas and countless other unavailabilities through study commitments forced a somewhat makeshift backline. Iain Crombie started at scrum-half, with Matthew Bateman “running the show” from fly-half.
The chiros started brightly, with some vicious defence which forced the confident home side to start throwing the ball around. A few ill-advised offloads later and the pressure had created the opportunity for Tom Faulkner to pounce on a wayward pass and streak 50 metres unchallenged for the opening try.
Following this, the chat was to keep the pressure on. Southampton were rattled, and more of the same could produce more opportunities, or so the logic went. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, Clive Hurkett rediscovered his mojo that had inexplicably gone missing until this point in the season, running in an intercept try that was a virtual carbon copy of Faulkner’s. Captain Matt Bateman made no mistake with the extras this time, making it 12-0 to AECC.
The AECC’s defensive policy of pressing on the outside to force Southampton back inside was working wonders, until a poor kick chase exposed the Chiros’ defensive frailties. A very good kick return had the boys on the back foot, and suddenly Southampton had outflanked the AECC. Left with a one-on-one with full-back Ricky Davis, the pacy Southampton winger got a stroke of luck when the Essex pin-up cruelly slipped. The try under the posts and subsequent conversion made it 12-7. Some smart tactical kicking from Southampton ensured that most of the remainder of the half would be played in the AECC half, however the Chiros’ defensive wall was not going to break easily. Some close shaves and some “rough treatment” made the match a hot-tempered affair, the peak of which was a frankly ridiculous double sin binning of scrapping scrum halves (IAIN CROMBIE). Try as they might, the Southampton attack was simply not asking enough questions of the AECC defence. That is, until the final act of the first half, when Mike Richards was penalised for tackling with no arms. Penalty slotted, the Chiros led 12-10 at halftime.
The second half followed a very similar pattern, the Chiros on top but constantly shooting themselves in the foot by giving away penalties. In fairness, half of them were via the referee’s frankly incomprehensible interpretation of the breakdown and the other half were for the boys asking what his interpretation was. His explanation of “I’ll play it how I see it” seemed only to intimate that carte blanche was the order of the day, and since the AECC had put something of a chip on his shoulder, the colour of the shirt would be the main determinant in who was right and who was wrong.
Rant over, time for some good news. The AECC scrum was the immovable object, and following the opening twenty minutes, the Southampton front row appeared to have had enough of playing against Struan Brown and Ben Rutter. Brown in particular is putting in increasingly impressive performances in the front row. In fact, this has become something of an anomaly – his only training appears to be bicep curls with a pint of Guinness. This led me to do some research. Since arriving at the AECC, Struan’s weight gain has been veritably Katona-esque (or Claire from Steps if you prefer). Plotted against his considerable increase in scrummaging ability (see graph), a definite pattern emerges.
He really is massive
Should this trend continue, by the time Struan hits clinic year in 2012, he will be both one of the most formidable scrummagers in the northern hemisphere AND a Grade II listed building. Go Struan!
Southampton enjoyed a strong 10 minutes in the Chiro half, with a couple of lineout drives from close range snuffed out by the ever-alert AECC defence. Yet another baffling breakdown “interpretation” gave Southampton the chance to take the lead for the first time late in the game. With the penalty slotted, the boys had to fight their way back from 13-12 down with ten minutes left on the clock. What followed can only be described as ten minutes’ worth of close shaves for the Southampton defence. Time after time, the last pass just went astray, or the ball was dropped at the crucial moment, and some might have believed that it was just not to be. Then, when Matthew Bateman stepped up to take the last kick of the game most people believed it was not to be. For once, the referee had given the AECC the benefit of his unique refereeing of the ruck, and here was Matt, ready to throw it all away. Well, as it happens, Mr Bateman had barely put a foot wrong all day. This report was going to have praise for our proud skipper that would have made Kim Jong-Il blush, especially when the last kick of the game sailed through the posts to the sweet, sweet music of the final whistle to record a famous victory for the Chiros. In fact, a record 14 people gave their vote for Man of the Match to our Dear Leader Matt. But such praise could be considered vulgar, so I’ll save the propaganda for when he inevitably gets in trouble next.
Dick of the day went to Iain Crombie. No explanation needed. While we’re here, I’ve knocked up a graph of yellow cards awarded to AECC this season. Have a look if you like.
As you can see, the combined efforts of about 40 players associated with the rugby club don’t even come close to Iain Crombie’s incredible record of 1 yellow card for basically every game he plays.
Big hands this week go to Chris Marshall and Ben Rutter for offering their services from Bournemouth University, and to Adam Endler and Kristian “Tin Tin” Gjermundrød - of Sweden and Norway respectively – for playing their first rugby EVER and thereby proving to everyone that they have some serious plums.
AECC RFC
Not bad for a team missing Liam McMahon
(come back soon mate :) )
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