St. Julian´s Rugby Club: Sub-16 v Agrária Coimbra (23/01/2011)

Sub-16 v Agrária Coimbra (23/01/2011)
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Dr. Goatington on 26/01/2011 09:43:00

The Sub-16s got their Campeonato Nacional 2nd Phase off to a perfect start with
a thumping win over Agrária. Read Tom Rains' Match Report and view the
abbreviated Image Gallery.

Sub 16 vs. Agrária Coimbra
Sunday 23rd January
Match report by Tom Rains
St. Julian’s played host to Agrária last Sunday on what will prove to be one
of the coldest days of the year. Having run out relatively comfortable winners
of the regional phase of the Campeonato Nacional, the players had their sights
on continuing the winning streak. Agrária were an unknown quantity, never
crossing paths with St. Julian’s at any age group, but having finished second
in their own group, they were not to be underestimated. In the lead up to the
game training had focused on off-setting the opposition, while building on the
established game plan that had proved so successful to date. With the late
withdrawal of centre Micah Mira a quick reshuffle in the backs saw Diogo Raposo
making his debut at outside centre.
It was the visitors who started the more encouragingly, securing valuable
possession in the opening minutes and spending most of the first five minutes
pinning St. Julian’s firmly in their own third of the field. Any good ball
that was won by the hosts was subsequently fumbled or gifted to the opposition
in contact. On five minutes a promising forwards attack from the hosts came to
nothing as the ball was robbed by Agrária at the ruck. The ensuing
counter-attack looked threatening, and had the Agrária centre not spilled the
ball from five metres out, a try for the visitors was a certainty.
This acted as a wake-up call to the boys and slowly our forwards began to get a
grip on the game. They dominated the opposition in set play, and strong running
and rucking ensured that the opposition’s gain line was penetrated and decent
ball provided for scrum-half Frost.
With ten minutes on the board a series of rucks developed close to the
opposition try line. After a couple of unsuccessful drives, Tom Vilar collected
the ball from the mass of heaving bodies to squirm across the whitewash. If ever
there was a typical prop’s try, this was it.
Within minutes Seb Bader made it try number two. The recent hours spent on the
practice paddock were put into good effect, with the big fella off-setting the
defence before galloping in from 20 metres out. Reid was able to add the extras
to make it 12-0, and it was the St. Julian’s fly-half who added the third try
when he exploited a gap in the Agrarian backline.
Despite having coughed up good go-forward ball three times in the opening 15
minutes, Reid made amends with a good turn of pace and excellent balanced
running. St. Julian’s continued to press forward and as the Agrarian defence
tired the gaps through which to attack enlarged. The forwards still had to fight
for possession, but with the likes of Tomas Avilez Pereira in combative form and
the tireless efforts of the second row duo Gomes and Almeida, the momentum was
clearly with St. Julian’s.
The final try of the half came when the ball was moved into space on the left
wing. A combination of good hands and a selfless attitude saw the ball
transferred from winger Tomás Pimenta into the ever-reliable hands of the
unmarked Santiago de Oriol, who waltzed over for the first of his two tries.
By half-time the game was pretty much won but coach Craig Ferris insisted that
the players stick to the game plan and cut out the silly errors. Hubert and
Pimenta were replaced with Mathieu Rodrigues and Francisco Guapo, with the
latter making his St. Julian’s debut on the wing.
Flora da Silva was first to open the scoring in the second half with a try
reminiscent of Seb Bader's first half effort. Within minutes both players left
the field injured to be replaced by the tenacious duo of Mathieu Rodrigues and
Sebastian Gomes.
The best tries came as the game was drawing to a close. The attack minded
full-back Santiago de Oriol collected the ball on the opposition 10 metre line
and through sheer pace, power and guile, evaded the clutches of five Agrária
players before touching down under the posts. Reid converted but the fly-half
was clearly not content to win by a mere 30 or so points. Two tries from the
number 10 in the final minutes of the game, the second of which came from an
impressive chip and chase, ensured St. Julian’s ran out comfortable victors.
The players can be pleased with the win, in the end coming home in style and
keeping the visitors off the score sheet. However, they will acknowledge they
lacked alacrity for parts of the game and will need to sharpen up in the coming
weeks if they are to make it to the Final Four as group winners.
Once again, a big thank you must be extended to the St. Julian’s support who
braved the freezing conditions, and to Mr Piementa for the amazing post-match
pie bonanza.
St. Julian’s   48   -   0   Agrária Coimbra
Tries:   Vilar, Bader, Reid (3), Oriol (2), Flora de Silva
Conversions: Reid (3)
Man of the match: Santiago Oriol
Pies consumed: Mr Mount 4, Mr Ferris 5, Mr Rains 1*
*Editor’s note: The pie count quoted here is subject to an internal
investigation. Independent observers scored the contest very differently, with
Mr Rains in first place with 9 pies consumed. Disgracefully, several players
certainly had to go without their post-match pies this week.