1st XV match reports |
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| March 11th 2006 |
London League Division One |
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Old Albanians 16 London Scottish 27
However the rules do allow that if neither side wants the replay then the scoreline at the point when the game went uncontested can be accepted as the final scoreline and result. Both sides have duly agreed this. It means that OAs injury time score and the visitors desperately poor last half an hour did not in fact take place! the report below remains as written the day after the match. Paul McFarland Old Albanians 23 London Scottish 27 Scottish duly collected the points from a tricky game, despite throwing away a comfortable winning margin, and clinging on to a four point lead at the end of nine minutes of stoppage time. Or not as the case may be. For Scottish in fact travelled home not sure if they had won by four points, won by 16 points, won a match scored at nil-nil, or had the game officially abandoned and set for replay … Confused? Well, yes, we all are! It may be some consolation to know that rugby at this level is indeed an amateur game but for neither the referee nor, more importantly, London League officials present to know the score, so to speak, is farcical. However, the league rules as to what happens when a team cannot field a competent front row appear to be enshrined in mist; from such a moment in a game, the rules are that scrums must be uncontested. Specifically, if injury leads to one side not having enough players including available substitutes technically and physically conditioned to play in the front row, the side putting the ball in must be allowed to heel it back without either side resorting to a shove let alone any of the other things that habitually go on in there. To the average spectator, and this includes several of those players whose shirts have two numbers on the back, this all seems pretty immaterial, but to forwards, who base their superiority and strut on dominating at the scrum, it is a bit like asking two tribes to settle a territorial dispute over a game of ping pong. Famously, the last World Cup was nearly decided by a referee who wanted England to stop pushing at the scrum. London Scots will recall two seasons ago that Cheshunt lost one front-rower too many towards the end of the game, and the ruling was that the result stood (a Scottish win) but all scores that took place after the point where the scrum had to be uncontested were void … which begged the question – why then did the match continue? On Saturday the moment came on 48 minutes. This at least explained why referee Keith Lewis had a chat with both captains before the restart – Albanians had just reduced the arrears to 27-16 with a try from a catch and drive after Scottish had previously held up two other attempts on the line. In the process, the home side picked up one front row injury too many. It was some chat: ignorant of events the crowd got restless as the talk went on for fully three minutes. However it appears that as the game had not run for an hour, the implications of scrums becoming uncontested are utterly unclear. The scoreboard had the final score at 27-23 but the final try was scored after the scrum went uncontested. The RFU site gives this as the final score; Rugby Round Up says the match was postponed. We thought the two of them relied on the same sources of information! This therefore is a report of a match that may indeed not have taken place. Should it have done, however, the Scottish 18 will expect and deserve harsh words when they reassemble for training. Three minutes into the second half a creditable 22-11 lead, secured against the biting wind, was extended by a further five points when James Baker, restored after a year out with a variety of injuries, raced over in the far corner after a lineout catch and drive and quick ball out. Williams missed on a tricky day for kicking, but it seemed Scottish would surely cruise to a massive win against opponents who have struggled all season. Instead, they proceeded to cough up possession and territory with a woeful lack of concentration, surrendering control with a succession of errors in thought and deed. With a breeze that begged for a tactical kicking game, forcing opponents to defend in their own corners, Scottish instead took a series of tap penalties, worked the ball sideways and proceeded then to literally throw possession away. It was all in marked contrast to the glittering second 40 the previous week, and the fact that the home side effectively had an extra back row player on the park is a feeble excuse for a woeful display. OAs fully deserved their 48th minute try. While from the sidelines it was not clear what happened next, what was clear was that from now on the home side were full of running, taking the game to the Scots and dominating the last half hour or so of play. Indeed their over-time try, was still the least they deserved, since they had passed up several chances previously while Scottish had got no nearer than a 70th minute missed penalty. It was a pity, though, that the move featured a blatant forward pass, ignored by Mr Lewis as he had several others by both sides. It set up a nasty closing few minutes as Scottish held on grimly. However, it should never have come to that. Scottish conceded an early lead as the biting wind threatened to bring snow flurries across the Hertfordshire heath, OAs collecting a penalty and a drop goal, and spurning a chance for 9-0 when kicking a further penalty to the corner. Perhaps they recalled, as Scottish certainly will have done, completely out-muscling Scottish up front in the famous win here the previous season. With the wind blowing cross-field but largely in their faces, Scottish might have planned to play tightly and save their creativity for the second half, but to their credit the response was quick. Darryn Bruce finished off what his forwards could not, with a dart under the posts after the home defence had repelled two thrusts, and the Paul Byford emerged with the ball having been powered over by his mates in a typical catch and drive move. Williams converted the first but apparently not the second, the touch judges and referee disagreeing with most observers. Scottish then relaxed and let the home side press the line. Sustained pressure brought a score for Ed Panting in the corner, but the conversion was missed to leave Scottish a one point lead, and as the pressure continued, Alex Alesbrook collected a yellow card, adjudged to have played the ball with his feet while on the ground at a ruck on the Scottish line. Nevertheless even with a man down Scottish got their game back together and themselves looked the likelier scorers. They duly extended their lead first when a mazy run from Kim Vuadreu set up the position for Josh Heke to threaten the line from which the forwards took over and bundled Clynton Janke over in the corner. Then with half time overdue, Vuadreu seemed certain to score when an attacking lineout and an initial drive delivered possession to the Fijian winger, and though he was held up, Mr Lewis reverted to a penalty for the visitors from which Reggie Perkins forced his way over. That should have launched a second half points feast. Somehow it didn’t … Still, perhaps the game never in fact took place and that awful second half performance was purely a figment of the imagination. Scottish can then convene for training as if nothing had happened! We shall see. No doubt the blazerati will convene at the East India Club or wherever, and enlighten the rest of us as to what the rules actually are! Paul McFarland London Scottish 15. Stuart Peel, 14. Kim Vuadreu, 13. Chris Webb (Rory Greenslade-Jones 63 mins), 12 Josh Heke, 11. James Baker, 10. Tom Williams 9. Darryn Bruce , 1. Matt Johnston (Magnus Macdonald 63), 2. Paul Byford, 3. Jim Kelly, 4. Clynton Jancke , 5. Lee Soper, 6. Reggie Perkins (Mike Goodbody 63) 7. Alex Alesbrook, 8. Karl Hensley (c)
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