News from the Royal Signals Rugby Club
Match Report Royal Signals Versus RE 07 Oct 09
06/09/10
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The Corps opened the 2009/10 season against the reigning Merit 1 League Champions at Chatham and got off to the worst possible start. The inclement weather played to the Corps advantage as it promised to slow an aggressive and fluid Engineers back line, however, the run of series of serious injuries in the opening phases of play saw the Corps loose key players in vital positions. The subsequent rearrangements were immediately exploited by an experienced and very well drilled Sapper side.
The Sappers notched up an early try after some strong running from the back of the set piece saw them trot over for a soft try. The Corps were clearly unsettled but fought back with some good passages of play, but the Sappers defence was rock solid and eventually forced errors in the loose. A charged down kick was seized upon and the Corps were quickly facing a potential cricket score with only a quarter of the match gone.
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Further pressure saw the Signals venture tentatively into the home sides half but the Sapper counter attack cut through the first line of defence and then proceeded to stretch a now disorganised Corps line to romp through wide on the flank.
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The second half saw no brighter prospects in terms of weather or play as the Sappers utilised their points advantage to throw the ball around despite the still appalling conditions. A miss kick inside our 22 was seized upon by the Sappers and set the tone for what was to be a long 40 minutes. The Sappers added to their tally almost at will throughout the third quarter, however, the Corps never stopped its valiant efforts against a superior side. The reward for their efforts came at last with a well worked and patient passage of play from the forwards who stuck to their task and drove the Sappers up the centre of the park before finally ramming their way over the line.
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Far from being an ideal start there were plenty of positives to take away and a whole host of things to improve on. The most telling test now will be to bolster an already fragile squad which lacks strength in depth due to the heavy operational commitments faced by the Corps.
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