Chiswick's Domination in the Open Yields Easy Win

Rugby result - UCS Old Boys 0 Chiswick 48

The match started as it continued. Chiswick caught and drove. UCS turned the ball over, UCS drove forward. Chiswick turned the ball over. Simon Hallett moved the ball wide and quickly. Reggie Regan and Joe Grindle destroyed the UCS defence, and Tom Steer raced down the line for a try. UCS were worthy but lacked pace and imagination. Their forwards gave as good as they got in scrums and lineouts, but in open play there was only one team in it.

Hallett’s conversion kick hit the post and swirled wide in the gusty wind. Within ten minutes of the start Chiswick were 12-0 in front after Ryan Holt, coming in at No.8, was on hand for the final pass after good work by Luca Vannini, Hallett and Regan. He deserved this try for all the hard work he had to do later against a weighty UCS pack. Hallett slotted the kick, and the match against the bottom-but-one team already looked easy.

With James Dibble back at hooker, Tom Shattock and Rowan Tonkin putting themselves about, Tom Adams and Sam Biss in the back row and Rikki Darroch on the touchline, the Chiswick defence was solid, and all the best efforts of UCS only got them to within a couple of metres of the Chiswick line. Matt Pickering and Jon Joyce both carried well and made good yards when given half a chance.

Jon Gibson made a strong burst on the inside when Hallett tried the alternative strategy, but Ady Lewis had one of those days when the ball would not stick in his grip. A rare UCS scoring chance came after a juggled interception, but Steer was fast enough to get back for the tackle. After a period of UCS pressure, a long clearance kick by Vannini, aimed at the left touchline, wafted infield on the wind, and then bounced so as to be marginally closer to the hurtling Gibson than the UCS defender. One-on-one was a loser against the Chiswick powerhouse, and after the touchdown Hallett added the points to add insult to injury. UCS eschewed a couple of good chances of penalty kicks, but finished up with nothing as Chiswick defended well. When a UCS player did get over the line, he knocked on.

In the second half, after fifteen minutes of UCS pressure, Chiswick became more expansive, and the subs all made an impact as they were given chances to run with the ball. Chiswick tries came at regular intervals despite mistakes like Hallett giving a UCS player a perfect pass.

It was a maul from a set piece that opened the flood gates as Jan Joubert got the touchdown, and Hallett was credited with a dubious looking conversion. It was Hallett who made the next telling break, and when the ball was held up in the right corner, quick movement along the line should have produced another try for Steer. He slipped however, and it was the captain, Vannini who finally collared the loose ball and went over for try No.5. He then retired injured and Grindle went eagerly to scrum half.

The scrums were now uncontested, however, resulting in slow ball and lethargic handling, and it required great reflexes by Steer to deal with a poor pass and get his second try. Hallett’s kick failed. Minutes later Regan forced his way through for a seventh try, and Hallett failed again, trying a rapid drop-kick on this occasion. He then, however, scored the eighth himself, and produced a good drop-kick to round off a highly satisfactory match.

Chiswick team :- Shattock, Dibble, Tonkin, Joyce, Pickering, Adams, Biss, Holt, Vannini, Hallett, Steer, Gibson, Regan, Lewis, Grindle. Subs:- Joubert, Darroch, Sutherland

February 18, 2014