Scots v Newington
by “Jasdec”
A Difficult Day.
After early rain the day fined up for a sunny afternoon of schoolboy rugby. It wasn’t long before the dark clouds loomed on Newington’s horizon.
First half
A good start to the game by Newington who were willing and forced the play into the Scots half with good forward play resulting in two early penalties to put pressure on the Scots defense early on.
After eight minutes Newington were attacking from a scrum in the Scots’ half when a mix-up between the backrowers resulted in an intercept by (10) Dan England who ran 50 metres to score wide out. The conversion attempt by (12) Angus Crichton was missed and the score was 5 – 0 against the run of play.
From this point, Scots shifted into another gear and a steady stream of tries eventuated from all parts of the ground. With three minutes to go before half time it was 47 – 0. Scots then scored another two tries from each of the subsequent kick offs which Crichton converted to make the half time score 61 – 0.
Second half
Newington again stood up at the commencement of the half and worked their way into the Scots 25. After six minutes of pressure, Scots turned over the ball after a breakdown error and (9) Theo Strang made a break with (6) Max Girdler and England in support. The ball went to Crichton who scored under the posts. Scots 68 – 0.
As in the first half the floodgates opened with another three quick tries to Scots.
With 15 minutes to go the referee overheard a critique by Crichton to one of his team mates about the referee’s recent penalty decision against Scots. The resultant yellow card saw Newington lift in the forwards and attack the Scots line consistently without reward.
One further try was scored by (14) Max Hendrie to bring the score to 94 – 0. The conversion attempt by the captain, (5) Tobias Rudolf from in front, was waved away.
To rub salt into the wound the final seven-pointer was scored in the last five minutes by Crichton returning from his enforced rest on the sideline. Scots 101 – 0.
The Teams
Scots started the match tentatively but after the first ten minutes they were on top and never headed.
Newington started each half well with good close work by the forwards however fell away in the second 20 minutes of each half with errors being predominant.
Players
Scots
Home Team – (9) Theo Strang, (2) Dylan Woods and (12) Angus Crichton had excellent games. Crichton scored 41 points on the day. While Strang and Crichton picked up three tries each, it was hooker Wood, who showed great running ability in broken play to set up two of the more entertaining tries.
Newington
(5) Tom Pirrodi, (9) Matthew Long, (14) Latu Latunipulu and (15) Sepesa Loga-Tarogi were prominent. Their backrow did a lot of work in defense and the forwards in general put in a mighty effort in the latter stages of the second half.
Wrap Up
Whilst Newington had patches of good attacking play in the start of both halves, and the last ten minutes of the game, they were too inconsistent. Dropped ball and missed one-on-one tackles were frustrating for the boys in white and Scots took full advantage.
In previous weeks, forward passes and indiscretions at the breakdown stopped the flow of the Scots game. This week the final score indicated what can occur when they execute well and they get their “game” together.
Next week’s matchup will bring the two undefeated teams of Riverview and Scots together for the match of the round. It is awaited with much anticipation from both camps and the broader GPS group.
Scoring details
Scots 101 (Strang 3, Prindiville 3, Crichton 3, Hendrie 2, England, Hawkins, Smith and Girdler tries; Crichton 13 cons) def. Newington 0
Other scores
2nd XV — Scots 34 Newington 7
3rd — Scots 22 Joeys 0
Photos: Scots v. Newington by “Jasdec”
See video of highlights of the game in Discussion (below)
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