Rugby: 1st XV record stylish victory

The fifteen recorded a well-deserved victory and impressive victory over RUMS in their first match back after Christmas. The disruption caused by the inclement weather towards the end of the Christmas term meant that this was the first game that the 1st XV were playing for nearly two months. This however, did not stop the team out classing their opponents who showed no signs of ever winning the match.

It has been leaked that following the festive break the squad met in order to discuss how should build upon the performances of last term. Various reports suggest that the team are changing their training and the buzz word around the squad at the moment appears to be ‘standards’ with coaches Brimah Kebbie and Richard Birkett introducing painful fitness exercises in order to trim down some of ‘the fat club’.

Imperial arrived at the ground well ahead of schedule and were warming up by the time their opposition stepped off the bus. Imperial took the initiative from the off with RUMS unable to handle the Imperial’s attacks. Imperial broke the deadlock through fly half James Hayward who cut through some poor defence with Max Joachim adding the extras before stroking home a penalty. Imperial’s forwards were dominant in the set piece although they were put under pressure at the base of the scrum with number 8 and stand in skipper Charlie Esberger and scrum half Olly Cox constantly being scragged. Despite this the forwards turned over RUMS ball at the put in on more than one occasion. Added to this the lineout, which has in the past proved to be an Achilles heel for Imperial worked well and Imperial were awarded a penalty try after RUMS persistently collapsed the Imperial’s driving mauls off the lineout.

Imperial were reduced to 14 men just before half time with the referee judging Thomas Chavas’ tackle to be illegal. Imperial went into half time sitting on a comfortable lead but knew that the first ten minutes of the second hald would be keen. On too many occasions this season they have let teams back into the game after switching off at half time. Coupled to which Imperial were a man down.

Imperial didn’t take a backward step and continued to dominate their opposition pack despite Chavas’ absence. The endeavor of the team was rewarded with another try, courtesy of Ed Labinki at the back of another driving maul. Labinski is currently scoring at will and could even end up Imperial’s top scorer at the end of the season, a prize which a certain Chris McGeough would be desperate to achieve judging by his touchline hugging appearances which have become common although were strangely absent yesterday.

Whilst Imperial’s forwards managed to subdue their opposite numbers with prop Simon Fenton winning the Man of the Match award, Olly Cox was often caught at the breakdown and was unable to provide quick ball as a result. Some suggest that Cox may have let himself go over Christmas and is a member of the aforementioned ‘fat club’. His weight increase may have contributed to his lethargy at distributing the ball to Hayward.

Joe Harris and George ‘95 kilos’ Lane combined well in the centre putting in some good tackles but were not given too much of an opportunity to run. Louie Barnett showed attacking promise cutting through the RUMS defencive line and looked very quick on occasions. Nathan Fitzpatrick rounded off the scoring for Imperial by grabbing the fourth try of the match. Fitzpatrick surprised everyone, including himself, by finding the try line. Toby Spittle played well in the front row until Angus Tenison-Collins replaced him due to a dodgy shoulder. David Wilson looked to enhance his reputation as being ‘the new Alex Johnstone’ but his lineout throwing was perhaps too accurate for this comparison to hold true, despite Wilson maintaining fantastic chat throughout.

Ollie Benton provided an able replacement for Fitzpatrick and celebrated the win by tucking into chicken drumsticks claiming to be on a new diet that is sweeping the rugby club by storm. Pierre L’Bour made his first appearance for the 1st team late in the game as Kebbie used one of his now famous late tactical substitutions.

The victory was a mature performance from a team, which has not hit top gear yet this season. The attitude of the team was epitomised by the Imperial forwards turning over the RUMS scrum in the last play of the game.

The team left feeling extremely satisfied with their performance and a some of the players took to the social networking site Twitter to display their pleasure at the result.