ICURFC 2s take the city

With ponchos packed, sombreros worn, and moustaches attempted, the boys made their way to their fixture. Fortress Harlington was the setting for yet another league game for the mighty Imperial Los Dos Fifteenos. The boys were greeted with perfect conditions: a premature warm-up from the ref and a late City team (Los Banditos). An early game against this side had proven to be too much for them to handle, as the match was postponed – most likely due to their fear of facing another 59 – 0 loss at the hands of the undefeated Imperial side.

Nonetheless, the game kicked off, and, with several strong carries, fresher Sorrell Cowen proved why he is a prime poaching target for the first XV as he sliced through the defence to bag the first try of the match. Several minutes after the restart, a penalty awarded deep in the opposition 22 allowed for an exquisite back’s move straight off the training paddock to send Andy Lumb over for a meat pie. A similar try was scored just minutes later, with Andy making real use of that caterpillar warm-up to squirm over for his hat-trick avoidance. However, Los Banditos did not roll over. A strong restart, played deep into the Imperial 22, was taken up by our very own Matthieu Jalibert (Gustave Roux de Bezieux) who sent a beautiful kick over the halfway line and straight into touch – too bad he had already travelled ten metres outside of the 22 and had lost Imperial a dangerous attacking opportunity. He was subsequently sent for a Head Injury Assessment. Nevertheless, the strong defensive work displayed by Imperial proved to be impenetrable and, a quick turnover ball – beautiful structured play interlinking forwards and backs – sent Vice-Captain Ifan Dafydd over the whitewash for two fine tries putting him in contention for hat-trick avoidance. With the points racking up in quick succession and the bonus point already achieved, concentration dipped ever so slightly, evidenced by the fact that ‘Questions Beckman?’ managed to sneak over in the corner after a move fresh out of Ethos on a Tuesday morning came to fruition.

Halftime came and went with a number of substitutions, including Michael Rudman, who impressed with his snaky runs followed by questionable offloads. However, snaky run of the day was awarded to Captain Jack Wheaton who left a trail of bodies not dissimilar to that of a runway in Amsterdam to score beneath the sticks. Other notable moments included Tom Johnston making a fine break only not to have the pace to finish it off (he later attributed this lack of pace to his un-aerodynamic-like lid which is now suspected missing). Luckily for him Ifan (who clearly has some pace) was there in support to cross over for his third of the day, how he didn’t get man of the match and is not writing this report right now I will never know. With Fraser adding the extras, the match was coming to a close. Late on, Sam Ha made an appearance on to the pitch, although due to the absolute dominance of the Imperial side the match was called off early, leaving Sam desperate for some action. After some fine dashing, he made what can only be described as the most dominant tackle ever made… on a wall. Fine form. All in all, an excellent outing for the 2nd XV with a 50 – 0 win to keep their undefeated streak going. Sylvia was sung, and fiestas were dashed.