ICURFC 2s STILL ON TOP
So far this season, Imperial 2nd XV have been a force to reckon with, their latest game proving again how strong this team has been. It first started with some fast paced back and forth rugby, both teams showing strong runs of play. Eventually, after an intense 10 mins, Imperial managed to open the scoring. A strong run by Cowen, followed by several textbook phases, led to ICURFC’s welshiest welshman Ifan Dafydd slipping round the outside of the defence to score under the posts. Fraser with the conversion meant Imperial were up 7-0. Not long after, pressure from the Imperial defence caused their 10 (one of the biggest/chunkiest fly halfs ever seen, it was very confusing, was he a 10?) to slice a kick.
The ball went sideways, straight into the hands of Imperial. It ended with Dowkes pulling off a naughty step and scoring a try whilst pointing and smiling at the guy he stepped. A bit harsh, considering both the guy’s ankles had just been broken. The kick was no good- Fraser had the accuracy, but not the power. He will no longer skip leg day. Unfortunately, just before the break, some strong running from Kings’ forwards (and some very debatable tackle attempts from Imperial) meant the score at the end of the first half finished 12-7. The opposition had their heads up and started the second half like they finished the 1st half, with another try. Frankly, it was hard to keep count of the number of missed tackles, with Imperial players flying left right and centre. At 14-12 down, Imperial needed to do something.
Temp coach Elliot Quigley made some power substitutions, which caused a well-needed increase in intensity. Quigley for future England manager? After some attacking pressure, great hands between Gustave and Gianluigi lead to an Italian (Gian) scoring a try, which is a rare sight these days, those poor Italians. It did make up for the awful offload attempt Gian had made earlier. It was just awful. Why Gian, why? With boosted confidence, and after some ‘manly’ screaming from captain Wheaton after a boot to the face, Imperial scored again. This time it was off a scrum with no-longer-temp-coach Quigley going blind, dummying like he had never dummied before, and scoring with some serious pace in the corner. The final score from Imperial came from Kirrane, who proved he was the fastest ginger of the team (sorry Jack and Elliot), by outpacing the winger and full back to score in the corner. It was scored with some well-deserved showboating, as the match finished 29-14 to Imperial, a BP win. A few shoutouts: 1. Well done to Rob for scrapping with almost every opposition player 2. Rohit always crying about people scoring on his wing and him never getting a chance, poor baby 3. Doobie D keeping the bench all nice and warm, it was needed for the ‘injuries’ (looking at you Koide and Cowen). Overall a tough game, but a great performance by the boys.
