Vale show fighting spirit at powerful Wimbourne
Wimbourne 41 Avonvale 24 Avonvale travelled to Wimbourne to play their first ever league game against a team that had come down from the league above.
The difference in class was obvious from the start but Vale hung in there and made a decent fist of it.
Wimbourne opened the scoring in the second minute with a try in the corner but Vale stormed back with a quick tap and go by scrum half Ben Hansford Holt resulting in a try.
Wimbourne then took control and scored four more tries before Vale winger Will Andrews quick thinking caught Wimbourne napping as he raced away to score a try to leave Vale down at half time by 31 to 12.
With the wind at their backs Wimbourne were expected to run up a cricket score but such is Vale’s resilience and determination that they scored first in the second half with a cracking try by wing Jack Burcombe.
Wimbourne scored a pushover try before Vale scored again with a try from prop James Neale to secure a deserved bonus point.
Wimbourne scored a try with the last play of the game to give them victory by 41 points to 24.
Team Bath 24 Cardiff Met 40 Team Bath’s final home game of the 2021-22 BUCS Super Rugby league season proved to be frustrating.
The Rengen-sponsored men’s 1st XV matched their opponents physically for much of the evening and were only trailing by two tries at half-time but couldn’t make the most of having a strong wind in their favour during the second period as errors at either end of the field proved costly.
Aaron James, head of rugby at the University of Bath, said: “We didn’t get a couple of lineouts when in good positions and we dropped the ball with the wind behind us a few times, so we didn’t get the momentum we wanted, then we gifted them a couple of tries so we were chasing the game.
“In terms of effort I’d give us nine out of 10 but we’ve got to match that with quality.”
Team Bath were first to play into the strong wind but made a confident start, dominating possession and territory for 10 minutes.
Cardiff Met were forced to give away two penalties in quick succession, the second resulting in a yellow card for visiting hooker Tyler Olding, and the hosts made their extra man count by crashing over for the opening try through prop Archie Stanley, George Worboys adding the conversion.
Ethan Morgan missed a penalty from the restart but was on target from much closer range midway through the half, converting a try from Cardiff Met captain Iwan Shenton to level the scores after a good spell of pressure.
Team Bath responded as Worboys made a fantastic break from a scrum and exchanged passes with winger Sam Mercer before racing over the line for an excellent try which he converted himself.
However, the lead was soon cancelled out again as scrum-half Ethan Mcveigh found a gap in the home defence and nipped through to touch down, with Morgan adding the extras, and Cardiff Met forged ahead for the first time when winger Roma Zheng shrugged off a couple of tackles before stretching over the line for the visitors’ third try – again converted.
There was time for Cardiff Met to grab a bonus-point fourth try before half-time, number 8 Shenton again cutting through to make it 26-14 at the interval.
If Team Bath were disappointed with their defending at the end of the first half, they could be proud of their resilience at the start of the second as they stood firm against some relentless pressure for the opening 15 minutes.
When they were finally able to clear their lines, they were rewarded with a well-worked third try. It was again instigated, and converted, by Bath Rugby player Worboys whose dummy and offload teed up Mercer to beat the last defender and dive over.
Team Bath were right back in the game but a lapse in concentration soon after allowed Mcveigh to race through for his second try of the night and Haydn Lidstone’s conversion stretched the gap to 12 points again.
A brilliant penalty from halfway by Worboys, using the wind to his advantage, cut the deficit to 33-24 but, try as they might, Team Bath couldn’t establish an attacking platform and they were caught on the counter when centre Will Rigg cut a diagonal line through the defence to kill off the contest, Lidstone converting.
Team Bath conclude the regular BUCS Super Rugby season visiting Cardiff University yesterday (March 2) and Swansea on Wednesday, March 9.
Bath Rugby Ladies 46 Hove Women 12
With the Lambridge pitches still recovering from the recent bad weather, it was Avon RFC who hosted the Ladies as they welcomed the opposition from the South coast for Championship 1 South Round 15.
Going into the game at the top of the league Bath Ladies were in confident mood, and hunting a strong performance to cement their place at the top.
In the opening 5 minutes Bath had Hove pinned into their own 22, and when a clearance kick didn’t find touch it was caught by winger Bethan Wakefield who beat the onrushing chasers to score Bath’s first try in the corner.
It didn’t take long for Bath to cross again, when scrum half Emily Codd took a quick tap penalty 20 metres from the try line and made her way through the traffic to dive and ground the ball under the sticks.
Centre Anya Small added the conversion for a 12-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes.
A mistake from the kick off allowed Hove the opportunity to attack in the Bath half, and after recycling the ball through a few phases using their big forward pack the ball was moved through the hands and Hove crossed the line for a converted try.
This seemed to kick Bath into another gear, and straight from the kick off they were on the attack looking for more tries! Some great carrying in midfield by centre Lucy Juffkins created an overlap and the ball was passed out to left winger Nia Grundy who showed a real turn of pace to score in the corner.
This was soon followed up by second row Clea Fawcett who carried the ball into the defence and kept her legs driving, and managed to find her way over the try line leaving defenders in her wake. Small converted and Bath had already secured the try bonus point inside the first half hour.
That didn’t stop Bath though, they were over again through prop Trish Brown who barged her way over beside a ruck for another converted score, taking the score to 31-7 for Bath at half time.
The Bath coaches made a few changes at half time, bringing Army prop Natalie Lewis and hooker Jess Sprague into the front row, and Olivia Critchley on at full back.
The second half followed much the same format as the first with Bath having the majority of possession and territory, but sometimes the last pass wasn’t sticking.
The Bath forwards looked powerful as the half went on, and Bath gave a 1st XV debut to Royal Navy number 8 Jess Pardoe who looked powerful from the base of the scrum. The backline looked cohesive throughout even when there were a few changes to positions and to personnel.
Bath did manage to cross the whitewash a further three times through hooker Sprague, centre Small and winger Nia Grundy grabbed her second try too.
Hove also managed to bag a consolation try towards the end to leave the final score 12-46.
Bath claimed the bonus point and remain at the top of the league table. Bath now have a weekend without a game, but all eyes are on the top of the table clash away at Thurrock on March 14. A few weeks ago Bath got the win over Thurrock 12-7 in the mud at Lambridge, and are expecting another tight encounter in Essex.
Head coach John Gould said: “We have understood that in order to be at the top this season we have needed to get bonus point wins in the majority of games, and thankfully we have managed to do that in these last two games.
“We’re looking forward to getting into training and working on our skills and our game plan that will give us the best opportunity of going to Thurrock and coming away with a win, which is what we need in order to make the end of season Play-offs.’
This Sunday Bath 2nd XV welcome Cornish side Penryn to Lambridge for a league fixture. Kick-off is at 2pm.