Herald Express (Torbay, Brixham & South Hams Edition)
Jess targets three games as All Whites look to halt slide
SOUTH WEST PREMIER
Brixham went down 32-14 away to Camborne on Saturday in South West Premier
Newton Abbot player-coach Matt Jess has pinpointed the next three games as the team’s chance to turn the season around.
The All Whites are languishing one off the bottom in the South West Premier Division after losing 24-17 at Ivybridge in the Devon derby last Saturday.
Newton Abbot have now lost seven games on the trot since defeating Bracknell on the opening day of the season.
An impressive total of try and losing bonus points – nine out of a possible 15 – has compensated in part for the lack of wins. A late try by Kevin Dennis ensured Newton came away from Ivybridge with something.
Bonus points alone won’t keep Newton Abbot up, only wins will do that.
Jess has looked at the upcoming fixtures and feels there is no time like the present for climbing the table.
“Our next three games are Maidenhead at home, Weston at home and Old Patesians away – and they are three games we have to target,” said Jess.
“We need to concentrate on us to pick up wins that can bump us up to mid-table.”
Maidenhead have been flaky on the road, Weston have only won once all season and Pats are the only team below Newton in the current table. That is why all three are on the target list.
Scoring points isn’t a problem for Newton – five teams above them have banked fewer - but conceding them is.
Jess has called in his former Exeter Chiefs’ team-mate Moray Low to do some defensive work around the tackle box and ruck area. Something must have stuck as Newton got the points-against tally down substantially against Ivybridge.
The next goal is to get the error count down.
“We get in positions to win games, then cough the ball up of give away an infringement.”
Ian Milton was Newton Abbot’s other try scorer at Ivybridge. Tom Putt kicked the goals.
Will Castleton returned at scrum-half after his brief soiree
Brixham are eighth after the loss to Teignmouth. Ollie Avery-Wright, who was inside the number-nine shirt, remains on the injury list.
Brixham have added 22-year-old Kiwi Pierce Bryers to their squad for the rest of the season.
Bryners, who can play anywhere in the back five of the pack, played with his new team-mates at Ivybridge last Saturday. He is fresh from a season playing for North Shore RFC in Auckland.
Brixham coach Martin Worthington has been looking for reinforcements up front for a while and Bryers’ arrival is timely as the Fishermen are down to their last couple of fit second rows.
Brixham had hoped winger Elliot Bryers, Pierce’s brother, would be jetting over too, but his trip has been delayed.
Worthington is still on the look out for players who can add a bit of depth to the pack, particularly in the front row where cover is getting sparse.
Dan Parkes, the retired former Albion, Exeter and Bath prop and current director of rugby at Brixham, had to play the full 80 minutes in the win at Weston last time out.
Coach Martin Worthington felt his side were the architects of their own misfortune in the 32-14 defeat at Camborne.
The game got away from Brixham in the final 10 minutes when Camborne hit them with two tries.
Worthington said Brixham made too many mistakes and were made to pay for them.
“Again we had spells when we were in the game and spells when we were not,” said Worthington, revisiting a theme from the previous week’s win at Weston.
“With 10 minutes to go we were only 17-14 down, but our errors came back to catch us out.
“Our backs are among the most dangerous in our division, but we need to get the moving with more go-forward ball.”
Flankers Peter Ingoldsby and Kyle Cane were Brixham’s try scorers. Mitch Pinkus kicked the conversions.
Bolstering the pack has become an imperative for Brixham, who have been juggling players to get by.
Dan Parkes, Brixham’s 45-year-old director of rugby, has been playing at tight-head prop, but isn’t around for the next month, which makes matters worse.
Kiwi newcomer Pierce Bryers arrived from North Shore RFC late last week, too late to be considered for the 1st XV. He had half a game for the 2nd XV in their win over Cullompton.
Bryers will come into selection consideration for this Saturday’s home encounter against Cleve.