Week 3 Rugby round-up

While Wednesday on campus was dominated by the visit of the Olympic torch, there were also three significant matches taking place at Men’s Rugby’s new home, Earlsdon RFC, on the edge of campus. The first team were hoping to bounce back from the last minute heartbreak of last week with a winnable fixture against newly promoted Lincoln. The game got off to a calamitous start with error strewn defending from Mark Day, Nick Green and Dom Rey gifting the unfancied opposition an early try.

The horror start was not an omen for the rest of the game though and the home team soon wrested control of the contest. Unlike last season, space was found in which the back line could enjoy itself and the tries began to flow.

Green and Day made up for the earlier errors with two tries apiece, while Rey also found atonement with a try of his own. Elsewhere, Sam Szamocki registered his first try for the first team following his recent promotion and Hugo Lough also marked his impressive rise from third team regular to first team starter with two tries of his own. These scores combined to bring about a comfortable 58-5 victory which will hopefully act as a springboard for further successes.

On the neighbouring pitch the second team were expecting their second tough match in two weeks against Birmingham’s third team, a side who had beaten both Warwick’s second and third team last year. Despite the cautious pre-match expectations, Warwick routed their opponents in a stunning 54-0 victory. The tries came from all areas of the side – front rows Lewis Wilcock and Jack Whittet both crossed the line, as did numerous backs.

Dan Edwards bounced back from last week’s difficulties with an impressive solo effort, while both Sam Griffiths and Josh Dowling-Kennedy scored for the second week running. Newcomer Pete Wild, a winger, marked his second team debut with two tries and speedster Tom Bradshaw came off the bench to grab two scores of the own.

The only disappointment was the denial of what would have been try of the season by a knock-on by hooker Michael Silcock. With two impressive wins under their belt, the second team will travel to local rivals Coventry next week, hopeful of maintaining their unbeaten record.

The third team also maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard fought 34-19 win over Derby (Buxton). Despite being pummelled up front for much of the early stages the team raced into a 24-0 half time lead with tries for Josh Downie, Phil Ackroyd and Chris Donnelly, who unfortunately broke his ribs in the act of scoring.

Any hopes for a second half stroll were soon extinguished though as Derby made their forward dominance count bringing the score back to 24-19. However a late surge took the team to victory.

The hope now is to maintain the current form across the club and individual performance levels need to remain high, as a team of Freshers routed the Leamington Colts two Saturdays ago, demonstrating that there is plenty of talent waiting for an opportunity.