Barnstaple 36 – 14 Marlborough
Following a fortnight of very poor weather with fixtures being postponed due to frozen pitches and a prudent stance taken towards travel in the South West, it was with a mixture of relief and trepidation that the 1st XV boarded the coach at the Clubhouse for the journey to Barnstaple for what would be only their second match of the new year.
The senior men’s training had been well-attended and of high-quality in the week and so spirits were high for this game. The 145-mile coach journey has an impact, however, and our players arrive with stiff legs, which take a while to warm up fully and get going again. But the pre-match run-through seemed good and, under the watchful eyes of coach Sitiveni Sivivatu, team manager Dave Pittams, and team captain Chris Diamond, things were looking positive.
And Marlborough started exceptionally well! Barnstaple have better form than us and sit in second place in the table. But for the first 20 minutes it was all Marlborough. We were playing up a deceptive slope and into a strong wind, but our tempo and running play was such that we kept them pegged back and their home crowd felt decidedly uneasy. They conceded a penalty just on their own 22 and our young full-back Sione ‘Jay’ Matakaiongo stepped up, all of us confident we would put the first points on the board…
But the ball bounced off the cross bar and the 3 points went begging! That’s rugby through-and-through, but it was a real disappointment. Barnstaple saw it as a reprieve and came back with a renewed vigour, their re-energised team obviously determined to get things back on track. Having been extremely competitive and holding Barnstaple to 0-0 for the first quarter, for some reason things imploded for Marlborough for the next 20 minutes.
To be honest, we were architects of our own downfall. We failed to take advantage of the opportunities, our kicking out of hand and to touch was poor, and our decision-making (individual and collective) let us down badly. Barnstaple, on the other hand, started to show that they were, in fact, the better-drilled side, capitalising on Marlborough errors and compounding our own misfortunes. Barnstaple’s first try came from an attacking line out followed by a maul, with slick hands through two more phases to score and try, which was then converted. Barnstaple 7-0 Marlborough.
Unfortunately, this did not act as a wakeup call for Marlborough. We lost a bit of coherence and our flying winger, Akariva Seruvatu, found himself isolated and under pressure. The outcome? A penalty against us and a yellow card for him for not releasing the ball after the tackle. A truism of our modern game of rugby is that conceding penalties and free-kicks for technical shortcomings while under pressure from the opposition is a major decider in the outcome of rugby matches… Barnstaple took full advantage of the gap on our wing and scored again quite quickly, although this try was not converted. Barnstaple 12-0 Marlborough.
Some few minutes later, and frustrated by the lack of progress and our inability to sort things out on the pitch, we had another man ‘in the bin’ for some shirt-pulling. Now playing with only thirteen men, it became an uphill struggle – figuratively and literally! The wind picked up and a very poor Marlborough kick was returned by Barnstaple with interest – another try (unconverted to them and they and their home support started to feel in control. Barnstaple 17-0 Marlborough.
We simply couldn’t match the pace and power of the Barnstaple playbook. The men of Marlborough looked despondent and our ‘first up’ tackles were not as good as they should have been. Barnstaple’s forwards went through a succession of carefully controlled phases, thus providing good clean ball to their excellent support runners. They were rewarded with two more tries in quick succession, the first seeing them go the length of the pitch, and the second on the stroke of halftime.
Half-Time: Barnstable 31-0 Marlborough
The half-time team talk was not pleasant listening for the players! Sitiveni, Halani, and captain Chris left the players in absolutely no doubt about what was expected of them for the next forty minutes. But the second half would see us playing down the slope and with the wind behind us. And we would be back to full strength. What did we have up our sleeves…?
The half time talk seemed to have made a considerable difference in attitude and in performance. The Marlborough forwards followed their game plan and kept their focus. They were rewarded with a fine try scored by prop Simon Pilkington, who dived over from close range; his try was converted by Jay. Barnstable 31-7 Marlborough.
The Barnstaple pack was still posing a major threat, but our own decision-making was making us look like a different side from the first half. We knew we couldn’t let them off the hook, however, and we needed to keep the pressure on. Our big second row forwards, Metuisela Verivalu and Aporosa Masicola obliged. Barnstaple had a man sent to the bin on a yellow – would we seize the advantage? We were pressing hard and were within touching distance of the whitewash, but the Referee stopped play, concerned for an injury to our immense No 8 John Brown who had to be withdrawn. A let off for Barnstaple? Substitute Tevita Tuisue came on in the back row and soon got into the game – so much so, in fact, that he powered through the defence to score a tremendous try, again converted by Jay. Barnstable 31-14 Marlborough.
But Tevita’s try came on the 63rd minute… less than a quarter to go and still a big deficit to overturn. Could it be done? Another truism of rugby is that when you are ‘chasing the game’ you can expend energy, lose your focus, and get out of shape in desperation. This was our case, and we let Barnstaple in at the death for a final try of the game, which was not converted, but brought an end to proceedings.
Final Score: Barnstable 36-14 Marlborough
This was the ultimate ‘game of two halves’. The result does not reflect the fight that we gave in the second half, but – as the players and coaching staff will admit – there is no getting away from the fact that the second 20 minutes of the first half were simply awful. Long periods of the game were encouraging and the supporters of both sides were treated to a high-scoring and thoroughly decent match of rugby, with great tries, ebbs and flows, possible comebacks… what more do you want?! The accolade of Marlborough player of the match went to Metuisela Verivalu for a solid shift at second row.
The post-match debrief after a game like this is always very difficult. Even though the RFU assessors present were very complimentary about our overall performance, we know we have work to do. We count a number of injured players and new signings in our senior squad, and so the XV that took to the field of play at Barnstaple is a very new look Marlborough side. Loosehead prop Pilkington was only playing his second game of the season with us, and both of those who played at scrum-half were debutants for Marlborough, playing on the back of one single training session. The two centres had never played together before and trained once together and habitual back rower, Wate Kuli, was filling in on the wing! These are not excuses – they serve simply to remind us that as a Club we are still evolving, we are still building teams and attracting players to The Common. There is so much to be proud of, we just need to keep going. Next Saturday, 25 January, the 1st XV makes the trip (205 miles!) to St Austell.
So, disappointment for the 1st XV, but the weekend gave us emphatic victories and great times elsewhere in the Club. The 2nd XV (the ‘Nomads’) hosted Pewsey Vale on The Common on Saturday. The Nomads top the Counties 2 table and are undefeated, although Pewsey are close behind them and there is never any room for complacency. Marlborough were caught unawares by a storming Pewsey from the off and the Nomads found themselves on the back foot. Pewsey scored an unconverted try after just 12 minutes, but then Marlborough woke up. The team leaders came to the fore and we had a super try from a back row move by vice-captain and No 8 Rokoua (converted by Pollinger) and then a splendid effort saw captain and fly-half Adams go over. At half-time, it was Marlborough II 12-5 Pewsey Vale.
From the re-start, Tawake scored and Pollinger again proved accurate with the boot. 19-5. Ten minutes later, centre Pollinger scored and converted his try himself! 26-5. Fifteen minutes later, veteran Mills crashed over, although Pollinger couldn’t add the extras. 31-5. And then, a few minutes from time, back row Visei scored and Pollinger split the uprights in what had been a fine afternoon for the young man. The final score: Marlborough II 38-5 Pewsey Vale. The Nomads stay top of the table, now having scored more than 400 points in their ten games so far this season. Great stuff! Their next game is at home on Saturday 25 January, when they will welcome Royal Wootton Bassett III.
And then on Sunday, our Colts (or Under 18s) demolished a spirited Trowbridge RFC Academy XV, winning the match 26-7 and with tries from winger Robins, centre Allen, hooker Petitt, and scrum-half Paul; Allen converting three of the tries from the tee. Worth noting that Robins, Allen, Petitt, and prop Clarke have all represented Dorset & Wiltshire at Under 18 this season, which highlights tremendous strength in depth at the Club. Also on Sunday, our Minis hosted Royal Wootton Basset in a ‘festival’ of rugby with some 300 young people learning and playing rugby on The Common. What a sight!