Rumney v Wales Deaf RU XV 06.11.2009

RUMNEY v WALES DEAF RU XV

Riverside Park, Rumney
Friday 6th November 2009, k.o. 7.15 pm

Steve Ford Invitation XV  v  Wales Deaf RU XV, The Dairy Field, Llanharan, 09.02.2008

Rumney : 15. Joe Deacon 14. Carwyn Thomas  13. Anthony Jones  12. Lee Mullane   11. Andrew Carlson   10. Danny Clark  9. Chris Milton   8. Chris Hudson   7. Ryan Fenton   6. Simon Barry   5. Paul Bull (Capt)  4. Mike Young  3. David Evans   2. Dan Morris   1. James Monck

Replacements : Lewis Andrews    Dave Turner   Shaun Spavin   Alex Williams    Sam Yarwood    Rhodri Webster    Barry Phillips

Wales Deaf RU XV  : 15. Richard Lewis  14. Nigel Francis (Capt)   13. Gareth John   12. Gareth Thomas    11. Tom Driver   10. Celyn Ashton   9. Craig Field   8. Andrew Healey   7. Tom Martin    6. Jonathan Cudd    5. John George   4. Andrew Davies   3. Richard Watkins     2. Damian David     1. Steve Burnett

Replacements : Shaun Gilchrist   Richard Read    Jean Botes   Ceri Davies   Jamie Watkins

Referee : David Swain, Penarth

Rumney 31  Wales Deaf RU XV 13

Scorers for Rumney : Anthony Jones try, Lee Mullane try, Paul Bull try, Chris Hudson try, Danny Clark try and 3 conversions

Scorers for Wales Deaf RU XV : Andrew Healey try, Celyn Ashton conversion and 2 penalties

Both sides tested each other in the early forward clashes and exchanged plenty of kicks to see how well their opponents would deal with high balls, but it was soon clear that Rumney would favour the scrummage where they found that they were able to control the set piece and take advantage of their extra weight. Pressure by the Rumney forwards drew in defenders and in the sixteenth minute space was made out wide and centre Anthony Jones crossed in the corner to open the scoring. The even exchanges continued and both sides gained turnovers, the Wales Deaf XV making good use of powerful No8 Andrew Healey and the home side creating breaks by flanker Ryan Sutton and fullback Joe Deacon, but in the twenty first minute Rumney were caught offside and visiting outside half Celyn Ashton kicked the penalty. The home side returned to the attack, scrum half Chris Milton directing the drives and the pack again exerting pressure but handling errors proved costly and it was not until the twenty ninth minute that a clever looping movement put No8 Chris Hudson in at the corner, outside half Danny Clark's excellent touchline conversion stretching his side's lead to 12 - 3. The Wales Deaf XV backs looked particularly dangerous on the counterattack and the Rumney threequarters Lee Mullane and Andrew Carlson replied with incisive breaks, but infringements were plentiful and in the thirty second minute Ashton put over a second, difficult penalty. As half time approached the Rumney forwards launched further attacks but were kept out by a well organised defensive line and good clearance kicks from Wales Deaf XV Captain Nigel Francis, but in the thirty sixth minute Rumney created a neat handling movement and Milton and Clark combined to send Mullane in for a try, Clark's conversion brining the interval score to 19 - 6.

The second half saw Lewis Andrews come on at scrum half for Rumney and immediately link well with second row Mike Young who, in the forty fifth minute, broke down the blindside in a move which led to second row Paul Bull blazing over to score. Another long range Clark conversion took the home side's lead to  26 - 6, after which the game opened up extensively with the two teams spinning the ball and the Wales Deaf XV using wingers Richard Read and Tom Driver to attack down the tramlines with the forwards producing a lengthy period of controlled pressure and forcing penalties. In the sixty first minute visiting scrum half Craig Field took a quick tap and his forwards set up careful second phase before Healey drove over for the try which brought the scores to 26 - 13. Rumney made more changes and tightened play until the seventieth minute, when a neat blindside move saw Clark cross for a touchdown. The final ten minutes were evenly contested, the well drilled Wales Deaf XV spreading the ball and counterattacking well, an eighty metre break by Driver nearly bringing a try, but there was no further scoring and an exciting and entertaing game finished with the result Rumney 31 Wales Deaf RU XV 13.

Above : right, Terry Holmes (Coach Wales Deaf Rugby Union), left, Matt Silva (Coach Rumney RFC)

Terry Holmes, Coach Wales Deaf RU : "In fairness, no one could fault us for effort or attitude, but we didn't get enough possession, which was disappointing. Our prop Damian David, No8 Andrew Healey and flanker Jonathan Cudd never stopped trying and were quite outstanding. Our problem is time, we only had one session before the game and we need to advertise for some players up front, without the ball, you can't play. We have another warmup game against Glamorgan County and then we have the two internationals against England and Scotland, so the more games we can get in the better."

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Try scorers Anthony Jones (16 mins), Chris Hudson (29 mins), Lee Mullane (36 mins), Paul Bull (45 mins), Andrew Healey (61 mins), Danny Clark (71 mins)