Cobh RFC, County Cork (Ire)

17th September 2006

Man of the Match:

TEAM: D.Weir, T.Rooke, H.Stanford-Tuck, L.Clark, C.Price, N.Price, O.East, H.Froud, W.Pitt, C.Pratt, A.Soskin, K.Pike (Captain),

S.Pike, W.Carew-Gibbs, M.Green, J.Knowling, P.Crang, W.Crawshaw, T.Hacking, M.Laing, R.Wynn, J.Holt

Cobh Pirates 7 vs 37 Applegrowers

Tries: Carew-Gibbs X 2, Holt, Clark, Rooke, Soskin, Green

Cons: N.Price (pitiful!!)

When people talk about the legends of the game, its no coincidence that the names of Willie John McBride, Gareth Edwards, Barry John and JPR Williams are mentioned in the same breath…and the reason why? Back to back tour victories in 1971& 1974.

This is the accolade that awaited the touring Apple Growers should they manage to conquer the mighty Cobh Pirates on their own turf on a misty September day. Would players such as Rooke, Pike (x2), Weir, East, Soskin, Price (x2), Carew-Gibbs, Pratt among many others be talked about in the same breath as the legends mentioned above….

We arrived at Cobh Pirates Rugby Club, unable to see 5 yards ahead of us because of the low mist, however it was a fast turn around and whilst the supporters refuelled in the club bar, the Growers players went for there customary warm up. It was clear however that many players were yet to get off the plane and many were unfocused. So the skipper, Kevin ‘Fertile’ Pike, brought everyone together and rallied his troops with some customary growling and snarling. Suddenly you could see a change in the players and a snap in everything they did whether it was the forwards practicing line outs, or the backs chatting about make up.

As the Growers took the pitch we were informed that unfortunately the team we were about to play consisted of a Cobh development squad, like lambs to the slaughter you might think. However we knew that even though the opposition were young and exuberant, they would see this as an Ireland vs England contest and they would not be giving us an easy ride on their home turf.

The Growers played with a strong breeze and the slope in their favour in the first half and we quickly established forward dominance in the set plays. The game was barely 5 minutes old when finally Pricey decided to stop being sick and thump the ball up past halfway for a Pirates line out. Now all season the growers had been effective at both attacking and defending lineout’s and with Pricey jnr’s height it allows us to steal a lot of opposition ball which was exactly what he did. After winning the line out we started to maul our way down past the 10metre line and towards the 22, and it was here that the Pirates showed their naivety by not defending the fringes and allowing Gibbsy to break from the back of the maul and run in an easy try.The conversion was missed but the signs were already ominous for a home side and with the Pirates scrum under constant pressure from Steve Pike, Gibbsy, and Soskin, whenever they did manage to get the ball to the back of the scrum, Growers open side Chris Pratt and scrum half Green gave the home number 9 no time or room to get the ball away.

With Greener and Pricey orchestrating play and varying the attacks, scores came at regular intervals from this point on. Carew-Gibbs x2, Holt, Clark, Rooke, Soskin, Greener, all scored in a game where our forwards produced a steady steam of good quality ball for the backs. Even if a few chances did go begging, Clarky – mind you pricey could have kicked the ball 45 yards and landed it on the try line for you!!!!The Growers did suffer one injury and that was to our captain Kev Pike, he unfortunately has no regard for his own body, or the oppositions for that matter, and something had to give. Sadly it was Kev as a stray boot caught his head opening up a small cut that needed medical attention which left vice-captain Will Carew-Gibbs to take over the reigns at the end of the first half.

In the second half the combination of substitutions and the fact that the Growers were playing up the hill and into the wind meant that we dropped our level of performance. With Kev off and a brand new pairing at half backs, suddenly we were on the back foot as the home side enjoyed much of the possession. The Growers were now in a different game, much of our stability had gone in the set pieces, and as the home side managed to gain a level of parity in the scrums, they still really struggled in the lineout and on a number of occasions their attempts to effect a rolling maul were brought to a thumping halt and the ball turned over.

For some reason we stopped pressurising them and the Pirates young back line started to make inroads into the Growers half.

This all got too much for the injured Keast!!!!, a stalwart of the club, who’s career threatening injuries are still yet to be officially diagnosed came on in his familiar role as outside centre,(committee members eh), to attempt to cause the Pirates entire team damage in one way or another.

Unfortunately his game was disrupted as indiscipline cost us dear. Their only try came from a penalty in their own 22 which inevitably led to them scoring just under our posts. With the home side feeding their own scrum and probably awaiting an almighty push from the Growers boiler house, Pratty decided to do a Neil Back and inexplicably try and hit the ball into our side of the scrum. (he doesn’t ever read these so I don’t feel bad naming and shaming.) The net result was their fly half using his most tried and tested tactic and booting the ball down field. The resulting line out led to another penalty on the 5 metre line from where their prop I think it was barrelled over the Growers line.

A strong desire to have the final say seemed to ensure that the Growers raised their game once again and in the dying minutes Soskin almost managed to cap of a marvellous team move that spanned almost the entire pitch involving many players offloading out of tackles and hitting the ball with fantastic angles on the gain line, but Sos unfortunately dropped the ball just metres from the line. This summed up a relatively fruitless and unrewarding second period.

The Pirates never really got competitive in this match but can take heart from their second half performance. Their hospitality post match was excellent with players and supporters from both sides mixing in the bar for some time following the match.

WC-G