Round 8: GK IPA Championship Review
Richmond picked up a superb victory against Doncaster in Round 8
©Roger Woolridge
TRU Contributor Connor Hickinbottom takes a look back at last weekend's action
Round 8 of the Greene King IPA Championship is in the books and it was another thrilling weekend of rugby as Bristol continued their unbeaten season, Richmond shocked Doncaster and Ealing got their revenge for the play-offs.
Bedford Blues 30 – 12 Nottingham Rugby
A hat-trick from Chris Czekaj and a penalty try secured a bonus point victory as the Blues leapfrogged Nottingham into third place.
The Blues made a quick start to proceedings, scoring after just six minutes with Czekaj going over in the corner following a slick move from the Bedford backs.
Bedford dominated proceedings for the remainder of the first-half, but struggled to capitalise on their pressure. It took until the 37th for the home-side to breakdown Nottingham again and it was Czekaj once more who crossed the whitewash. The fullback found himself in the perfect position to collect an offload from Dean Adamson allowing him to walk in unchallenged.
The home side almost added another before the break. Mike Le Bourgeois was stopped just short of the line, but the ball was held up and the referee blew for half-time.
Bedford’s superiority continued after the break and it took them just six minutes to score their third try of the game. It was the Blues forwards this time who got the try – the lineout ball was collected and as the Bedford forwards powered towards the line, the maul was brought down by Nottingham hooker Jimmy Stevens.
Stevens was sent to the bin for ten minutes for his effort and the Blues were awarded a penalty try.
It was to get worse for Nottingham shortly after. With Stevens in the bin, Bedford quickly made use of the extra man. Another crisp move from the backs gave Czekaj the opportunity to go over for his hat-trick which secured the bonus point for the Blues to put them 27-0 up.
There was a fight back from the Green and Whitesm but it was far too late in the day to worry the home side. Josh Poullet and Tiff Eden went over for a try each to save some face for Nottingham.
Jersey Reds 20 – 15 London Scottish
Two tries in the second half was enough to secure the victory for Jersey as London Scottish were once again narrowly defeated.
Much of the first half was dominated by the visitors who were quick out the blocks. Within minutes, they had a man advantage as Jersey’s Mark Best was sent to the bin for a yellow card offence.
The Exiles laid siege to the Jersey defence - with Alex Walker going close - but shortly after Best’s return, the visitors grabbed a brace of tries. Matt Williams scored the first as the winger collected an offload ten yards out to walk in unchallenged.
Scottish added another try shortly after. The Exiles maul stalled allowing scrum-half Walker to dart to the blindside before shipping the ball to Chris Walker to power over from short range.
The game turned just before half time as Exiles prop Phil Cringle was sent to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle and thanks to two Brendan Cope penalties, the Reds went into half-time just six points behind knowing they had a man advantage after the break.
The Reds struck shortly after the interval, Kieran Hardy going over from short range following a perfectly executed line-out move. Cringle returned to play for the Exiles , but it went from bad to worse as the visitors received two more yellow cards in quick succession.
Firstly, Charlie Ingall saw yellow for a high tackle and he was joined shortly after by Gregor Gillanders who collapsed a maul – also gifting the Reds a penalty try.
This mistake was all Jersey needed as they saw out the rest of the game to earn a well-deserved victory.
Richmond 26 – 22 Doncaster Knights
Richmond shocked Doncaster with a 77th minute try to steal victory at the death.
Despite outscoring their hosts four tries to two, the Knights were unable to secure victory as the boot of Rob Kirby proved to be the catalyst for Richmond’s victory.
Kirby slotted a penalty almost immediately for the hosts which was the first lot of his 16 points for the day.
Richmond’s first try came half way through the first half as a quick line-out exploited the Donny defence allowing winger Martin Freeman to race down the touchline to score.
Another Kirby penalty followed, finally bringing some life into the visitors as they responded with a rare try for veteran prop Colin Quigley. The Knights added a second try shortly after, Charlie Foley fed Tyson Lewis for a trademark score as the winger raced in from 22m.
The Knights started the second-half at full pace. Lewis almost went over for a second but was stopped just short, however, Richmond were pinged for infringement and the Knights went for the corner. The resulting line-out saw Aaron Carpenter go over at the back of a catch and drive.
A fourth try came shortly after for the visitors, Lloyd Hayes hit a line at full pelt before offloading to Tom James who evaded the Richmond defenders to score a wonder try – one to check the highlights for.
Despite adding the fourth try, the Knights found themselves up by just three points and knowing this, Richmond went on the offensive.
The hosts penned Donny back for the remaining quarter, but were unable to create anything of note until the 77th minute. Replacement prop Will Goodrick-Clarke went over from close range and secured a memorable win over Richmond.
Ealing Trailfinders 44 – 19 Yorkshire Carnegie
The Trailfinders can put their play-off semi-final loss behind them after a comprehensive victory over Yorkshire Carnegie.
Ealing, who may have felt they had something to prove, were quick out of the blocks. The hosts marched up the pitch, spreading the ball from side to side and with Carnegie stretched to the max, the ball was flung out wide to Peter Lydon to cross in the corner.
The hosts added another try shortly after and they exploited the Carnegie defence in the exact same way. Ealing moved the ball out to the left touchline before quickly spreading the ball back out to the far right where Will Harries was ready and waiting to race in
Carnegie looked to have settled into the game following Harries' try and were able to add a score of their own shortly after. The visitors were awarded a penalty try after persistent infringements from the Ealing pack which resulted in Harry Casson being sent to the bin.
Galvanised by their mistake, Ealing hit back immediately. Ryan Smid powered through two tackles to go under the posts.
The Leeds outfit added a second try before the break as a misplaced chip over the top gifted possession back to the visitors who, despite doing their best to give the ball back to Ealing, managed to spread the ball out wide to Chris Elder to score.
Elder grabbed the next try of the match half way through the second period, proving why he is so dangerous on the wing as he raced in from just inside the Ealing half.
This was as good as it was going to get for Carnegie as any ideas of a comeback were quickly quashed as Ealing added two more tries in the final ten minutes.
Flanker Smid grabbed his second before Piers O’Conor raced in two minutes before time to add Ealing’s fifth try of the afternoon.
Bristol Rugby 55 – 10 Rotherham Titans
Bristol continued their domination of the Greene King IPA Championship with a comprehensive victory over Rotherham Titans.
Rotherham surprisingly took the lead at Ashton Gate as Caolan Ryan nudged over a penalty after three minutes.
After that, unfortunately for the Titans, it was business as usual for Bristol. The hosts were awarded a penalty try with the Titans penalised in the scrum.
Bristol’s forwards showed their worth shortly after. The Titans were unable to put a stop to the hosts powerful driving maul allowing Ross McMillan to cross the whitewash.
The home side were in their stride and their confidence was showing. Tom Varndell charged down the wing before throwing an astonishing offload out to Callum Sheedy who tried to match Varndell’s efforts with an offload of his own to Tusi Pisi who happily finished off the move
There was even more to cheer about for the Ashton Gate faithful, local boy Joe Joyce marked his 50th appearance for Bristol with a try.
Little changed in the second half as Bristol continued to build on their already impressive score. The hosts started the second-half like they had the first as a second penalty try saw Titans prop Tom Williams sent to the sin-bin.
It was starting to look like a practice session for Bristol and their next try epitomised this. A line-out move straight off the training ground saw Dan Thomas peel off to the blindside getting the ball through the hands to Luke Morahan to finish in the corner.
The Titans were caught napping again shortly after. Jason Harris-Wright was gifted a try as he picked through the heart of a ruck to walk in for Bristol’s seventh.
Bristol were not done there as they added an eighth try. The hosts worked the ball wide as a deft flick on by Ian Madigan was finished off by Varndell in the corner.
This looked like game over. Bristol may have thought it was but they were caught out by Rhodri Davies who took a quick penalty and raced through to grab the Titans a consolation try.
Cornish Pirates 25 – 13 Hartpury College
An outstanding weekend of rugby was rounded off by Cornish Pirates and Hartpury College.
The Pirates came out the victors at Penzance and in doing so, leapfrogged their opponents into seventh place.
Cornish got into their stride early, deploying their bully tactics that have made them so successful at home. Using their forwards to punch holes in the Hartpury defence, a gap was opened up for Tom Cowan-Dickie to dive over from the side of a ruck.
The hosts continued to lay siege to the Hartpury line, but were unable to turn their pressure into points as the teams went into the half with the Pirates up 10-0.
Hartpury got themselves on the scoreboard shortly after the break as Jacob Perry slotted over a penalty. This only spurred the Pirates on and the visitors once more found themselves on the back foot as their skipper Rhys Oakley was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. Will Cargill slotted the resulting penalty to restore the 10-point gap.
Hartpury’s James Williams responded with a penalty to close the distance, but unfortunately for the visitors this riled the Pirates who showed their forward dominance, earning a penalty try in the scrum.
The visitors scored their only try of the day minutes later as Charlie Chapman picked up a kick from Ed Coulson and raced in which left Hartpury needing a converted try to level the scores up.
As it was for much of the afternoon, Hartpury’s execution was lacking as they saw their scrum turned over in a good position. With that, the Pirates broke and sealed the game up with a well worked try, wingers Alex O’Meara and Kyle Moyle combined with the latter grabbing the try.
This rounded off a solid performance for the Pirates who look to have turned their early season form around.
