Rwb iii 29-36 pewsey vale (08/10/22)

Following a tough result last week at Chippenham RFC the lads travelled to Wootton Bassett looking to bounce back strongly and pick up the first win of the season.

Vale started brightly putting together some strong phases whilst playing up the hill. After 10 minutes some sustained Vale pressure resulted in the first score of the game. Following some solid work at the lineout, a maul gave the backs some front foot ball enabling Centre Josh Terrar to burst through Bassett’s defence and dot down under the posts. The extras were added by Fly Half Sam Flippance to make it 7-0.

Bassett responded well and were able to get a foothold in the game with strong set piece play, particularly scrum time. Quick ball, off the top of a lineout, and a hard line in the backs put Bassett through to score their first try of the afternoon, 7-7. The lads replied immediately after the restart. Following a penalty at the breakdown S.Flippance kicked for touch into the Bassett 22m area. Slick lineout drills saw Hooker Keiron James after the pack had rumbled over from a driving maul. This time the extras weren’t added so the score stood at 7-12.

Pewsey were unable to protect the lead before half time, allowing the home side to score 2 tries (one converted) making the score 19-12 after 40 minutes.

Heading down the hill in the second half Pewsey were able to make that advantage count with a score inside the first 10 minutes of the half. Outside Centre Jamie Fox ran a hard line, bursting through several tackles, to score under the posts. Extras not added, 19-17. The strong start from the lads was then slightly stunted when Second Row Darren Draper received a yellow card for a high tackle on his opposite number.

Bassett made the extra man count scoring a try in the corner following some nice play in the backs, the try was unconverted leaving the score at 24-17. The home side’s scrum continued to cause problems for The Vale and was a constant source of penalties all afternoon. One drive in particular saw the Bassett backs unleashed, and following some strong forward carries another try was scored in the corner, again unconverted. 29-17 meaning two tries scored before Vale were restored to the full compliment of 15 men following the sin bin.

It looked as though the game was heading for another valiant defeat for the lads. A collapsing scrum saw Calum Marshall have to come off injured, being replaced by Pete Shepard at no.8. A big carry from Phil Vallis saw S.Flippance go over for a score, unconverted, making the score 29-22 with 5 minutes remaining. The boys dug deep and managed to draw level after Terrar went over under the posts for his second of the game, extras added 29-29. From the resulting kick off Pewsey were awarded a scrum inside their own half. The ball popped out the back to Scrum Half Tom Flippance who made a line break deep into Bassett’s half before passing to the support player on his shoulder. More good support play from S.Flippance saw him receive an offload and go over in the corner with the clock in the red. The conversion was added making the score 29-36 as the full-time whistle was blown.

A great result for the lads and thoroughly deserved after some great spirit shown by the entire team to comeback with such little time remaining. The bonus point win sees us up to 5th place in the league after 3 games played.

We are on the road again next weekend (15th October) as we travel to Calne RFC.

Team:

1 Damper, 2 James, 3 Tilley, 4 Draper, 5 Kinderman, 6 Peach, 7 Marshall, 8 P.Vallis, 9 T.Flippance, 10 S.Flippance, 11 Bloomfield, 12 Terrar, 13 Fox, 14 Hughes, 15 Bowerman.

16 Murray, 17 J.Vallis, 18 Shepard.

Scorers:

Tries – Terrar (2), S.Flippance (2), James, Fox

Convs – S.Flippance (3)

Ranger of the Match: Tom Flippance