January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Police chase down Mariners for 24-19 victory
The first game saw perennial cellar dwellers Mariners taking on the inconsistent Police side.
Despite some strong running from Police powerhouse prop Jamie Billings, the boys in blue found themselves on the wrong side of referee John Wheal for consistent infringements at the breakdown.
Playing with the wind at their back Mariners pinned the Police deep in their half. Talented new centre Richard Holden made the most of the indiscipline shown by Police forwards and calmly slotted over three penalties to give the improved Mariner side an early 9-0 lead.
Police enjoyed three or four phases before Police Man of the Match Joel Blyde crossed the line for an unconverted try.
The lead was cut to 9-5 but further indiscretion by the Police allowed Holden to increase the gap to 12-5 with a well struck penalty kick on the stroke of half time.
The second half saw the Police astutely use the wind with some good tactical kicking which saw them dominate territorially.
However, against the run of play as the Police looked to run the ball wide from a clearing Mariners kick, Luke Millward read the pass beautifully, intercepted and had the pace to run 3/4's the length of the pitch to score under the posts.
The try was converted and Mariners had an apparently insurmountable lead 19-5.
The mark of a good side is how they respond to adversity. Deep in a hole, Police did not panic and stuck to their game plan - kick deep to secure position, and finish strong from close range.
The mercurial Kiwi standoff for Police, Andrew Flint capitalized on some good structured phases to silkily cross over out wide for an unconverted try.
As the game progressed the heavier more experienced pack of Police began to wear down their opposite numbers.
With Police dominance in the set pieces and ball retention improving, it was only a matter of time before the pick and drives wore down the determined Mariners tacklers.
Eventually it was the fiery Ken O'Shea who managed to burst through from close range. Flint converted to narrow the margin to 19-17 and a game that once appeared out of their grasp was now there for the taking.
The Mariners cause was not helped when their brave number eight Gary Brady had to be replaced after tackling himself to a standstill.
With three minutes to go, the Greens once again found themselves under pressure after a desperate clearing effort was closed down, resulting in a five metre scrum.
Police perfectly executed a designed back row move which saw the ball pass from number eight Dave Bird to scrum-half Blyde who off loaded to the ever impressive Flint who crashed over for the winning try.
The easy conversion was knocked over to give the Police a deserved come from behind 24-19 victory.
The BRFU are using the RFU league scoring system so the four tries ensured Police the maximum five points for victory while Mariners, disappointed with the loss, will get some succor in also getting a point for the narrow 5 point margin of defeat.
Judging by the vast improvement in both teams this season promises to be much more competitive than in previous years.
Renegades 21, Police 13
Renegades took on Nichol Shield holders Teachers in rapidly deteriorating conditions.
Renegades stand-off Paul Waldburger, making the most of a fortuitous bounce of the ball beneath the Reds post, eluded the scrabbling defence and touched down for a converted try.
The second half saw Teachers resume their strong forward driving play with Noel Devrae Simmons and Thomas "Tank" Greenslade leading the charge. With a solid forwards platform set, the Teachers backs used slick hands to move the ball out wide to the speedy Jeff Sangster who slickly rounded his man and drew the desperate covering defence before popping a looping inside pass to the supporting Reds flanker Michael Barkheizen who off loaded to Naylor for an easy score.
Naylor missed the straightforward conversion to leave Teachers trailing 5-7.
Off the restart Hurdle showed his West Indies Rugby pedigree when he broke from the base of a scrum, wriggled through some weak tackling and scampered 30 metres before releasing long haired flanker Andrew Hook to score his debut try and inched the Reds ahead 10-7.
Naylor again missed the straight forward conversion with an awful attempt leaving the spectator bewildered when shortly thereafter he struck a sweet long range drop goal to extend his sides lead 13-7 with 10 minutes to go.
Renegades then bounced back with some good tight play. With three minutes to go, they got a lucky break when a kick ahead cruelly bounced off the knees of the hapless Naylor straight up into the air and into the waiting hands of speedster Darragh O'Donoghue who clinically finished off the move with some electrifying pace into the corner.
O'Donoghue made the difficult conversion to retake the lead 14-13.
Teachers desperately fought back but a quick turn over in the dying seconds found their defence out of position and Scott Slater capitalized by scoring a converted try on the last play of the game.
The 21-13 score-line flattered Renegades who will be pleased with a hard fought victory. Teachers will be ruing their poor kicking display, lost opportunities, and may regret not securing a bonus point in what is shaping up to be a highly entertaining season of local rugby.
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