Police scuttle Mariners

The second round of the Bermuda rugby league took place on Saturday afternoon in Malabar, with old foes Renegades and Teachers facing each other while Mariners tackled Police.

Ladies

The ladies were up first and Mariners and Police fought out a close battle. Mariners held a slender 2-1 lead at half time, Police pulled it level in the second before Mariners edged back in front and held out for a thrilling 3-2 win to make it two from two so far in the league.

Denika Borden scored twice for Mariners with Gina Newson grabbing the other, while Lauren Wilson and Julia Mansfield scored for Police.

Renegades are the other remaining unbeaten team after a clinical performance saw them put Teachers away on a 5-0 score line.

The three times defending champions, unbeaten in the league in three years, again look like they will be difficult to beat this season.

Their tries came from Melissa Field with 2, Jess Gilbert and Nicola Jones.

The winners from the league's first week did battle in week two of the men’s as Renegades faced off against Teachers.

Men’s

Renegades 19, Teachers 6

Teachers were keen to make use of the wind at their backs in the first half but started slowly and handed Renegades the first opportunity to score after being penalized for infringing at a ruck.

Ian Henderson's kick into the wind fell just short and Teachers took advantage of the reprieve working their way deep into Renegades 22 before taking the lead.

Good play by the forwards allowed them to steal the ball from a Renegades scrum and some quick thinking from Henry Paddison caught the ‘Gades defence flat footed allowing him to score the game’s first try, Greg Fraser adding the conversion to make the score 7-0.

Renegades countered quickly and after Teachers were penalized again, Henderson made the score 7-3.

Teachers then controlled the bulk of the play in the remainder of the half but a combination of good Renegades defence and poor finishing from Teachers meant the only additional scoring came from Fraser's boot as he added two penalties to make the half-time score 13-3.

The second half started with Renegades dominating, keeping Teachers deep in their own half however their defence remained solid and Renegades were only able to add three points from a well taken drop goal from Henderson.

Following the score Teachers were able to reassert control and started to look the more likely to score.

However, more wastefulness in attack prevented them from scoring anything more than two further penalties from the ever dependable Fraser, as the score finished Teachers 19, Renegades 6.

Police 36, Mariners 8

The final match turned out to be a bit more one-sided with Police putting in a stunning performance of pace and power to score a deserved win over rivals Mariners.

Police started brightly and Gareth Davies went over in the corner early on, with David Pringle nailing a magnificent touchline conversion.

More pressure yielded a penalty on the 22 metre line for not rolling away, and Tommy Edwards slotted it to increase the Police lead.

Mariners pushed back and an Andy Boyce penalty got them off the mark after Police were penalized for going off their feet at a ruck.

Edwards barged over from close range after sustained pressure for Police’s second try, Pringle again converting. 

Durnferd Davies the broke some weak tackles to go over in the corner after Gerald Erasmus had made a superb turnover. Pringle’s kick was again spot on and Police led 24-3 at half time.

Mariners came back early in the second half with a fine attack, which ended with Rob Brown flopping over from close in after numerous phases. Police quickly quashed any hopes of a comeback when Davies grabbed his second, his support play rewarded after a super break from deep by the full-back.

Edwards converted. Pringle rounded off a fine performance when he scored a well deserved try late on.

The final score was 36-8.

7’s Tournament

This weekend sees a break from traditional league action, with a men’s 7’s tournament taking place at Malabar on Saturday.

This year there will be four round robin 7’s tournaments and the winner will be determined by who has the best record over the 4 tournaments.

With rugby 7’s included in the 2016 Rio Olympics, this looks to be a great move to help develop the 7’s game on island and the tournaments will provide national coach Lawrence Bird with a bigger platform to work from.