Paviors RFC

To put this game into context, last year in our first chance to enter an NLD competition due to the pandemic, we played 3 games and lost 3 games. This season has been such a huge improvement in competitive matches and although we narrowly lost in the 1st round (by 2 last minute points to Ilkeston), we won all our other games. The opposition for this NLD Bowl final had pedigree, as they were last seasons Cup runners up, so we knew that they were a strong team who had experience of these occasions.

The lads were understandably nervous in the build up (and so were the coaches). Even the team WhatsApp group was quiet and subdued. But from the Paviors kick off, a good chase and tackle, Nick was able to jackal the ball and win a penalty on the Stamford 10m line that was kicked to touch for a lineout within the first minute. A very promising start.

The next few minutes showed a lot of the way the game was to be played with lots of tackles, rucks and penalties at the rucks which gave both teams the opportunity to kick for territory and play from lineouts.

From a Stamford backs move, defensive pressure led to a knock on and scrum just in their half. The forwards won the scrum (as they did for most of the game) and the backs ran a switch move. Monty made ground and this was followed up with Ayden continuing the charge. From this we were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Harry (Capt) and Owen (VC) decided to kick for the posts and Owen slotted the penalty to give Paviors a 3-0 lead after 9 minutes.

From the restart, Paviors set the ball up for a clearance kick. This didn’t find touch and Stamford used the ball well to get it wide where they had an overlap who had the pace to round our defence and run in to score a try in a position where their kicker could convert.

The next 10 minutes were again tight with the forwards for both teams working hard in scrums and in line outs after clearing kicks from penalties. Stamford had some big players in the centres and the Paviors defence worked well and absorbed plenty of pressure.

There were chances for Paviors to work with both the forwards and backs combining but the Stamford team defended well and their pressure led to forward passes, knock-ons and penalties and Paviors weren’t able to get into the final third of the pitch with the ball.

One of the Stamford centres went off after taking a knock to the head. Shortly after this Stamford had a scrum just outside the Paviors 22. From this their backs ran a move that created a gap for them to break through and they were able to score a 2nd try on 25 minutes under the posts. This was again converted.

The next 5 minutes were a bit frantic. Cole’s restart kick put Stamford under pressure and we forced a penalty that was kicked to touch on the Stamford 22 but there was a knock on in the 7 man line out and a penalty was awarded shortly after in mid field. Stamford kicked deep and didn’t find touch which gave Pavs chance to run the ball back but the it was lost in a ruck. When we had the ball we threw around a few dodgy passes putting ourselves under further pressure in our 22.

We lost Benny to a leg injury and he was replaced by Fin at fly half. Stamford put us under loads of pressure in the last couple of minutes of the half and we gave away enough penalties in the red zone for the referee to give Harry a warning that the next penalty in this position would lead to a yellow card. The card followed shortly after and the recipient was Owen for an offence at a ruck. The Paviors defence did hold out until half time though which was a great effort being a player down.

The second half restart kick from Stamford didn’t go 10m and Oli nearly caught it in the Stamford half but couldn’t quite get there. We went back for a scrum at half-way and Nick broke from Nr 8 but the defence was good and they jackalled the ball well (a strong feature of their play) and won the ball back. They transitioned quickly into attack down the middle of the pitch and their counterattack got the ball wide for them and they were able to score a try in the corner. This wasn’t converted.

When Owen came back on, we were up to full strength again. We won a couple of scrums and got the ball wide ourselves. We also had a good break down the left after a Stamford kick but lost the ball forward and gave away a penalty at a Stamford scrum. They ran and then kicked really deep into in-goal. Fin took to the goal line drop out and Stamford knocked the ball on giving Paviors another scrum for the pack for deal with.

From the scrum Henry fed the ball to Fin who made a break through the defensive line and when tackled we were awarded a penalty at the ruck. This was kicked to touch for a Paviors line out. The forwards took the ball forward and won another penalty. A quick thinking tap from this and Nick powered over for a try after 43 minutes, 5m from the touch line.

The kick off didn’t go 10 metres but we let the ball bounce and it went into touch. Some confusion at a lineout put scrum half Henry under lots of pressure and he was bundled into touch for a Stamford lineout. They mauled from this lineout and their drive was well organised and powerful enough for them to get the ball over the line for another try after 47 minutes, not converted.

The re-start kick was long and chased up well by a number of players. Unfortunately, Ayden couldn’t gather the ball cleanly, but this last period was when Paviors really started to come into the game. A series of penalties at rucks by Stamford for coming in at the side and being offside kept Paviors moving forward, taking them quickly. Stamford defended stoutly but Fin found a gap and thought he’d score but the ref deemed he’d rolled too far and gave a penalty against us.

However, Stamford kept infringing and they were warned and then shown a yellow card of their own. Paviors kept up with the quick penalties, the forwards kept working hard and recycled the ball well and the ball was passed out to the backs and a gap was found by Josh KT who ran through to score our second try on 55 minutes. This wasn’t converted.

For the last few minutes Paviors kept applying pressure and continued to be awarded penalties but were unable to close the gap in the scoreline further. The final score was 24-13 to Stamford, but the Paviors players felt that if the game had lasted another 10 minutes they would have got right back into it. Pat Billam who came to support felt that they didn’t believe they could do it until the last quarter of the game. The belief is something we need to work on for next season’s campaign because the whole team showed that they were more than capable of performing at this level.

Both teams will look back at the game and think that they need to work on their discipline when you consider the penalty count. Having a society referee in a competitive match makes a huge difference and penalties can apply lots of pressure on the team. Keeping your cool when under pressure is a large part of playing rugby and performing as a team in these situations can be hard. But you can only win these games when your team all pulls together in the same direction.

At the end of the game the lads were understandably upset with the result, and rightly so after coming so close and performing so well. As coaches and parents, we were also disappointed with the result, but we could not have been prouder of the effort that they all put in throughout the season to get to the final or the effort they showed on the day.

The team review: The front row of Harry, Reed, Warren and replacement Jon put in a huge shift with plenty of pushing and lifting to be done with all the scrums and lineouts. They were good in the open play and defence too. The 2nd row of Nick & Ayden were all over the pitch making ground with ball in hand as well as work at set pieces and in defence, ably assisted by Josh G in the 2nd half making his NLD debut. The back row of Sam, Oli and Will were also popping up everywhere to put in plenty of tackles, being lifted in lineouts and recycling ball in rucks. Henry linked the play up by being at every break down to clear the ball to Benny and then Fin at fly half who both worked hard to control and expand the play when needed probing for gaps in the defence. Monty and Josh KT defended brilliantly in the Centres and gave us go forward ball in attack with Elijah coming on and taking on the mantle in the second half. And the back three of Danny, Cole and Owen covered lots of ground fielding and returning kicks, joining the attacking lines and running out when spaces opened up.