Paviors RFC

The first game in this year's NLD Junior Competition took the U16s on the road to Lincolnshire to play against the black and red hoops of Sleaford.

The first challenge of the day was a kit clash as our green and red hoops were too similar to the Sleaford kit. The ref even got Sam to run up the pitch in one of our shirts to see if he could differentiate, which he couldn’t, but we kept Sam running. Luckily one of us was prepared. Sean had been unable to locate the Paviors grey change kit so instead he improvised and was able to borrow the Ollerton RFC all black change kit for us to use in case Sleaford didn’t have a change kit, which they didn’t. So, we played in all Black which confused a few spectators.

The game started quickly for Paviors and within 3 minutes we had a 5m penalty. A tap penalty by Harry and his pod was taken and from the secured second phase ball, Captain Will drove over the defenders to the try line for the 1st score of the day. Not converted.

It wasn’t long before Sleaford pulled back level and they scored a try on 7 minutes with a driving maul from a lineout that they were awarded following a penalty. This was also not converted.

But it wasn’t long before Paviors were again in front. From the restart and a good chase, the ball was turned over at a ruck about 10m from the try line. The ball was popped out to Nick who ran in under the posts to score and Owen converted to give Paviors 7 more points.

The next try after 14 mins was straight off the training field but not before a bit of comedy when Kyle took a quick penalty but from behind the referees back and the ref somehow ended up going flying. The restart became a Paviors scrum about 5m out from the try line. From the solid scrum the ball went out to Owen and with the centres holding their defenders he was able to break through a gap, draw the last defender and pass to Cole sweeping round from the blind side wing for an impressive try.

It was around this time that I was asked by Elijah’s grandad why we were playing so poorly (which was a bit unfair, but he expected to see us playing to our usual standard), and I had to point out that we were playing in all black and not our usual stripes. That made it far easier for him to spot his grandson on the pitch.

Sleaford made some inroads into our half because of our indiscipline, giving them several penalties but the next significant action was a shoulder injury to Sleaford’s hooker. Speaking to him and his mum afterwards its quite a regular injury and rugby isn’t the most sensible game to play, but he loves it. As there were no replacements, front row or otherwise, both sides dropped to 14 a side and scrums became uncontested.

There were some good passages of play from Paviors, and space opened, especially from kick returns. One standout moment was a kick retrieved by Cole near the left wing. He ran inside taking out 2 chasers and then threw a flat left-handed pass to Fin who had loads of space to run into and spread the ball wide to the right.

The territory gained using kicks, secure hands and speed of foot got us back into the red zone. The forwards took the ball into contact with 2 separate pods, but Sleaford turned the ball over as the Pavs support was a bit slow on the 2nd drive. However, the ball was immediately retrieved at the next breakdown via a great tackle from Elliot, Oli jackled the ball and passed it through his legs to Sam who ran in to score out wide right. Cole kicked the conversion.

Shortly after the restart the backs again got the ball in hand and Elijah stretched his legs and made a break down the middle. In the next phase the ball was moved left with forwards and back making ground and passing and it was then Fin’s turn to make ground stepping back to the right and he offloaded to Monty who was able to power over the line for our 5th tray and Cole was able to convert the kick.

The next few minutes were a bit frantic with Paviors giving away a couple of penalties which got Sleaford into the Paviors 22, but Pavs were able to escape and then Sleaford were penalised twice in quick succession for high tackles, one of which was an upright tackle on Warren with head contact for which they received a yellow card. Paviors took a tap penalty instead of kicking for touch from which Owen made a strong run but was tackled. However, the referee gave another penalty from which Cole took a quick tap and go, ran to the right drawing players and passed to Fin who got over the line to finish the half 38-5 up.

The second half started with some good Paviors attacks, but the ball was knocked on giving away possession. The yellow card period expired but as the player returned another had to go off with a head injury. At this point the front rows, readying themselves for a scrum, had a heated comedic discussion on whether we were having Baps or Cobs for lunch. This lasted several minutes while the player was seen to, and we went down to 13 a side. They didn’t agree on Bap or Cob but did show how the front row is wired differently to the rest of us.

From the Sleaford scrum restart, Josh KT got up quickly in the defensive line and intercepted the ball for a simple run through to score under the posts and the kick was put over by Cole.

The restart led to a Paviors lineout. From this Henry and then the forwards made 20m but then lost the ball in contact. Sleaford’s centre was well tackled, and the ball turned over again and Paviors attacked with Cole joining the line from fullback and handing off his opponent. Unfortunately, the effort of the player in chasing across led to him injuring his leg and having to leave the field.

At this point, the referee had a discussion with both sets of coaches and it was decided, with Sleaford having lost 3 players to injury and being down by 40 points that it was sensible to stop the game with the score at 45-5. Paviors lads attacked well in part although plenty to work on, especially when working with a structure which will be important in tighter games. Sleaford worked hard right to the end and although beaten and bruised, were gracious in defeat. There were no Cobs (or Baps) served with lunch.