TEIGNMOUTH 29 PLYMOUTH BARBARIANS 5

To the uninitiated Rugby Union can sometimes seem a strange sort of game, as players often seem intent on kicking away possession in an attempt to gain territorial advantage. As any rugby player will tell you, this is a quite normal tactic in a sport where territory means almost as much as ball retention.
However, the first half of last Saturday’s match against newly-promoted Plymouth Barbarians saw an extraordinary amount of unintentional exchange of possession, as players from both sides found holding on to the ball almost as difficult as holding on to a bar of soap in the shower. Much of this was caused by the inaccuracy of both sides’ passing, making it difficult for the backs in particular to get any fluid movements going. The result was a succession of scrums throughout the half, which eventually worked in Teignmouth’s favour, as their well-organised forwards gradually began to wear down the visitors’ pack.
Nevertheless, it took 24 minutes before the home side could translate this domination into points, and when the score finally did arrive, it was no real surprise that it came from a rolling maul, although not many of the Teign’s supporters would have wagered on the scorer being stalwart prop George Mowson. Dan Force converted to give Teignmouth a 7-0 lead at half-time.
If there was any dissatisfaction with the standard of play in the first half, this was soon forgotten as the home side enjoyed a golden quarter of an hour at the start of the second. Within 60 seconds of kick off, centre Chris Tidman made the most of a hole in the visitors’ defence and touched down under the posts. Sadly kicker Force received an ankle injury in the build up to the try, and was unable to continue, so Matt Moses stepped up to convert the try, then 5 minutes later to add a penalty and extend the home side’s lead to 17 points.
One Teignmouth’s strengths this season seems to be the ability of several players to play in several positions. Both Byron Woods and Mark Kendell have proved this by playing in the forwards and the backs so far, and injuries like this one to Force often mean that centres, wings and full backs have to be able to change position at short notice. However, Force’s replacement Will Sowden, had reported for duty with the after-effects of tonsilitis, and so would have been hoping to have been able to watch the match from the sidelines if possible.
It was difficult to believe that Sowden was anything less than 100% fit as within 10 minutes of his introduction he received the ball on the halfway line, and used his pace and strength to break through the Barbarians’ defence to put the result beyond doubt with half an hour remaining.
It seemed at this point that Teignmouth took their foot off the gas, and allowed the visitors to score a forwards-dominated try of their own through prop Martin. This gave the home side the jolt they needed to push on and score an all-important fourth try and thus secure a bonus point, with Sowden scoring almost a carbon copy of his first try with a minute remaining. Moses completed the scoring.
After the game skipper Colin Aldworth admitted that the first half had been frustrating; “We tried to stick to our game-plan of securing quick ball and releasing the backs, even when it became clear that the Barbarians were easily able to neutralise it. Only when we tightened up and made sure that we kept possession were we able to make our supremacy count.”
This bonus point victory keeps Teignmouth in the upper reaches of the league table, a position they will be hoping to maintain this when they visit lowly Tavistock this Saturday.