Vinyl in the Groove
Good game?
By Timofe
September 12 2010
You know it's going to be a good trip when the hotel receptionist says, without provocation, "And when you come back drunk..." - clearly we were not the first away fans to visit Gloucester.
In the build up to the game, we mistakenly arrived in the centre of Gloucester too early to go to the match and, instead, had to make use of a local ale house. However, I did my best to make up for the unlikely beer-drinking event by spilling a total of five pints of beer simultaneously. A heinous crime, but also something of a personal record! In my defence (and as a precursor to heavy fines later), I have a lovely bruise on my knee from where it hit the iron table leg. As the beer wasn’t great, I was really doing my compatriots a favour...
Tracking into the ground we once again found ourselves drawn mystically towards a bar. Sampling two different beers and a lager, we discovered that bad beer was to be the theme of the trip. First tip: Don’t drink in the Lions Bar.
The game kicked off with a cheer from the home fans and possession was all Gloucester’s until Leeds eventually snaffled the ball after a few minutes. Mr Rose, who was to feature heavily in the first half blew the whistle as he claimed that Leeds came in from the side to help their ball carrier. I’m still confused by that.
The penalty attempt missed by miles and the Leeds faithful breathed a collective sigh of relief. The relief didn’t last long though. Within two minutes Glos had scored their first try – Vainikolo charging down the wing to pass to Narraway to finish. Leeds looked outclassed.
Glos knocked on from the restart and collapsed the scrum, giving Leeds their first penalty of the day from about 35 metres out. Vinyl coolly slotted it, smiling.
Further handling errors – this time from Leeds – saw Glos take advantage of a poor Leeds defence. Dickinson took his chance and charged over the line to make it 12-3, then 14-3 to Glos. The few Leeds fans who’d made the trip were suitably depressed, fearing a repeat of the previous week. So far, all possession had been Gloucester’s and that didn’t look like changing.
Following another Glos infringement, up stepped Vinyl again; the only shining light in an otherwise drab Leeds day: 14-6.
Big Mac was back to his best and tackling hard, taking Vainikolo to ground but, instead of the clear Leeds penalty for the blatant holding on by the Tongan, Mr Rose blew again in Gloucester’s favour.
In twenty minutes of game play, it had been all Gloucester. Leeds fabled defence was nowhere to be seen and, it seemed, every 50:50 decision went Gloucester’s way. Leeds were slow to defend and seemed unwilling to make contact – standing off the ball carrier, not moving up. Defensive lines were ragged, leaving large gaps for the Glos backs to enjoy.
That’s not to say that there was no hope. In the second quarter there were a couple of occasions where Leeds ran away with the ball, Semi in particular making good yards, only to turn it over through lack of support. If Gloucester go the ball, their backs took over, racing downfield, but were stopped by an improving Leeds defence, getting turned over or simply knocking on.
Mr Rose seemed to continue his goal of a Glos victory by handling penalties the wrong way. Glos were clearly offside at a ruck but the referee gave the decision to them, saying that the tackler didn’t roll away – difficult when an offside player is pinning you onto the ball carrier. Shortly afterwards he awarded the Gloucester pack a penalty when he observed Phil Swainston burrowing in, despite the touch judge on the blind-side of the scrum signalling that Gloucester’s loosehead was doing the same earlier in the set-piece. 16 men against us: odds we like!
A strong Gloucester drive was stopped by the markedly better Leeds defensive line – Vinyl shining once again – but Charlie Sharples, Gloucester’s 15, was in full flow by now (reminding Barnpot of himself as a younger man).
Big Mac’s absence for a blood injury weakened our scrum, but it strengthened again when he returned five minutes later.
Vinyl’s kicking from hand put Gloucester back in their 22 and, from the lineout, Leeds pressed on, Lewis-Pratt beating four defenders in his run to the line. He came up short on that occasion, but crossed the line a minute later, brining the score to 14:11 after 30 minutes.
The remainder of the half was a game of cat and mouse, notably including a scrum that stayed up for the first time in the match at the 34-minute mark. However, thinking that they had survived the half, Leeds defence once again dozed, allowing Glos’ inside centre to coast over the line, leaving a half-time score of 19:11.
A bizarre half-time show about beer making (I think?) opened with the line “Leeds fans may think that our beer is bad”. Observant lot, if poor brewers...
The opening forays of the second half passed without incident. Olivier Azam joined the game and, predictably, failed to throw straight at the lineout. Mr Rose wasn’t watching though.
Pudding came on for Browne, who’d taken a knock, just before an offside from Deacon gave Vinyl another chance at the posts. He stroked the ball over yet again, silencing the Kingsholm crowd.
Luthor Burrell was not playing his best rugby and we expected him to be subbed, but it was Alfie who went off as Kearnan came on. Shortly after that Tinkerbell came on for Wheels, but Backy had played his Hokey Cokey card and Tinks moved to fullback, Steevo to wing and Blackett to centre. This seemed to strengthen the back line and led to more open attacks.
Thommo came on for Titts and immediately took up his place at outside centre. I suspect not officially, but Mr Thompson does not like being a substitute it seems – tackling every Gloucester attack following his entry to the game.
Another dubious penalty for coming in from the side went Gloucester’s way at 58 minutes (caused, largely, by the ball carrier not releasing the ball), but instead of kicking the points, they elected to go for a catch and drive, bonus-point try: a poor decision from their captain.
The Leeds defence was now where it should be and stopped the drive, illegally, according to the referee. Glos went for the corner again, but the slow formation of the lineout provided time for Alonso to join the fray, taking Swainston’s place. Glos knocked on from their lineout and Leeds could breathe again.
Gloucester regained control and drove a long way downfield, but the Leeds defence once again stopped them and turned the ball over.
With 17 minutes to go Leeds were awarded a penalty and up stepped a confident Lewis-Pratt. Unfortunately, kicking into a strong cross-wind, the ball drifted just wide. Following the kick, Falafel came on for Semi and Billy for Sharky.
A high tackle on Oli after 67 minutes gave Vinyl another chance, but again the wind pushed it wide and onto the post. Lex, ever quick-thinking and playing to his best caught the rebound and muscled his way through the sleeping Gloucester defence and over the line for the second Leeds try. Clearly he was merely biding his time and waiting for the right opportunity earlier in the game: 19:19.
Vinyl put down the ball for the conversion to silence in the crowd. He took a few paces back, ran onto the ball and you could have heard a pin drop as the ball went over the crossbar to score the conversion!
At that point, we noticed a marked difference in the home crowd. Gone was their cheery enthusiasm for their team, instantly replaced by a white-faced resolution that we were the better team and they were always going to lose the game, their players and their coach. Maybe it’s the quality of the local beer, but they are the most manic-depressive side I’ve had the pleasure to meet (Leeds excluded, of course).
It may not have invigorated the crowd, but going behind for the first time in the game certainly stirred their team, with wave after wave of Gloucester attack beating on the Leeds shore. With seven minutes to go, Glos had a clear chance to drop a goal but Robinson chose not to.
Leeds eventually gained possession and tried to outlast the clock with a series of pick-and-go moves inside their 22, but the inevitable penalty came with only three minutes left and Robinson scored the three points, sealing Leeds’ fate.
Summary
While disappointing for Leeds fans and very worrying for Gloucester’s, this was a great game of rugby for the neutral. The play was open and end-to-end, with both sets of forwards and backs able to run in space. The first half belonged to Gloucester, the second to Leeds.
From a Leeds perspective, Christian Lewis-Pratt is the real deal. His place-kicking, distribution, kicking from hand, attacking lines and defence are first class. Man of the match by a long margin. It is the sign of a good player that the opposition fans ask you about him in the bar afterwards and we gave them ample opportunity to do so.
Big Mac played well; Tinkerbell looked good; Barrow was in the thick of it; Thommo looked very fit; Semi was a strong and evasive runner. Our lineout didn’t rob much of their ball, but we kept our own well too. Our scrum looked good, even following the substitutions.
Our main problem is a lack of concentration. I got the impression, as last week, that the team are thinking of what might happen later in the game, rather than what is happening now. Maybe the game plan is too complex and they are thinking too much in the first ten minutes? It’s going to be a long, hard season if we start each game 14 points down.
As for Gloucester, they are not the team they once were. No opposition will fear going to Kingsholm this season. The majority of Gloucester fans we met acknowledged that. Any that don’t are delusional. They have a long way to go. I wish them well in their journey. They are very hospitable!
After the game (and obligatory curry), we discovered that the inaugural Gloucester Beer Festival was on. We strayed that way for a sample, but left after one beer. They really need to sort out their ale!
Thanks to May. Blah-blah-blah.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:12:16:45:26 by Wildwillie.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:12:17:47:43 by haxbytyke.
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