Cubs in the West Country

By Robb T
April 29 2007

It would be easy to dismiss this as a game where the Tiger Cubs were ultimately out fought and out thought by the wily old heads of the Bristol pack.

In fact, however, we should have come away with a losing bonus point which would have guaranteed our play-off qualification and in fact could have come away with a win if we could have managed to convert the minutes of pressure at the end of the first half and start of the second half into points.

First an apology. The seats occupied by my Dad and I were only a few rows back in the Atyeo Stand behing the goal (towards which Tiggers attacked in the first half). I have poor eyesight at the best of time. Combine this with the mizzle blowing into my face and ruining my notes and I can only apologise for any mistaken identities. My match report goes something along the lines of this:



My father and I, having fought through the heavy Bristol traffic, found our seats with plenty of time before the kick-off. Unseen, in the background, fate was slipping the lead into the boxing glove. Would it be enough?

As the drizzle turned to rain, the match got underway with a shrill blast from the referee Mr Barnes, who seemed a jovial fellow with more humour about him than many of his ilk. Mr “Big Jim” Hamilton was straight into the fray, as subtle as a bass drum in a telephone booth, and did Mr Llewellyn a physical disservice from the get-go.

Our opponents immediately rallied, however, and damned well undid us. One minute on-the-clock and we were caught in possession (regrettably the first of many mistakes on an error-strewn evening). The penalty, converted by Mr Gray, made it 3-0.

Soon after Bristol found themselves having to clear the ball from their own 22. The kick, however, was charged down by Mr Cornwall. Mr Smith (who looked fit and sharp as a butcher’s dog) was away for the touch down. Mr Humphrey's easily converted to make in 3-7. Perhaps it could be a fruitful evening after all ?

Your correspondent quickly re-assessed the situation, however, when the Leicester scrum (on their own 22 line) was made to creak by the aged Bristol pack. Another penalty from Mr Gray made it 6-7.

What the blazes was this ? On the 13 minute mark Mr Varndell was unusually caught for pace by the Bristol right winger. The following passage of play saw Bristol lock, Mr Winters, lumber over the line. An easy conversion made it 13-7.

Four minutes later and a scrum down was awarded. This time the Leicester scrum fractured. Another Bristol penalty from Mr Gray made it 16-7.

The men in white and claret then had a period of prolonger pressure. Mr Hamilton took the ball on the charge. The local chap next to me rather ungentlemanly exclaimed: "Look! what a porky git!" Although he clearly is someway short of a “size zero”, I thought this a trifle unfair. Shortly afterward we were awarded a penalty. Sadly Mr Humphreys send it arcing gaily wide of the upright. “Blast,” I thought, though posterity records my spoken words were rather stronger.

The Leicester pressure continued. The ball went through several phases. A damned-dastardly high tackle on one of ours. The ball kicked for the corner. The pressure from the resulting “catch and drive” lead to Bristol No. 8, Andrew Blowers being “sin binned”. From the resulting penalty Mr Cullen decided to go for goal. Unfortunately Mr Humphrey’s luck did not improve and he missed again.

The Leicester pressure continued but, again in a moment echoed over the course of the evening, just as the pressure began to build we spilled the ball.

The game unravelled. Most noticeable during this passage of play was Mr Lloyd’s positive demeanour. My father declared that he “looked well up for it". Taking the ball into contact he was clearly committed about as much mayhem on his opposite number’s person as the laws of the game allow. Poor fellow. He went into contact a little too directly and was out cold for several minutes. He hobbled off to be replaced by Master Youngs. It looked serious at the time.

Another messy period of play ended in a Leicester penalty. Being a man up this was surely the time to kick for the corner and assert our numerical advantage. But what the blazes was this? Ignoring my advice Mr Cullen decided to play it safe and indicated to the referee that we would be “going for the posts”. At last Mr Humphrey’s luck had changed. He converted the kick to make the half-time score 16-10.

We had finished the half on a high and I became cautiously confident that an away win could be on the cards.

Soon after the kick off we charged down another of their ill-cleared kicks. Sadly it spiralled to safety. A few minutes later Bristol attacked and launched a long kick to the corner. My attention was momentarily distracted at that moment as Mr Lloyd was walking around the ground back to the bench. He seemed fine. Hooray !

The young Leicester bucks then had a few attacks as they benefited from the tiring legs of the elderly Bristol team. Regrettably each one petered out: a dropped ball here, a forward pass there, accidental off-side on at least one occasion. In retrospect the game (or at the very least a losing bonus point) was lost by a failure to convert this pressure into points.

In a subsequent “confused” passage of play possession changed hands several times in the space of a minute. Mr Buckland (clearly feeling sorry for those who were being subjected to this abject performance from both sides) knocked on. From the resulting phase Bristol were awarded a penalty. Mr Gary hit the ball cleanly through the posts to make the score 19-10.

Mr Croft was then replaced by Mr Deacon Junior. This immediately had an effect as the Leicester forwards “built up a head of steam” and won a penalty. Mr Humphreys easily converted.

On the 14 minute mark another mistake as Mr Murphy was caught at the back of the scrum. Bristol gained possession and looked to exploit a two man overlap on the left. Their passing was laboured and workmanlike, however, and they were easily bundled into touch.

Then came another five minutes of Leicester pressure. We had a line out on their 22. Following a regulation catch and drive and we were camped on their line for several minutes. The pressure told and they had another player, Mr El Abd, yellow-carded. The locals were not best pleased by this turn of events and rather vocally made several accusations about referee, Mr Barnes’ character.

Again, however, even with a man advantage in the forwards, Leicester couldn't convert the pressure into points. That was probably the last meaningful chance to turn the game our way. The Bristol defence, however, was manful and dogged. There was no way through. The ball was lost and they again cleared the danger. The sands of time were slipping down the staircase of regret.

A brief forray into our half on the 30 minute mark lead to another Bristol penalty. Another faultless kick from Mr Gray to make it 25-13. We were never going to score the two tries to win it from there and our players knew it. The situation was sticky indeed.

The young Leicester pup’s heads had dropped by now and with a few minutes to go the Bristol backs attacked again. Mr Linklater, felled in an earlier passage of play, was back on his feet faster than a man in his best trousers in time to take a pass from a colleague and scamper over the line. With the try being unconverted, the final score was 30-13.

On the final whistle, the players cordially shook hands and retired to take refreshments in the traditional manner. Your correspondent and his father went home rather disheartended.



So what have we learned ? Over the two games our second team is stronger than the Bristol second team. Their first team is stronger than our second team. If, however, both first teams had been playing each other I suspect that we would have finished a length or two ahead. It's a disappointment to me that this hasn't occurred during the regular season.

Our pack looked lightweight and a little directionless. The back-row combination looked poor, which was a big disappointment as it looked very good on paper. Ollie looked sharp initially but tired later. I was also very impressed with our half-back combination even though they failed to break down the Bristol defence. In the cold light of day I just think that Bristol wanted it more than we did. You’ll also be pleased to hear that all the squad players (Corry, Ellis, Tuiliagi etc) were watching from the stands.

Bristol: Arscott, Robinson, Brew, Cox, Lima, Gray, Nicholls, Hilton, Regan, Crompton, Winters, Llewellyn, To'oala, El Abd, Blowers.
Replacements: Linklater, Clarke, Hohneck, Budgett, Hallam, Hill, Morgan.
Leicester: J Murphy, Lloyd, Smith, Cornwell, Varndell, Humphreys, F Murphy, Moreno, Buckland, Holford, Cullen, Hamilton, Croft, Abraham, Crane.
Replacements: Hickie, Young, L Deacon, B Deacon, B Youngs, T Youngs, Burke.