1XV v Brynithel (Away) 11 September 2010

Stern Test but a Win

On a lovely autumnal afternoon last Saturday, a much changed Monmouth side from the week before visited Brynithel and came through a stern test as 6-16 winners despite being reduced to 13 men in the nerve racking final stages.

For the second week in succession Monmouth seemed to get the wrong side of the referee and his interpretation of the new law surrounding release of the tackler and ensuing rucks. Right or wrong, they cannot afford to give away as much advantage to opponents as this.

And that was not the only thing against them as the lightly inflated match balls did nothing for fly-half Rhys Rickett’s usual accuracy with the boot, although the 11 points he contributed was still invaluable.

The first half was one where whilst trying to get to grips with the referee’s requirements as the game swung to and fro, Brynithel took their chances with the boot leading first 3-0 and then by the twentieth minute, 6-0 as a result of another Monmouth adjudged transgression.

But the visitors rallied well with ten minutes of the half remaining. First a break deep into the left of Brynithel territory with good interpassing would have brought a try but for a forced knock-on but the passage of play still helped boost confidence. Rickett’s added three points with a good kick and then Monmouth again attacked the left side with 2nd row Matt Edwards leaping high to knock back a high kick to the supporting flanker Ed Wheeler. Play was snuffed out by an offside player and Ricketts gratefully levelled the score at 6-6.

The remaining injury time of the half had Brynithel on the defensive and desperate hands in the ruck gave Monmouth a chance to use their superiority in the scrums at a succession of scrums instead of kicks at goal, but the home team hung on thanks to aggressive defence by their back-row men to go into the break all even.

The greater intensity and more precise play the Coach demanded was soon apparent culminating with a succession of rucks and scrums in the right side of the field when in desperation a Brynithel back row man tried to kick out the ball from the rear of a driving scrum costing his side a penalty try affording Ricketts an easy kick at goal for a 6-13 lead inside 15 minutes.

A further score was needed for the sake of safety but Brynithel had other ideas helped by their skill at spoiling. In fact if it were not for dogged defence by Monmouth especially when they lost their flanker to a yellow card for a ruck infringement the tables could have been turned. But Monmouth’s tackling was good with Man of the Match No 8 Dave Morgan leading the way with his energy and courage in the face of adversity.

Brynithel pressed and pressed through scrums instead of kicks but they were held out and then disaster struck again with another yellow card for a flanker leaving Monmouth with 13 men and 6 minutes still to play.

Surprisingly the defensive scrums seemed even stronger as Brynithel battered away to no avail. Odds were still on a draw at this stage until play continued longer than expected allowing Joel Price back from the sin-bin to help shore up the defences. And even when Ricketts came up and kicked a further penalty to ease nerves Monmouth were still having to dig in hard as the final whistle sounded.

Precision Engineering must be pleased with their Club sponsorship as Monmouth sit atop the table with two wins out of two, but the real test will come as college boys depart and injuries grow in the colder wetter days to come. For now all is well even if the Druids had to call off their league game for lack of enough players this week. Caldicot is next week’s 1st XV away challenge.

Tries: Penalty Try
Conv: R.Ricketts
Pen: R.Ricketts(3)