Sat 28 Sep 2019
Rowntrees kicked off with the wind behind them and immediately established field position, applying pressure to an RI defence that had to work hard for a good period of time. Despite some good work from Rowntrees, the home defence held firm and eventually spotted an opportunity to run the ball from deep and get into the Rowntrees half for the first time. Some good defence from the visitors held RI out initially, but following a scrum penalty, the home side kicked to the corner and powered over from a catch and drive, number 8 Lewis Starbuck the one to touch the ball down. A tough conversion into the wind was missed, 5-0 to RI.
This allowed the home side to settle into the game and they again got back in the right half of the field and began to apply pressure, which eventually told with stand-in centre Jonny Evans going over under the posts, with the conversion added by Baptiste Briu for a 12-0 lead. The rest of the half was fairly evenly match, with defences getting on top and there was no further score before the break.
With the wind now helping RI, they managed to spend the early part of the half at the Rowntrees end, and whilst again the defence was stubborn initially, the constant pressure told with Evans going over for his second, again converted by Briu to extend the lead to 19-0.
Rowntrees then found another gear and with it the occasional foray into the RI 22 metre area, but resilient defence prevented any scores. The home side were now moving the ball around a little more, going in search of the bonus point score, but a combination of good defence and a lack of control at times in attack, frustrated the home side for much of the remainder of the half. However, with full time approaching, a clearance kick from the visitors was moved to winger Chris Piercy, who run around the chasing defence and with a Rowntrees back coming across to cover, slipped the ball inside to centre Joe Field, who in turn managed to return the ball to Piercy to go over for the last score of the game, conversion missed to leave the final score 24-0.
This hard fought win, based around solid defence, was RI’s 3rd in 3 games, all with a bonus point, keeping them top of the South-East section of the league in the early stages.
Next week sees another away game, this time at Mosborough, in what promises to be a tough test, against a team that has won their opening 2 matches.
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