RNRL State Of Origin IX

The ninth staging of the RNRL Origin fixture proved to be one of the most exciting to date with around forty players giving 100% commitment into securing the trophy for their respective teams. After a thrilling and eventful 80 minutes of quality Rugby League the Easts regained the Origin Cup after the Wests maiden victory in 2009.

The current cycle of assignments has resulted in a far more even distribution of RNRL players across the south meaning there was little to choose between the two sides. The Wests coached by Lee Hunter and Richie Metcalfe had a string of very experienced players in their ranks with first team regulars Sili Buinimasi, Gareth Cadmore, Lee Jones, Ben Taylor and John Humphrey alongside Academy scrum half Greg Pichilingi. The Wests as always were boosted by a number of Royal Marines notably Billy Mason who’s performance was to earn him the Wests Man of The Match. The Easts fielded a side with a mixture of experience and new talent across the team. Amongst the experienced players it was good to see Jim Barnes back at right centre following his recovery from a broken leg. Also in the backs Atu Vuniwaqa had another great game at full back whilst James Wagstaffe partnered Steve Lockton Scrum Half and Stand off respectively. In the pack Lewis Taylor was partnered by Matthew Murray in the front row with Chris Reeves as hooker. Another welcome returnee was Dave Gee in the second row and at Loose Forward Ash Hedges had another top game with the boot as well as crossing for a try late on.

Despite playing up the slope and into the strong breeze the Wests began the match by far the stronger and after 15 minutes were 12 points to the good, great work on both occasions saw the Maroons cross close to the posts on both occasions making the conversions that much easier. The Blues began to find their rhythm and started to make inroads into the Wests territory, their efforts were rewarded 20 minutes when after good work down the middle the ball went out to left centre Sanderson who took the ball at pace ran a great angle t beat the cover and cross for the Blues first score. With the conversion from Ash Hedges the Blues had reduced the deficit to just six points. The gap however was quickly was however extended to 10 points when almost from the restart the Maroons took advantage of a Blues knock on and sent the Right centre over for his second try of the night, the kick was missed so on the 25 minute mark the score was 16-6 in the Wests favour. As half time approached the East’s enjoyed a good period of play making big inroads into West territory, on 38 minutes the Blues were awarded a penalty for a high tackle which led t a ten minute break for the offender. From the penalty The Blues ran the ball and crossed once again the left of the posts, the conversion was missed and so at the break the score was 16-10 in the Maroons favour.

The Wests again began the second half the stronger despite initially being down to 12 men, a neat grubber kick bounced horribly for the Blues under their posts allowing Sili Buinimasi to claw the ball down and score a good try. The conversion was made so the Wests were 12 points to the good once again. This seemed to spur the Blues on and another error from the kick off allowed them into Maroons territory and from the scrum Dave Gee marked his return with a good try to close the gap once again. More pressure from the Blues got them close to the Wests line and Steve Lockton poached a clever try from first receiver to close the Blues to within four points. By now the Blues were dominating the game and for the first time took the lead on the 20 minute mark. The Wests cause was not helped by the sin binning of influential Scrum Half Ben Taylor who had been at the heart of the Wests offensive play. This gave the Blues even more impetus and Stand off Lockton went over again and with the conversion the Blues were now 8 points clear. Despite being a man down the Wests responded once again with an unconverted try but that was as close as they got, a converted try for Ash hedges stretched the Blues advantage to 10 points at 26-36 which is how the score remained to the final whistle.

The two teams put on a great show for the spectators confirming the fixture as one of the highlights of the RNRL Season. As mentioned earlier Billy Mason was given the man of the match for the Maroons whilst Steve Lockton took the award for the Blues. The presentations were made By RNRL Chairman Cdr Gareth Hughes who congratulated both teams for the performance as well as thanking the South Somerset Warriors Club for their hospitality.

South Somerset Warriors are a new club set up by Richie Metcalfe based at the Ivel Barbarians ground in Yeovil. The ground itself is close to RNAS Yeovilton so it offers the chance for ‘Brothers’ based at the station to get valuable game time in a similar way that pompey based players do with the Seahawks club. For further info on the club visit their very excellent site at www.southsomersetwarriors.co.uk