B & I Cup 16/17

[Deraless]

Finished up 19 6

[solidarity]

A win's a win. Were we brill or were they atrocious?

[scrum5]

They'd a massive pack which bullied us but the had nothing else, Tommy, Dan and Ricky Lutton got 80 minutes rugby, Aaron Cairns on the wing looks a good prospect, scrum was in reverse all night until O'Hagan replaced Simpson and John Donnan came on and added some bulk to the 2nd row with Treadwell moving to six.

[Deraless]

First half was tight.
Jersey couldn't win a line-out and the second half was really one way traffic. The try came from outside the 22 but same old problems as soon as we get near the line.
We weren't brilliant and Jersey weren't awful.

[therealspratt]

Lutton looked as headless as ever, wouldn't have him in front of Kane.

[Dave]

Treadwell to 6, interesting.

I'm sure he was crap though.

[scrum5]

Lorcan the best of the pack, breakdown atrocious with Lutton clearing out the invisible man on numerous occasions, Jersey tired and we managed to get outside of them, we had phase after phase with pick and go on their try line, we would still not have crossed it even if we were still playing.

[Dave]

Lorcan the best of the pack, breakdown atrocious with Lutton clearing out the invisible man on numerous occasions, Jersey tired and we managed to get outside of them, we had phase after phase with pick and go on their try line, we would still not have crossed it even if we were still playing.

There is no way Lutton will get a look in past Ray or Kane.

[scrum5]

or Herbst who was in the latest training pics released by UR.

[scrum5]

On a different note will be interesting to see how Sean O'Hagan playing for Richmond against Leinster A goes today, wasn't impressed with the Hitman last night.

[Deraless]

The front row (Lutton, Andrew and Simpson) were absolutely crucified in the scrum, which went backwards at a rate of knots on several occasions. Gave away about half a dozen scrum pens and were very lucky neither of the props were binned. They had a couple of talkings to. Our best scrum was on the back of a warning then we reverted to type.

Jersey apparently have had a strong scrum but at the end of the day they're a Championship team, and if you're a prop the scrum is your number one role, anything else is a luxury.

None of the forwards stood out I thought. Otherwise solid. Our line-out stole a lot of ball off penalties kicked into our half, but that has apparently been Jersey's weakness all season.

The forwards did just enough to get ball and the difference came in the second half.

Cairns and Windsor made a mess of a hack through towards the end of the first half when either should have scored but neither did. But they were probably the two best players I thought. Cairns looked lively and Windsor's wee touch of class was the main difference on the scoreboard.

Shanners was game against a big brute of a Jersey scrum half. McPhillips also had a good game at 15, only ever watched him at 10 before. Benefitted from a bit of space.

Tommy went looking for ball and was energetic. Solid defence. A few cross field kicks to use his height. Got involved but nothing spectacular.

Was also good to see Ulsterman Ross Adair on the wing for Jersey. He has been a regular but wasn't on the team sheet but must've been brought in at the last min. Our defence was pretty solid though. Don't really recall a play where it seemed Jersey would get over our line.

[Dave]

I've always been impressed by McPhillips

[The Boo Radleys]

Interestingly, all London Scottish tries came from the forwards.....

London Scottish made the perfect start to their 2016/17 British and Irish Cup campaign with a 26-21 bonus-point victory over Cardiff Blues Premiership Select at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Scots trailed 21-12 early in the second-half but turned the match around with two quick tries, and held on towards the end for a hard-fought victory in terrible conditions to make it three wins in a row in all competitions.

Scottish nearly got off to the perfect start with a try from kick-off. Cardiff attempted to clear their lines but Matt Marley charged down and gathered the ball but was hauled down just short of the try-line and held up, with the resulting scrum seeing Cardiff steal the ball and clear.

After more early pressure from the Scots, Cameron Fenton got his first try of the afternoon on the 10 minute mark. The hooker threw in to the lineout and then regathered the ball as the maul was powering towards the line to open the scoring. Lydon's conversion put his side 7-0 ahead.

Cardiff responded with a try of their own to level the score. With the Scots under pressure a loose pass allowed James Beal to claim the ball and race clear from 40 metres to score under the posts, which was converted by Jarrod Evans.

Scottish then hit back with Fenton's second try of the match, which was scored in identical fashion to the first. A lineout from five metres out was driven towards the line, and the hooker dotted down to put the Scots back in front.

The Blues again came back with a try just before the break. A lineout outside the Scottish 22 was gathered, and Lewis Jones dummied to fool the entire defence, and run through unattended to dive under the posts. Evans' conversion edged them 14-12 ahead, which could have been extended if a final pass had gone to hand with the hosts on the attack, but at the break Cardiff held a two point advantage.

Cardiff put themselves in a commanding position with a third try just two minutes in to the second half. Jarrod Evans' dummy in the midfield saw him break the line, and he then drew in the last defender and passed to Aled Summerhill who coasted to a try. Evans converted to give the hosts a 21-12 lead.

The Scots needed a big response, and Welshman Matt Marley provided it with 50 minutes on the clock. A rolling maul was brought down near the line, and after multiple phases deep in the Cardiff 22 the ball was recycled to the flanker, who drove over from close range to bring Scottish back in to the match. Lydon's conversion cut the deficit to 21-19.

Five minutes later the Scots took the lead and secured the four-try bonus point with a score from Ewan McQuillin. Lydon found a monstrous kick to bring his side to within five metres of the try-line. A rolling maul was yet again driving towards the line with the forwards dominant, and McQuillin broke away to score. Lydon's third conversion of the match gave Scottish a five point advantage.

The Scots were then forced to defend for long periods after some handling errors crept in to their game in the heavy rain.

With just two minutes remaining Cardiff had possession in the Scottish half, and a chip in behind was heavily chased down. It was a foot race to gather the ball, and Patrick Kelly's fully stretched arm managed to dot the ball down inside the dead-ball area to secure a 22 drop-out, despite a number of players from the Welsh capital celebrating a possible try.

The Scots then ground out for the final play of the match and secured a tough 26-21 victory to get the B&I Cup campaign off to the best possible start, and ensure that they sit top of the pool after the first round of matches.

The British and Irish Cup continues next Saturday (22nd October) at home to Ulster 'A' , tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Cardiff Blues Premiership Select:
15. Rhun Williams 14. Owen Lane 13. Aled Summerhill 12. Declan Williams 11. James Beal 10. Jarrod Evans 9. Lewis Jones 1. James Howe 2. Liam Belcher 3. Kieron Assiratti 4. Ben Murphy 5. Seb Davies 6. Shane Lewis Hughes 7. Morgan Sienawski 8. Hemi Barnes

Replacements:
16. Joe Tomlinson 17. Brad Thyer 18. Ben Leung 19. Luke Crocker 20. James Sheekey 21. Dane Blacker 22. Ben Jones

Scorers:
Tries: James Beal (17 minutes) Lewis Jones (34 minutes) Aled Summerhill (42 minutes)
Conversions: Jarrod Evans (17, 34, 42 minutes)

London Scottish:
15 Ben Rath (replaced by Tom Galbraith) 14 Craig Holland 13 Alec Coombes 12 Patrick Kelly 11 Jason Harries 10 Peter Lydon 9 Ed Hoadley (replaced by Hugh Fraser) 1 Jonny Harris (replaced by Ralph Adams Hale) 2 Cameron Fenton 3 Ewan McQuillin (replaced by Phil Cringle) 4 Rory Bartle (c) 5 Dom McGeekie (replaced by Alex Humfrey) 6 Matt Marley 7 Joe Atkinson 8 Ally Miller (replaced by Danny Kenny)

Replacements:
16 Devlin Hope 17 Ralph Adams-Hale 18 Phil Cringle 19 Alex Humfrey 20 Danny Kenny 21 Hugh Fraser 22 Tom Galbraith

Scorers:
Tries: Cameron Fenton (10, 21 minutes) Matt Marley (50 minutes) Ewan McQuillin (56 minutes)
Conversions: Peter Lydon (10, 50, 56 minutes)
Yellow Card: Cameron Fenton

Officials:
Referee: Frank Murphy
Assistant Referees: Aled Evans & Gareth John
Fourth Official: Lyndon Young

Half-Time Score: Cardiff Blues Premiership Select 14 - 12 London Scottish

Attendance: 787

[The Boo Radleys]

Highlights....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4Vkux ... e=youtu.be

[thecrouch]

It does not bode well that the A team suffers the exact same problem as the senior team when it comes to a soft pack.