Chiswick inflict comprehensive defeat

Rugby Result - Chiswick RFC  69    Old Grammarians 3

Chiswick sprang back to life with a scintillating display of open rugby to inflict a comprehensive defeat on opponents who won both encounters last season. A combination of forward dominance and fluent, inventive threequarter play coupled with aggressive defending left the opposition in disarray. Their cause was not helped by a number of injuries, leaving them a mere twelve players at the close, after using all three replacements.

The shape of things to come was evident early, a scrummage yielding a heel against the head which gave Craig Kruger a debut try, hurtling onto a pass from man of the match number eight Nick Pritchard, soon to be followed by Roman Zakrevsky’s first of three, gifted by the intrusion of the blind side wing Simon Slattery. During the scrappy episode that followed, Grammarians registered what was to be their sole success of the afternoon, a penalty during a rare incursion into the Chiswick half. Unfortunately, the scorer left the field shortly after, the fly-half sustaining a damaged arm in a typically ferocious tackle by Kruger.

Worse was to follow, as players were regularly departing. Untypically, Chiswick did not relent and constant pressure resulted in poor possession, or none at all, for Grammarians. Hurried clearances were run back at the opposition, the whole side showing a hunger often lacking in recent seasons. Tries followed quickly; Zakrevsky achieved a hat-trick and was rewarded with instant substitution. Jones followed suit, the third being donated by the veteran prop, Kelvin Campbell, doing the educated thing by passing to an overlap when he might have scored himself.

He, too, was replaced (perhaps for try avoidance) by the young pretender, Chris Betts. More tries followed, Slattery’s earlier selfless efforts being rewarded with two long distance tries and there were two for another debutant, the combative scrum-half, Glen Ambrose. Of the eleven tries, Keith Luckman converted seven in his best display of the season.

This win takes Chiswick back to the top of the table, not a familiar sensation in recent years! With luck, vertigo will not set in! Next Saturday provides a different test, when the Club takes on Old Emanuel in the National Junior Vase. Onward!

Team: Hammond; Slattery, Jones, Kruger, Zakrevsky ( sub. Lewis ), Luckman, Ambrose; Johnson, Nichols, Campbell ( sub. Betts ), Williams, Chraplywyj, Vinden, Maguire, Pritchard ( sub. Robbings )

Tries: Jones (3), Zakrevsky (3), Ambrose (2), Slattery (2), Kruger

Conv.: Luckman (7)

October 11, 2005