RAF VETERANS GIVE MASTERCLASS IN FORWARD PLAY

The RAF Veterans gave a Combined RAF Lyneham/Brize Norton Select XV a lesson in the little known aspects of forward play on Wednesday 27 January 2010 at RAF Lyneham. The match was a clash between the forward power of the Vultures pack, with the Vultures front row gaining an early advantage at the scrummage and the three-quarter play of the combined side containing RAF capped players Thomas and Dietrich The forwards produced some excellent ball for the Vultures backs to make some telling breaks with both Vultures centres hitting the ball with pace. An early serious facial injury to Vultures centre Jed Geddis caused a major disruption in the middle of the field of play and the Vultures seemed all at sea in coping with this injury.

The Brizlyn side took an early lead after some indiscipline at a lineout. With fly half Thomas converting from long range. Soon after the restart, the Vultures forwards displayed excellent ball retention and managed to recycle the ball deep into the opposition territory, but again failed to score. Scrum Half Dave Cooper was busy at the base of the breakdown area, making a number of breaks and getting behind the combined defence.

The Vultures pack soon caused further disruption to the home defence with some abrasive work from the back row, providing good ball for the backs to break the defensive line, but final passes went astray. The Vultures produced some of their best rugby towards the end of the first half, with good interaction between forwards and backs, but entered the half-time break 10 points down

After a number of substitutions at half time, it was difficult for either team to establish any sort of pattern of play, with the continuing rain causing a number of handling errors and silly penalties which resulted in the referee showing three yellow cards. Another infringement at the lineout allowed the Brizlyn fly half Thomas to score with another well-struck penalty The Vultures continued to dominate the scrum and threatened the Brizlyn line on more than one occasion and it took an extended period of solid resolute defence to keep the Vultures at bay. Eventually the pressure paid off and the Vultures were back in the game following well worked try from Farrington. The combined side then scored three converted tries without reply. The Vultures rose to the challenge and some outstanding work from flankers Duval and Powell saw a tries from Chris Reed and Lee Oakey.

This was a game that could have gone either way but the Vultures goal kickers had left their kicking boots at home and it was the Combined Brize/Lyneham who eventually ran out deserved winners by 32 points to 29 points

Vultures Coach Simon Hill was content with the side’s performance. “A number of first choice players were unavailable today, so I am excited by the prospect of having the whole squad fit and available in the near future. We have the makings of a terrific team.”