James College 27-12 College Barbarians

In the spirit of Charles de Ladoucette, a large number of college rugby players formed a Barbarians team to take on James College in this annual fixture. Despite the camaraderie showed, James deservedly ran out winners 27-12.

It’s been two years since Charles tragically passed away. He had embodied college rugby having never picked up a ball before coming to university; his positive attitude led him to get involved with James and was rightfully made president for his third year. Team mate Alex Muntus led a 1 minute silence which was impeccably respected before the kick off.

James new stand in Fly Half Benj Brummitt had the wind behind him as he got the game underway. He surprised himself with the length of his kick off which bounced before finding touch to give James an early position deep in the Barbarians 22. The Barbarians decided to run with it from the resulting line out, testing the James backs but it was their own knock on that was to cost them. From the scrum, James passed it out wide for Phil Scott to go over in the corner; Alex Muntus couldn’t add the extras on this occasion.

Barbarians needed to get a hold in the match; however fly half Ollie Wessely needlessly kicked his kick off straight to touch. James capitalised on this by putting pressure on the BarBar’s defence which finally resulted in Muntus notching 3 points from a 10 metre penalty.

Finally Barbarians could exert some pressure of their own as they found themselves in James half; a tap kick from a James offside saw centre Rich Rhodes halted 5 metres from the try line after some serious flair. James struggled to clear the line, and on any other day the Barbarians talented backline would have benefited from the possession. YUSU President Tim Ngwena and Dan ‘top scorer in X’s’ Crehan were all guilty of errors. The men in black eventually cleared their lines and back in the oppositions half were able to find an overlap which led to forward Ed Pallister scoring. Benj Brummitt notched the conversion to send James into a 15-0 lead at half time.

Barbarians boasting a squad of about 30 rang the changes at half time. Initially it paid off, the new half back pairing of Callum ‘dancing feet’ Douglas and Dom ‘crunching tackler’ Caunt pushed James into the corner and resulting clearances from James were only caught and run back by the unlikely trio of Tim Ngwena, Oscar Wimshurst and James Bowdler. Finally, the pressure told and the vision of Douglas found college colleague Seb Cowell de Gruchy, his phenomenal power was no match from 3 yards and he bundled over, Oscar Wimshurst reduced the deficit further with a fantastic conversion.

It looked to the spectators like the tides were turning in the game; that was until a Phil Scott break up the field, Wimshurst was handy to make the tackle. However the lineout that followed was a bit of mix up in the pack that had been solid up till then; the bouncing ball was collected by James prop Stu Palmer who gratefully scored the try. It was to be 5 minutes that swung the game to James’ favour, from the kick off Fred Harris managed to retrieve the ball; a passing move from the Barbarians was intercepted by James substitute Aaron Rolph who ran 60 metres to score despite the best efforts of the fiery Alex Wilson. Brummitt added the extras, and James led 27-7.

It was the Barbarians though who were to have the last say in the game, Sam Asfahani breaking through the James midfield leaving an onlooker to marvel at the ‘College rugby Sonny Bill Williams’ he provided the impetus for a stereotypical Barbarian move that was finished by Richard Rhodes running through and scoring. The score ended 27-12 with both sides smiling in the exchanges at the end.

Captain of James, Tom Prifti was happy how the game had gone, it had been played in a ‘well tempered good spirited and a reserved manner’. Captain and organiser of the Barbarians, Freddy Harris felt the game was ‘played in a good spirit’; he’d like it to happen next year as it is a ‘good showcase to College Rugby’. YUSU Sport President Sam Asfahani echoed Freddy in celebrating the event and Charles de Ladoucette who ‘epitomised College Rugby’. College sport is all about getting involved, but today it also saw the return to rugby for the YUSU President Tim Ngwena who had ‘fun’ before rushing off to save the University.

Unless the talks of a 7’s tournament next week materialise the game put a cap on a fine rugby season. Derwent took the trophies but the emergence of Goodricke, Halifax as well as the continued strength of Alcuin and James heightens anticipation for next season . Newly elected Derwent captain Tolga Necar, who was out with a shoulder injury today commented on the game being a ‘tribute to the overall quality of college rugby’ and on next season’s ‘very exciting’ campaign prospect.