YORK’S 1st XV go into tomorrow’s clash away to Hull 1sts looking for their fifth consecutive win in all competitions.
The side are currently just one point behind Northern 1A Division leaders Sheffield 1sts, having won four and lost just one of their five league games so far this season.
The last time Hull and York met was in last year’s Varsity tournament, when York were beaten 31-14 on home soil. However, York were severely weakened that day and were essentially forced to field their second string, so will take encouragement that their big players can do damage this time around.
The signs are that will be the case, as Hull have already been beaten twice by Sheffield and Bishop Burton, while York have dispatched Manchester Met 1sts, Leeds 2nds and Leeds Met 2nds quite comfortably before edging past Liverpool 1sts 31-27.
Despite having two players sin-binned, the character of the squad to keep Liverpool at bay was a huge bonus and the post-match celebrations underlined the significance of the result.
Captain Sam Lord told Vision: “We have hit some good form in recent matches without putting a truly dominant performance together for a whole game.
“Fixing that inconsistency is something we have been concentrating on in the past week, but our attitude in general tends to be quite relaxed so that the players feel free to express themselves on a Wednesday.
“We have been attempting to play a very attacking style of rugby, working consistently on decision making and support play, and it seems to be paying off.”
So far, the side has scored a remarkable total of 22 tries, with Will Sharp scoring eight from the last five games and outside centre Hugo Watson close behind on five tries. Of course, Tom Chadwick has been reliable as ever at fly half and is key to York’s ability to cut through teams.
Crucially though, their game plan rests upon dominating the lineout and the scrum, in which Fraser Kirkley and President Hugh Draycott have excelled.
Meanwhile, openside flanker Tim Ross has been a vital cog in terms of keeping possession, maintaining the pressure and allowing his teammates to shine in attack.
Lord remarked: “The most important thing is that we are improving faster than any other team in the league. This is because our players are not only skilful in the first place, but are also willing to work incredibly hard and sacrifice huge amounts of time, both in training and in the gym with the University’s new strength and conditioning coach Pete Ashcroft, to find out just how good we can be.”
It is clear, then, that they are all willing to go the extra mile for their teammates. This is often what separates teams who achieve promotion from those who fall by the wayside and, to that end, the clash against Hull will be a fascinating litmus test for what is to come.