Super Wolves

And how! It was a perfect afternoon last Saturday for rugby at The Memorial Ground and his young side responded, especially the back five, with a dazzling display of running rugby, which was more akin to Super Fifteen rugby from the southern hemisphere than the normal fare served up in these parts.

They scored nine tries in all. The long striding Ben Day on the right wing galloped away for three of them. The classy young centre Elliot Brierley just turned the defence inside out with his mesmerising running for two tries and there were one each for Ricky Chadwick, Chris Lillie and the club’s Cypriot International Matty King. The Cyprus team are known as the ‘Mouflins’ (Goats) but King showed once again that he is anything but. The other try midway through the second half would have gone to Mike Black, playing in the back row, if he hadn’t been nearly decapitated with a high tackle just yards short. Quite correctly, the referee awarded a penalty try.

New Brighton had arrived hovering just above the league relegation zone. They had staged a remarkable recovery in winning their last five matches and completing the double against Wilmslow would have ensured their place in this league next season. Their three danger men from the South Sea Islands, Katie Tukupuli, Paea Liku and Mafi Simione were all playing, having apparently declared beforehand that they particularly enjoyed playing against Wilmslow. Certainly Mafi in the centre has always been a big influence and he helped himself to two first half tries for the visitors. Two more followed in the second half when scrum half Alan Hesketh pinched the ball from a poor Wilmslow heel when the scrum went into full retreat for NB’s third try and this was quickly followed by a driving forward try, probably scored by Katie.

At Leasowe six weeks ago the New Brighton forwards had neutralised the threat from the Wolves back line by slowing down the Wolves possession and just grinding away with a forward effort that slowed the game down to their pace. That was clearly going to be the way to unsettle the Wolves again so it was a surprise when right from the off their No. 10, Steve Dean, decided to thump the ball down the field instead of giving his forwards a chance to soften up the Wilmslow pack. It was a big mistake as Brierley fielded it and King, MacCallum, Day and Chadwick all handled to race up the field for the opening score within the first minute. Dean’s recent play had been a major influence on NB’s recent revival but he clearly didn’t learn anything from the Wolves riposte as subsequent kicks ahead merely served only to open up the way for the Wolves backs.

Mafi was next on the score sheet, extracting full advantage of slack tackling in mid field.

A restart of just ten metres, no more, is ideal for your forwards to get up and at their opponents and this is just what happened as Wolves captain Mike Clifford pilfered the ball and his forwards gathered round to drive close to the try line. When the ball was released it sped along the Wolves back line and Day got his first touchdown of the afternoon. Within ten minutes though, NB had taken the lead through a Dean penalty and Mafi’s second try, scored when MacCallum lost the ball in the tackle and nobody was back at home when Mafi scooped it up. On the half hour, the Wolves scored their third try through Day coming in off his wing and three more followed at regular intervals through Lillie, King and Brierley .

The Wolves scrum though had been in growing discomfort and this allowed NB back into the game with two scores, which at 36-25 with twenty five minutes still remaining kept everyone on their toes. At this stage, Heagerty made the tactical substitution which changed the game. He brought on Andy Vassell, who had been absent most of the season with a fracture, into the front row. It was a master stroke as Vassell’s impact was immediate and telling as he set about single handedly dismantling the NB scrum. Their subsequent possession was on the back foot and the Wolves regained control to run in three further tries. Vassell’s intervention confirmed the old maxim that it’s the front row battle which will determine who the winners are to be and the backs who determine by how much.

The Wolves still have two matches both away at Northwich and Broughton Park to conclude their fixtures but the curtain has now rolled down for them this season at The Memorial Ground. Heagerty was all smiles afterwards as he promised a larger and more powerful squad for next season to pursue his brand of Super Fifteen rugby.