September 30th 2017 v Chiswick Away

Quintin vs Chiswick 3rds 30th September 2017

Squad:
1. Adam Clarke 2. Phil Worner 3. Rainier Deysel 4. Lachlan Ratjens 6. Robert Wixey 7. Luke Rhind 8. Connor Shea 9. Cameron Prosser 10. Slade Siameja 11. Richard Starkey 12. John Sanger 13. Tom Rouse 14. Kong-Ja Scorgie 15. David J April 16. Xander Bobir

Being a hop-skip-and-a-jump over the tracks the away leg to Chiswick RFC doubles as an additional home fixture so it was good to see the Cripple Club and a number of old boys make it down and witness the return of Kon-ja. The sun was shining and the conditions looked good for some running rugby, perhaps too good as things turned out... Even with the mounting injury list 16 mostly able bodies warmed up among the familiar SW setting of neatly maintained quiffs and goose droppings. For one reason or another Quintin was taking even longer than the usual hour set aside to switch on as even the simple task of passing left was proving to taxing on most.

Quintin received the kick-off and the pack started strongly, Cam organised well and set a fast tempo before clearing deep. Will showed Chiswick they weren’t going to be given anything in the lineout wins pinching the first one and the forwards again put their hands up, stringing some phases together in heavy contact before winning a penalty which Sanger slotted comfortably. First blood to Quintin and the lads were looking surprisingly up for it after being seriously under-done in the warm up. Things weren’t so well organised from the restart, with possession quickly turned over and a complementary penalty squaring the ledger. The opening 15 minutes were played at a frenetic pace as both teams were well organised in defence and both packs had plenty of willing runners. Something had to give and unfortunately it was Quintin as the Chiswick centre crashed against the grain where he found the familiar form of Luke covering the inside channel but the unfamiliar event of him slipping off the tackle, his last MT for the game and not a bad bet for his last for the season.

Quintin won the ball back from the kickoff and with the forwards starting to feel the strain it was the backs turn to have a crack. Unfortunately for Dave after swinging the ball wide - taking a few steps, having a short siesta, deciding it would be a nice evening for the last braii of the year, checking the forecast and settling on a family bucket of What-A-Chicken – his rib was the next thing to crack in what the referee described as a “late and malicious tackle” before giving a warning to the player and inexplicably awarding the scrum to Chiswick. That brought Xander off the bench for his first hit-out of the season and forced Connor into the unfamiliar position of second-five. Chiswick took advantage of the midfield inexperience running a short flat crash that saw their centre go over for his second in similar fashion with Chiswick adding a third wider out a few minutes later before Sanger slotted another penalty in the shadow of half-time. With enough time for the kick-off Quintin returned strongly working their way back into Chiswick territory where Slade attempted to slip through a half gap before finding Rainier thundering up in support. Not satisfied with only having a couple of backs to run over he quickly changed course to runn directly at the post before pinballing over the line - which was in fact the first try Chiswick have conceded in 4 matches this season. Sangers eagerness to get down early and practice goalkicking was already paying off and being dead in-front none of the boys were watching as he added the extra 2. Which was lucky because he was charged down and Quintin went to the half 24-11 down.

Anyone that has seen a Quintin game over the last couple (and I presume more) of seasons knows what happened next. The lights went out, the curtains were pulled and the feet were put up as Quintin leaked 3 quick trys with Chiswick scoring from deep. The only bright spots were that Sanger continued to put every kickoff on the money for Kon-ja to either winning back in the air or flatten the receiver and Tom Rouse got some payback sending Daves assailant for his own trip to the sideline. It wasn’t enough as the boys struggled to retain possession with the referee giving a lot of turnover ruck penalties despite the protestations from the enthusiastic Quintin faithful on the sidelines who, although aged and at a 30-40m disadvantage, were still able to spot any one of a number of maroon stained hands in the ruck more accurately than the referee.

Having a mountain to climb Quintin were throwing everything they had at them and were reaping some reward as they made holes and forced Chiswick to scramble. However it was one of those days where the last pass wouldn’t stick: with an overlap out wide Cam distributed sharply to Slade only to find he wasn’t the only halfback in the Quintin attacking line- Option A: a superhuman feat of speed and timing, or Option B: a blatant offside, Result: +7 points to Chiswick as he raced 90m against the run of play to score at the other end. Similarly Sanger went through and looked for another SBW offload only to find the same Chiswick player who, although not offside in this instance as it was general play, was very much enjoying his time in the Quintin backline and again returned it 80m to add another 7 pointer.

Finally enough was enough and the forwards reaped some reward for their endeavour – Connor Shea (who in classic kiwi fashion decided to leave it a couple of months before pointing out his name isn’t O’Shea as each of the team-sheets would have you believe) took the ball hard into contact, kept the legs pumping and dragged a couple of Chiswickians? Chisites? Chisonians? or perhaps more appropriately Chi-wi’s as they almost possessed an antipodean parity of numbers. However two more length of the field tries to Chiswick in the 77th and 80th minutes, involving a multitude of questionable passes and drops, were allowed to stand bloating an already unfairly lopsided scoreboard. Overall Chiswick deserved the win on the day and our lack of Saturday playing numbers hurt us again but there were some real positives to take from the encounter as the pack stepped up another gear and were resoundingly dominant in the scrums and lineouts. As soon as we pull together a day when both the backs and forwards both bring their A game we will start posting some big numbers of our own.

A big thanks has to be extended to Kon-ja for taking up room in his pack to bring his boots all the way from NZ while commiserations go to Wixey who after a strong return in his first 40 broke a bone in his hand that will see him join the cripple club in the medium term.

Man of the Match: Rainier Deysel
Dick of the Day: John Sanger
Tries: Rainier Deysel, Connor Shea,
Pens: John Sanger (2)
Cons: John Sanger (1)

Next Week’s Information
In what is a very strange draw we now have 2 bye weekends to follow our 4 away games. This may be a blessing in disguise as it means there may be a number cripple club members fit to make a return for the next game. Training will continue as normal – Wednesday nights, 745 at KHS and a Saturday morning session on the 7th of October will be confirmed via text/whatsapp.