NW Halbro League Cup Final – Penrith U18 Colts v Sandbach U18 Colts

The Senior Colts North West Cup final at Heaton Park, Stockton was the last of four finals, a shield, plate, bowl, and cup. In short, a mini rugby festival showcasing the best of what the North West has to offer.  

Our opponents were formidable in the league beating us both home and away, on both occasions we had depleted squads due to injury or senior rugby commitments. On Sunday we had a full squad of 23 and were quietly confident of a win. From the start, Penrith made good progress up the pitch for an early test of the Sandbach defence, as expected it stood firm. The first ten minutes of the game ebbed and flowed, both teams were assured in the set piece with the heavier Sandbach pack dominating the early scrummages.
We were pressing and moving the ball well, an infringement in a ruck central in the opposition half gave us a kickable penalty, wing, Angus Dixon had the wind behind him and was accurate for the first points. The game remained tight but the next score came from a Sandbach try, A Penrith catch and drive line-out on halfway made initial hard yards but when the ball was spun out wide a knock-on was quickly gathered and then passed out wide to the wing. We had players covering across but the winger's strength in the tackle opened the way to the left corner for an unconverted try.  

From the re-start Penrith, we showed true character in open play. The ball was retained and moved efficiently, first left and then right against a well-drilled blitz defence, although at times off-side. A Sandbach infringement on their 5m line wide left gave our prop Thomas Pantry a chance of a tap and go, it caught most of our players on the hop but not Sandbach. He crashed over the line with three tacklers in tow, the referee could not see a clear grounding so a goal-line drop-out followed next.  

We spent the next fifteen minutes camped in the Sandbach half threatening the try line on several occasions, a notable one from a ruck in open play on the 5m line. Isaac Murrey at fly-half took the ball at first receiver then carried it into contact with a three-player overlap. Three defenders completely wrapped him up for a turnover scrum.

With halftime looming, Penrith conceded a penalty on halfway, it was taken quickly, a tap and go then moved out wide right. The winger was stopped just shy of the line, but support was good with a pick-up and dive over on the short right into the corner.  
At halftime, Penrith trailed 3 – 10 with both tries coming from mistakes and against the run of play.

Sandbach picked up the second half where they left off the first. Straight onto the front foot with the wind to their backs a deft chip and chase then fly-hack on looked like a certain try, but the bobble of the ball beat the player as it went dead. From the resulting scrum, we worked our way back into the opposition half with the forwards recycling the ball well and equally the backs with assured handling. A chance to add three points from a penalty from a central position into a strong wind was another missed opportunity.  

We kept the pressure on and eventually turned it into points. With the blitz defence stepping up very quickly Isaac spun out an intelligent long pass to Andy Conner at outside centre to leave a two-on-one. Having drawn in the last defender the pass went out to Tom Connell on the wing, he ran the touchline and then dived into the corner for an unconverted try. 

Sandbach however scored within minutes of the re-start. A number 8 pick-up from the base of a scrum took him up onto the 10m line. With good support and their pack running good lines off of the rucks, our defence was on the back foot but thwarted numerous crash balls. A wide ball down the back line opened the way for their third and last try of the game.  

From the re-start we dominated in open play, support was always close by and the offloads kept our momentum going forward. The lads dug deep and were determined to make amends. With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Sandbach had a line-out on their 5m and tried to play out. It was our turn for the blitz defence.
We were rewarded with a penalty for no release, Ashton Hook at scrum-half dummied a pass on the loaded right then spun a short ball left. Although the ball carrier was tackled just shy of the line a pick-and-go saw the referee raise his arm for the try. However, the linesman had his flag raised for an earlier infringement at the line-out. A late tackle on the Sandbach scrum half cancelled what would have been a certain seven points to draw level.  

The rest of the game was played out with Penrith searching for a converted try to level the game. They dug deep and never gave up, they had momentum and belief but were up against a formidable defence along with some questionable decisions by the referee. Full time Penrith 8 – 15 Sandbach.  

If a game was won on possession and territory alone then Penrith would have won hands down. We were equal to everything Sandbach had, however, mistakes and missed opportunities were our stumbling blocks. A game won on good strong defence and speed in the counterattack, congratulations to Sandbach.