Match Report – St Andrews Mens 1stXV vs University of Birmingham Mens 1stXV
On the back of a week’s break for reading week, the Saints looked to bounce back from a tough loss against Loughborough 3’s with a fixture up against the University of Birmingham. Spirits were high amongst the Saints fans in what was a very anticipated match under the sun at Uni Park. Wednesday’s opponent, Birmingham University, had previously won 2 out of their three opening games before their fixture against the Saints, with their one loss coming in a narrow defeat to Man Met, so they arrived at Uni Park somewhat full of confidence.
The game kicked off with Birmingham kicking West into the hands of Mark Mckay, who was able to charge his way up past the 22, followed by an exit from Chris Schreuder from which a penalty was awarded for offside, allowing Schreuder to once again use his boot to find the 22, a theme which would follow for the rest of the match. This gave the Saints their first attacking opportunity within the first few minutes as a strong maul by the forward pack led by props David Brown and Liam McLoughlin, who was playing in his first start, made its way up towards the try line. A few strings of play led to a turnover for Birmingham, where they could relieve themselves of the early pressure from the Saints through an exit kick.
However, after a strong carry into the midfield by Andrew Nash, the ball reached the hands of Jamie Thomson, who was able to step his opposite man and make some yards down the right wing, providing some more positive attacking play for the Saints in the early minutes. This early pressure allowed for an offside penalty conceded by Birmingham, giving Schreuder the opportunity for 3 points underneath the posts, which he took with ease. 3-0 Saints.
A knock-on by the West Midlands side whilst in attack made room for the first scrum of the game,where a strong drive by Birmingham helped them to regain their possession. A few phases went by in the midfield, with the Saints defence standing strong until a line break by Birmingham’s fullback and some offload play with the right winger led to the first try of the game for Birmingham. They failed to convert the kick, leaving the score 5-3 to the side in red.
Throughout the game, it was clear from the sidelines that Birmingham was trying to rush up quickly in defence, aiming to apply pressure on the Saints. Within the first 15 minutes, it became obvious that this tactic still needed some sharpening up as the Saints were awarded yet another penalty on the halfway line for Birmingham being offside. A strong maul followed by some big carries from the likes of Joe Van Hoffen and Fergus Cato made way for yet another penalty conceded by Birmingham on the 22, this time for being off of their feet in the ruck. Schreuder was able to convert, taking the scoreline to 6-5.
A scrum close to the Brummies 22 gave Oliver Finlayson-Russell the chance to make a break. Finding a gap between two defenders, he then found himself in no man’s land as with too much space, and so before he knew it, he had tripped himself up with his own feet, much to the delight of his friends in the stands. However, the ball was turned over, and Birmingham was able to exit through a cheap penalty.
Birmingham was unable to make much use of a lot of their possession of the ball during the first half due to a well-set Saints defence. This strong defence helped to force a knock-on by Birmingham in attack, frustrating the team in red. The Saints were able to exit through the boot of Schreuder up to the 22, where a neck roll in the ruck by number 13 put Birmingham down to 14 men for 10 minutes. A kick to the 5-metre line ordered the Saints pack to gather for another maul, which was held up over the line, however more promising signs for the Saints in the attack.
As the first half drew to its conclusion, Birmingham found themselves with the majority of the possession. A ruthless Saints defence was able to withstand this pressure for a long period until, eventually, some space had opened up for Birmingham’s fullback to make his way over the whitewash and score their second try of the game. The conversion was converted, taking the half-time score to 12-6 to the Brummies.
At the halftime break, my first thoughts were that the Saints were able to hold off the majority of Birmingham’s attacking play very well, however, when it got to the later phases, we began to tire, cracks began to open up, and Birmingham were able to take advantage of that. In addition, although we had shown some exciting play in attack, we were just missing that finishing product to get our first try of the game. That being said, I was very optimistic for the second half.
The beginning of the second half saw the introduction of Ollie Bloore, a fresher who was making his debut for the Saints. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the English scrum half, so all eyes were on him.
With the Saints on the hunt to get their first try of thegame, they found themselves deep within Birminhgham’s half with a lineout. Caught by Fitzhenry and then fed down to the hands of Cato, the Saints were able to drive themselves within 10 metres of the try line, where Bloore demanded the ball and shipped it onto MacRae, where two members of the Birmingham defence bring him down. Now 5 metres out, the ball is given to the hands of the forwards to try and force themselves over the line with forceful carries by Mark McKay and David Brown edging the Saints ever so closer until eventually Schreuder is fed the ball and can drive his way over the try line through two defenders, gaining the Saints their first try of the game. Schreuder was unable to convert, taking the scoreline to 12-11 Birmingham.
Once again, the forwards combined for another scrum in the midfield from a forward pass in what had been a very even battle between the two packs. Bloore took the ball off of the hands of OFR, where he picked his spot in between the standoff and the scrum to make a very promising break where some dazzling feet and quick acceleration found him 10 metres short. He popped the ball into the grasp of Mark McKay and then into the hands of Van Hoffen, where he thinks he made his way over the try line to score however, the ref deemed it as held up.
From the try line exit, the ball was worked superbly through the hands of the forwards trying to tire down the Birmingham defence, until eventually space opened up on the left for Mark Mckay, who carried extremely well throughout the game both off of restarts and open play, to charge into. A stunning offload from McKay into the hands of MacRae, then some silky hands from MacRae to James Murray, where his eyes lit up, and he charged down the left wing to score the Saints second try of the game. It was a great team try from the Saints, featuring some fantastic link-up play. Schreuder made a beautiful kick to bring the scoreline to 18-12 to the Saints.
A yellow card was awarded to Joe Van Hoffen after a deliberate knock-on inside the Saints 22. Birmingham was looking to make use of this man advantage with lots of possession of the ball during the final 20 minutes. From a ruck on the left-hand side of the pitch, Birmingham made use of their man advantage by shipping the ball out to the wing, where number 14 combined with number 22 to give the Midlands side another try. Birmingham’s number 13 was left with a very tough kick from the corner however he converted it very impressively, taking the score to 19-18 to Birmingham.
The Saints had 5 minutes to try and rescue something from this game, so the crowd upped their noise in support of the team. The Saints were awarded a penalty on the halfway line thanks to a great jackal by Mark McKay. Lots of pressure was put onto the shoulders of Schreuder to put the kick close to the 5-metre line to give the best chance for a maul try, which he did exceptionally well, leaving the forwards with a lineout in between the five and the 22. Fed in by Cato and taken in by Fitzhenry once again, the forwards looked to drive towards the try line in what would be a phenomenal last-minute try. However, they were stopped in their tracks by a great counter-maul from Birmingham. Bloore took the ball off of the pack, brushed past one defender and picked his spot through the Brummies defence to score a last-minute winning try for the Saints. An outstanding try by an outstanding young prospect for the Saints, he is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future. Schreuder slots it between the sticks to bring the full-time score to 25-19 for the Saints.
It feels amazing to be on the winning side of a very narrow game following the late loss to Man Met a few weeks back. Hats off to Birmingham, who put up a great fight and just came up short, and good luck to them for the rest of the season. That being said, this result will help bring a world of confidence for the Saints moving onto Newcastle 2s next week.
Chris Schreuder was awarded MOTM for a fabulous performance with his boot, helping the Saints to march up the pitch as well as converting when necessary.
Full-time score: 25-19