Match Report – St Andrews Mens 1stXV vs University of Newcastle 2ndXV
On Wednesday the 1st XV travelled down to Newcastle looking to build on the momentum from their thrilling victory at the death against Birmingham. They faced a strong Newcastle 2ndXV who sat alongside the Saints in the middle of the table. There were a couple of changes from the side that faced Birmingham. Callum Fitzhenry came into the second row to replace the injured John Paterson. Andrew Daly started in the centres alongside Angus Mather, with David Macrae moved to fullback. Campbell Swanson, back from international duty with Switzerland returned to his starting spot at scrum half.
The Saints got off to a shaky start, conceding two early penalties that gave Newcastle great attacking opportunities. Fortunately the scramble defence was excellent when Newcastle looked to play wide, forcing handling errors by Newcastle. Campbell Swanson was back to his electric self, taking a tap-and-go from the Saints first penalty and darting through the retreating Newcastle defence with those dazzling feet before being brought down outside the 22. From there the Saints shipped the ball wide, with Macrae making a line break before sending a lovely miss pass out to winger James Murray, who beat his man and scored in the corner. Schreuder converted the difficult kick to give St Andrews a 7-0 lead.
Again off the restart, the Saints lost possession and in the defensive set that followed winger Jamie Thomson injured his shoulder, leaving the Saints a man down. Alarm bells were ringing when Newcastle burst through the line into the depleted backfield, but the referee called it back for obstruction. Schreuder kicked the ball to the 22 and the Saints set up a maul which made good headway before the forwards began to batter at the Newcastle defensive line with impressive physicality. However, the stout defence led to a penalty at the ruck, allowing for Newcastle to exit.
It was St Andrews who would score next. Jamie Thomson was back on and immediately into the action, coming round the corner off a scrum to truck it up the number 10 channel before fellow fresher Oliver Finlayson-Russell grabbed the ball and buffeted his way through the retreating defence up to the Newcastle 5. This freshers’ move is a key weapon of the Saints attack and always seems to make yards. From there the forwards went back to their pick and go game, with Joe Van Hoffen powering his way over after a couple of phases. Schreuder made no mistake. 14-0 to St Andrews.
Newcastle then clicked into life, taking the ball from halfway up to the 22 with some excellent attack. Eventually they managed to beat a Saints defensive blitz that left a gap out wide, the ball finding their winger in space who beat the scrambling defenders before offloading to a trailing forward who scored. This was proof that Newcastle were a dangerous side if the Saints did not remain tactically disciplined. With the score at 14-7, Jamie Thomson went off for good this time, with Andrew Nash taking his spot on the wing. Hopefully his shoulder is healed in time for Scotland u20s camp which begins next week.
The Saints next try came after Van Hoffen stole the Newcastle line out on their own 22, giving the Saints a brilliant platform from which to attack, and they made no mistake. In classic Saints rugby fashion, the forwards consistently made dents in the Newcastle defence, pushing them back, before Swanson found a sweeping Schreuder who floated it across to Murray on the wing. Murray cut inside before offloading neatly to Angus Mather who scored in the corner. A rare miss off the tee from Schreuder left the score 19-7.
Perhaps the best try scored all day was this next one. It began with some excellent defensive pressure from Andrew Daly in the midfield forced a Newcastle knock on. After having given the Saints the platform, it was Daly who orchestrated the try. Off the scrum he took the ball hard to the line before fizzing a beautiful bullet of a pass across Mather to the charging Macrae, who scythed through the defence untouched and scored from the outside the 22. Schreuder made no mistake this time, giving St Andrews had a commanding 26-7 lead.
Unfortunately the rest of the half saw a slew of injuries for the Saints. Finlyason-Russell sustained a back injury (another Saint fresher who was invited to the Scotland under 20s camp) and was replaced by Josh Mauritzen. An injury to Mather meant Murray slotted into outside centre, Swanson was moved out the wing, and Ollie Bloore came on at 9. This reshuffle unsettled the Saints on both sides of the ball. Newcastle began to build some momentum creating some promising breaks that were snuffed out by desperate scramble defence, making a couple trips into the Saints 22 before turning the ball over. St Andrews managed to weather this storm without conceding, the defence looking akin to the suffocating, match winning force it was against Edinburgh. The Saints resilience was rewarded on the stroke of half time, with Andrew Daly scoring off the back of a maul…yes you did read that right…Ferg Cato reckons Daly robbed him of a try, but I’m told there is no bad blood! Schreuder missed the touchline conversion and the score was 31-7.
At the half, Will Wright replaced Liam McLoughlin in the front row.
Much like when he entered the game last week, freshman Ollie Bloore wasted no time in making an impact, following a Newcastle scrum play across the pitch like a heat seeking missile before flattening their winger. Off the subsequent Newcastle exit, St Andrews nearly scored when Macrae burst down the left wing and offloaded to Van Hoffen who gave it to Bloore with a clear run to the line, however, the referee judged Macrae’s pass to have gone forward, and the chance was stopped.
Despite the quality Saints defence, Newcastle were relentless, adding another score after some excellent phase play took them into the rezone, were eventually their forwards were able to drive over the line. With the conversion, that now left the score at 30-14. At a time where momentum could have led to Newcastle further cutting into the Saints lead, the Saints were excellent at controlling the game. Van Hoffen was immense in the line outs, preventing Newcastle from properly launching their attack. First year Ruari Mavin came on for Cato, getting into the action early with a great charge down and some impressive work-rate in defence.
The Saints line out was very reliable throughout the game. A line out on the 5 that was defended well by Newcastle was stopped short of the line, but slick handling from a reconfigured Saints backline sent Nash over to score in the opposite corner. Schreuder converted and the score was now 38-14.
Despite the efforts of Newcastle, the Saints would get the last word in this contest. Ollie Bloore once again read the Newcastle scrum play, trailing their fly half who pulled the ball back expecting to find his fullback, but instead found the hands of Bloore, giving Saints the ball in Newcastle’s 22. After some dominant carries from the Saints pack, Bloore scored his second try in two matches, diving over the line from close range. Schreuder added the extra points and really put the game out of Necastle’s reach: 45-14.
Credit to Newcastle, they fought hard in the last 5 minutes of the game, but couldn’t crack the swarming Saints defence. The game finished 45-14: a scoreline that reflected a strong St Andrews performance on both sides of the ball. Joe Van Hoffen was awarded Man of the Match: his disruption of the Newcastle line out was crucial in preventing them from capitalising on and good field position they had. Additionally, in the absence of one of the Saints best ball carriers (John Patterson), Van Hoffen noticeably stepped up and was dominant whenever he took the ball into contact.
As a team, this was an excellent performance considering the disruption that the various injuries caused. The bench was very solid, each player coming on and fitting into the game seamlessly. This enabled St Andrews to keep playing to their game plan, and helped them to control the game when in the past they have built a lead but then let the opposition back into the game. As ever, the game wasn’t perfect: the Saints had plenty of trips into the Newcastle 22 that didn’t result in points, and if St Andrews manage to increase their red zone efficiency, this team will become even more dangerous. Nonetheless, it is exciting to see how quickly this team is learning and developing, let us hope this trend continues throughout the year.