Rugby: Renegades, Teachers & Mariners Win
Game 1: Renegades 23 vs 13 Police.
The first match of the day saw Renegades taking on the Police. Although the boys in blue were missing a few regulars, the Renegades knew this would be no easy match. The game started at a frantic pace, with the early action moving end to end. Police would take an early lead through a Mike Kane penalty following a Renegade infringement. Shortly after Kane would be narrowly off target with another penalty attempt. As the first half wore on the Renegades came more into the game, and following a break by current Bermuda Male Sports Personality of the Year Tom Healy from a centre field scrum, excellently supported by Henderson, Dunkerley, McGlynn and Gibson, the Renegades were stopped just short of the line. However following a couple more phases, a Healy cross field kick was eventually gathered by Curly who dotted down for the games opening try. McGuiness would be unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.
The remainder of the first half would see Renegades take control of the match with two quick fire tries, both scored by Healy, with one coming straight from a Police kick off and winger-like break from fleet footed prop Paul “brief case” Dobinson. Henderson would add a conversion to give the Renegades a 17-3 half time lead.
The second half started much like the first with Police exerting the early pressure. Failure to gather the kick off by Renegades allowed the Police to move the ball wide to their electric full-back who went untouched from the 22 to score out wide. The coppers would be unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.
The next score of the game would prove to be crucial and it came from the Police, in an almost identical fashion to their earlier score. The Police full back came into the line out wide and poor defence by the Renegades in the outside channels allowed him to dot down out wide left. Again the conversion attempt would be unsuccessful.
With the game balanced at 17-13 in favour of the black and whites Healy and Henderson began exerting their experience on proceedings, ensure the Renegades were playing in the right areas of the field. A Police infringement at a ruck allowed Henderson to add 3 points making it a 20-13 ball game going into the final minutes. Then with 2 minutes to go Henderson knocked over a dead eye drop goal to wrap up the game and deny the Police a losing bonus point.
Final score: Renegades 23 vs 13 Police. This was a thoroughly entertaining game, with the action moving end-to-end. No doubt the Police suffered with some players unavailable but credit should be given to Renegades who took their opportunities and were well marshalled by Healy and Henderson all afternoon.
Game 2: Mariners 6 vs 8 Teachers.
Game 2 saw the Presidents Cup at stake as Teachers the reigning league champions took on Mariners, winners of the cup competition.
In a closely fought battle where point scoring opportunities were at a premium, it was the league champions who were first on the scoreboard as Greg Fraser converted a penalty in front of the posts after a Mariners infringement.
Dave Porter then pushed the league champions further ahead when with Mariners looking likely to score, he intercepted a loose pass and ran through to collect his own chip and dive over in the corner.
Mariners got themselves on the scoreboard just before the break when Teachers conceded a penalty on the edge of there 22 and Andy Boyce converted to make the score 8-3 as the sides turned around.
The second half continued in the same vein with Mariners spending the vast majority of it in Teachers half, helped considerably by continued infractions which saw them dominate the penalty count. However some excellent Teachers defense prevented Mariners from adding to the score .
Their pressure finally told as a second penalty from Boyce made the score 8-6 and ensured a tense last 10 minutes for both players and supporters alike.
Teachers attempted to stretch their lead but failed with 2 drop goal attempts, which meant Boyce could have given Mariners the victory with a third kickable penalty, but despite some encouraging pre-kick advice from the knowledgeable Dusty Archibald, unfortunately for him and Mariners the kick drifted left of the posts and Teachers were able to see out the remainder of the match to collect the victory.
Female: Renegades 7 vs 2 Police.
Renegades started brightly in this game with two quick tries from Carolyn Bambford (her first ever try – and some celebration too!) and Karen Peckett. Mika Tomita pulled one back for the Police following an offside ruling against the Renegades. After some quick thinking, she took the quick tap and darted over. Melissa Field would add another for the black & whites before the break. The second half was dominated by the Renegades, with Laura Haynes adding a double and Melissa Field adding a further two scores to complete her hat-trick.
Female: Mariners 4 vs 1 Teachers.
Teachers try was scored after a sweet switch initiated by Sarah ‘Bruiser’ McHugh-Wheddon to Helen McHugh in the right hand corner. Holes in defence allowed Mariners to slip through. Mariners scored 4 tries, with a double from Gina Newson, and one each from Amanda Swan and Vanessa “the poet” Toet. Teachers were hindered by having two rookies as subs and several experienced players unable to play, but they continue to show improvement under guidance of new coach.
The BRFU would like to thank Bermuda Sports Network for their coverage of the games. Highlights can be seen on the BSN channel 82. Next weeks action sees Teachers take on Renegades at 2pm followed by Police vs Mariners at 3:30pm. The ladies games kick off at 1pm mirroring the mens fixtures. Anyone wishing to find out more about rugby, or to get involved, please contact Ian Henderson at ichenderson15@gmail.com.
(Written by Ian Henderson)
