Sports Report 9 October 17

Despite a couple of big losses, our boys hold their heads high and accepted (temporary) defeat with dignity. However, with outstanding results from the 1st and 2nd XV, Shiplake has also seen some enormous wins. A mixed bag of results against Halliford School means only one thing for our boys: train hard and reap the rewards!

1^st XV vs Halliford School:

Early on Shiplake’s forwards swarmed Halliford’s 1^st XV with heavy tackles from Coates and Stacey. The Shiplake boys soon found themselves in their own 22 but the quick line speed from the backs forced Halliford to knock the ball on. Our boys then cleared their lines and retained the ball after a counter ruck that allowed them to go through their phases resulting in a break from Ben Stacey who finished a well-earned try. Halliford soon replied, putting our boys under pressure, but not for long as they soon lost control of the match. Not long after, Booth busted through multiple tackles from 30 metres to go on to finish the half with a try. 19-0 at half time.

After receiving the kick off the Shiplake boys created enough space for Fitzgerald to run down the blind side and score in the corner. Our boys scored again after quick hands and an audacious offload from Ashcroft, allowing Booth to stroll over the line for his second try of the evening. Smyth used his fancy footwork to get on the outside of his opposite man, adding yet another try to his record. However, Halliford soon had a surge of energy putting Shiplake on the back foot, but our defence stayed strong and reclaimed the ball. This allowed Casper Wise to make a quick snipe around the ruck to score a well-deserved try. The final score was 52-0.

2^nd XV vs Halliford School:

The first 15 minutes was an even contest with Halliford going through the phases and testing the Shiplake defence. However, after withstanding the early pressure Shiplake scored with flanker Ollie Heap going over from close range for the score. Heap soon added a second on the stroke of half time to make it 12-0 to Shiplake.

The second half started well with Shiplake pressing the Halliford line with Jack Rees powering over in the corner after some excellent work from Oscar Rait and Joe Christie. Joe Kerrison added his second conversion. As fitness faded, Shiplake ran away with the game as Heap added two more scores to take his tally to four and further tries from fly half Lewis Bishop and substitute Christie. Joe Kerrison slotted six conversions to leave the score Shiplake 54 – Halliford 0. 

3^rd XV vs Gordon’s School:

The 3^rd XV faced Gordons’ senior squad on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, injuries and absences meant there were only 13 Shiplake boys on the pitch, but the opposition helped out with the loan of two players. Physically a bigger team, Gordons’ did dominate the game, but when we had possession we displayed some good running rugby and importantly played to the final whistle with good spirit and determination. Sadly, at the final whistle the score was 0-53. But we’ll be ready for them next time.

U14Cs vs Merchant Taylor:

The opening 10 minutes from Shiplake was outstanding, with the U14Cs defending like never before. The boys doubled up on the tackles, some of which from Tom Petrie, Zach Devine and Tom Ratiu were enormous and prevented Merchant Taylors from scoring. With ball in hand, it looked promising towards the end of the first half and Merchant Taylors managed to hold us up in the tackle.

Our boys stepped up a gear in the second half with bursting runs from Will Taylor, Tom Ratiu, Alex Long, Tom Petrie and Hal Booth. Some clever play with the forwards and backs saw Tom Ratiu score his first of a well-deserved brace of tries. With Shiplake up 12-0 the impressive Hal Booth took on four Merchant Taylors boys from 5 yards out to power over the line. Greg Dowden, controlling the backs, saw Shiplake almost score again. A conceded try at the end of the game brought the score to 17-5. Man of the match was Tom Ratiu with two tries and an outstanding cover tackle; but all boys played amazingly well!

U16B vs Pangbourne College:

The hosts had the ball for the majority of the first half but made errors, some simple and some forced, which allowed Shiplake to build in confidence. Every time Shiplake had the ball the boys looked dangerous but handling errors of our own let us down. How Shiplake did not score is still beyond the coaching team. A three try deficit at half time was not bad considering the 90/10 possession stats. Shiplake started the second half positively, nearly scoring through Patrick Kenny but Pangbourne ended the game the more confident team and with confidence came strong running and more points. Men of the match were Jack Powell and Jack Underwood for some heroic defending. The final score was 0-26.