4 Jul 2010

The Twos went down to Norrköping expecting to be challenged up front, but hoping to be able to use their experienced backs to come away with a win. In a tough, clean and exciting game that was pretty much what happened. The Twos won 34 - 14 after leading 17 - 7 at halftime.

Starting with a complete homegrown front row, where Tommy Gunnarsson and Nils Edström made comebacks after quite some time away from rugby, the Twos held their own in the scrums, although always under pressure from a strong Trojan pack. After two front row injuries the last 15 minutes had to go to uncontested scrums. The tall Trojan team also put Exiles under pressure in the lineouts, but a number of clean lineouts were won by Hamish and Jerome by means of variation and movement in the line.

Trojan outplayed Exiles in the rucks, counterrucking very well and stealing a lot of ball. Their best player was Sami Paulsson, who personally stole 3 - 4 balls from tackles/rucks and looked dangerous with ball in hand. In addition the Trojan center who scored their first try (unfortunately dont have the name) had a number of fine attacking runs and together with Sami tackled well all day against a strong Exiles II backline.

The Twos backs with Steve B, Steve M and new boy Will Arnott were the difference between the teams, looking perpetually dangerous throughout the game. Will gets the nod as man of the match.

Steve M scored the first try from a clean lineout ball, no conversion. Trojan struck back immediately and kicked the conversion. After a long break by Will, he wiggled over and the Twos retook the lead. Just before halftime Steve M chased a high kick, recovered the ball, slipped it to Steve B who aired it to Mauri S, who again scored against his former team. Viktor P, an Exiles U17, slotted the conversion shortly after entering the game. Halftime 17 - 7 to the visitors.

In the second half the game continued to be close, but after a tap penalty and a quick ruck, Anders Jansson crashed over the line. A few minutes later Anders showed great footballing skills to toe the ball over the line and dive on it to get the score. Trojan refused to lie down and broke away to score another converted try. However, the last word came from the smallest man on the field, Viktor P, got over in the corner for a fine try. He also had a second conversion in the second half, unclear which try this was, the heat made recollection difficult...Final score 34 - 14. Game excellently controlled by Ian Caples, with decisions communicated clearly and fairly.

The Twos have got a nucleus of old boys (>35) with extensive first team experience that are playing almost every game and which are helping to phase new youngsters into the fold. Playing tough, competive games in Division I has been the perfect solution for the Twos and they certainly are holding their own in a very exciting and competitive league. The first loss to Vänersborg was close and an additional five minutes could have changed the outcome. The loss to Södertälje was closer than the final score indicated, but a late surge by the Twos was snuffed out by a young, mobile Södertälje team. Two draws with Uppsala and Attila were now followed by a win on the road. With one game in hand the Twos are back in the hunt of league leading Attila. Obviously the Twos are not eligible for promotion unless they sever ties with the club, but they can still contest the league title as such. Please see an excellent summary of the remaining games on the Attila website.

Author: HMa