Writtle Wanderers RUFC

Writtle Wanderers RUFC
(Founded 2002)

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Writtle Wanderers 1st XV v Millwall II
(BL Merit Table - Div 3)
by Scott Taylor

Scorers:
Tries: Janes 3, Clark 2, Bull 2, Tey, Iles
Convs: Bull 4, Clackson 2
Man of the Match: Robin Wallbank

In the first full game of the season the Wanderers displayed the depth of players and all round talent that should see them in good form for the long season ahead.

The electrifying back line was sparked into life by fist Clackson and then the star find, Masuda. Clackson in his first game for 12 months looked strong and skilful for the first half hour. His knee reconstruction has obviously galvanised him. Sadly he was robbed of further glory by a tweaked hamstring on the stroke of 30 minutes. Step up Takka Masuda the diminutive maestro of the backline who played superbly on his debut.

Millwall looked the stronger side going into the contest with some giants rumbling around the park. The hosts fielded an out and out pace side who ably displayed the benefits of 8 weeks pre season training. The forwards looked strong and agile, despite being supplemented by Mark Harding, in for the injured Edwards. Wallbank had another excellent game and seems hungrier for the ball than ever. Rantell also impressed on his debut and Blunt was a welcome return to the back row.

The backs were sublime and with Cronin and his two fly halves working together it was only a matter of time before the Millwall defence broke. 10 Minutes in and break it did. Millwall simply couldn't live with the pace of the back 3 and Clarke broke away having taken the ball in midfield for a score under the posts. Millwall came back from this shock and, while they looked wobbly for a few minutes, they managed to hold their game together despite a series of difficult injuries which saw first Donal Staunton and then Calvin and Ben Szyczak take the field in Black and Red. Congratulations to those three who impressed nonetheless and selflessly stepped into the opposing backline.

Soon after though the floodgates started to give. Iles picked up in midfield and cruised in for a solo effort. which Clackson converted soon before leaving the field injured.

Somewhere in this melee Janes managed to pick up three tries but such was the excitement and flow of the game that it's difficult to pin down when and where they went over. What is clear is that he had a fantastic game and worked beautifully off Masuda's short side, the two formed a useful partnership almost immediately.

Tey was outstanding in the loose and happy to function as a roaming support player. At the breakdown he is happy to step up and be counted and in doing so secures ever more recycled ball with which to feed his fellow backs. This keenness also leads to scores and he was happy to open his account for the season with another under the posts number.

Harding showed that his skills remain intact. He ghosted though the Millwall midfield with his trademark inside dummy, read superbly by the referee, Mark Rawlinson. Sadly no one was supporting the battleship as it cruised through midfield and the inevitable pass went ahead of the chasing Masuda, a certain score squandered.

Iles and Bull, at Wing and Fullback, functioned well with Bull calling the shots from the rear and adding a brace of lovely scores into the bargain. The back three do pose a devastating threat and this with Ben Messo out for the week and Calvin still to start his first full game. The Wanderers are truly spoilt for choice behind the scrum, a position which any side would be happy to find themselves in.

What is needed though are more tight forwards. Props and locks need look no further - apply now to the fastest, and fastest growing side in the county!

Colchester IV v Writtle Wanderers 1st XV
(BL Merit Table - Div 3)
by Dave Rowan

Scorers:
Tries: Theobald, Clarke 3, Tey
Convs: Battye 3
Pen: Battye
Man of the Match: Seb Slaughter

On a bright, clear afternoon conditions were ideally suited for the style of rugby the visiting Tangerines normally dream of! The youthful Wanderers ran out eventual winners against a hard tackling, motivated Colchester.

The home side started very well, with quick ball from a scrum in the Wanderers' 22 seeing their pack drive over to score. The try was converted to make it 7-0 after only 2 mins. The mighty Tangerines broke away several times in the first quarter, but a combination of poor finishing and quality defence kept the rampant Wanderers' backs from grounding the ball. After 15 minutes, good lineout work from Colchester gave them a second try as their forwards went over in the right hand corner. Colchester's influential fly-half slotted over the touchline conversion making it 14-0.

After 20 mins a knock-on gave Colchester a scrum in front of the posts, with options either way. The No.10 threw the dummy and broke through some poor covering tackles to score under the posts, making the conversion a formality. This third try provoked a better response from the Tangerine "Day-Dreamers", as they broke up field. Camped in the Colchester 22, things finally came together when a lineout steal by Seb Slaughter gave possession to the Wanderers' backs. This time they made no mistake getting over the gain line and a ruck formed near the Colchester try line. The defence covered the attacking backs, creating a gap exploited by erstwhile prop, Neil "Lego" Theobald, who crashed over from 5 meters out.

Half time came with the score 21-5 to Colchester, but now the Wanderers had an opportunity to re-group. A few tactical re-arrangements proved to be the turning point of the match, with Dick Battye slipping back to No.10 from inside centre, Mike Brown moving to outside centre and Ben Messo coming onto the left wing. Gerry Cronin replaced Ben Szyczak at scrum-half, Martyn Howarth came into lock with Darren Blunt moving to No.8 and Slaughter to blindside flank. Ten minutes into the half, Gary Hall replaced Warren Edwards at openside.

With the home side tiring, this was the time to nail home the advantage. Tim Janes and Battye led the defensive effort that had been missing in the first half, stopping the Colchester breaks every time they threatened. Good inter-passing between winger, Steve Clarke and Janes enabled the elusive Clarke to grab a second half hat-trick. His first, a clean break up the middle, was converted by Battye bringing things back to 21-12. The second practically duplicated the first on the right side, but Battye was unable to add the two points, leaving the score at 21-17.

The Wanderers finally took the lead with Tey's try, which followed a good clearance kick from Battye. The kick and chase option fooled the Colchester full-back and Tey was able to get the touch down. Battye converted to take the score to 21--24. A Battye penalty mid-way through the second half, following a rarely punished Colchester offside, increased the lead to 6 points.

As the home side pushed for a comeback score, their forwards tired all the more. The Wanderers' forwards were able to steal the initiative, pushing Colchester back at every scrum. Slaughter continued his fine game by stealing far more than his fair share of Colchester lineout ball and it was only a matter of time before the away side scored again. The baying support on the sideline were not let down when Clarke completed his hat-trick, Battye slotting the conversion to bring the scoring to a conclusion at 21-34.

The final minutes saw Colchester rallying and it was only stout defence from Janes and Battye that prevented Colchester from closing the gap. If the first half performance had been anything like the second, the game would have been out of reach well before half-time. All in all, a solid performance, with the backs outstanding in attack.

Scorers:
Tries: Janes, Clark, Wallbank
Convs: Clark 2
Pen: Clark
Man of the Match: Robin Wallbank

The mighty Tangerine Machine rattled down the A12 for Saturday's encounter with a strong Ravens outfit, high on the back of their Essex 3 promotion last season. The men in black looked a formidable outfit in the warm up and those suspicions were confirmed with a very strong show from the kick off.

The Ravens Left Wing established himself as a danger man early on with a series of powerful runs and crunching contacts which belied his tender years. The visitors soon found themselves pinned in their own 22 with nowhere to run. The score came within 10 minutes of the start with a surging burst by the Ravens' back line, leaving the gap open between the posts for and easy score and straightforward conversion.

The gutsy Wanderers replied with salvo after salvo from the boot of Masuda but the pacey backline looked out of sorts on this blisteringly hot day. It was the forwards who carried the game for the early stages. Despite the aggressive Ravens outfit looking to mix up the pack, the Orange men stood firm and absorbed the brickbats with traditional stoicism. The towering Blunt, Slaughter and Wilkins performed well in the lineout snatching ball after ball from the black throw. All credit goes to the tight forwards who performed exceptionally with Captain Richards taking ball against the feed in a majority of scrums whilst securing his own put in to engage the likes of Kenny G and Thompson, supporting in the back row.

Despite the forwards putting in the hard work up front it was the backs who stood to win this game. Fitness and will showed as the heat was turned up in the mid afternoon sun. Surely something had to give and with players wilting like week old celery, Janes gathered from Masuda and in a brave solo effort slotted the ball through, supported his own kick and scythed in for the score.

This should have been the watershed but there was a strange inability to ignite the back line, despite the pace of Clark, Messo, Iles and Havill. Handling errors ruled the day and strong tackling from the Black flood barrier held the visitors to a single penalty, Clark again, to take a 1 point lead into the break.

Some encouragement at half time and a few choice comments from Richards renewed the Wanderer's vigour and they came out battling in the second half. Richards was more than useful with the boot and a steely self-belief seemed to have attached to the Wanderers. Despite playing better, and unusually for the lineout battle, the Ravens took a line 5 meters out and barrelled over for the score, converted again by the useful scrum half who had a solid game taking the score to 14-8

It was the visitor's turn to move up the pressure now. A series of short surges from the big lads up front took the ball first left, then cross field. The ball was fed back by the perennial Horne, out positioned but skilful at scrum half, with Masuda laying off a wizard's inside flick to Clark who raced through the Ravens' defence like a hot knife through cheap margarine. He converted his own score well, taking the lead by the narrowest of margins. At 14-15 the crowd was set for a blistering last half hour.

The fireworks never came though. With the ball held up in midfield, and the Wanderers intent on out-defending their opponents, it took the last touch of the game for Messo to turn on the afterburners. He came looking for Clark who supported excellently. Just as the move must surely break down 5 metres out, up popped the ever present Wallbank, never more than a few feet from the ball. He took a few steps to get up to full cruising speed and took the ball, along with 2 Ravens, over the line to clinch the win. Clark converted again to tie the game up at 15-22.

With another Essex Div 2 scalp under their belt, the Writtle Wanderers can look forward to a more competitive year. Surely players must be attracted to such an open club with such great prospects and with many old guard to return from injury this team is starting to look quite formidable. Surely it is only a matter of time before the Tangerines become a force to be reckoned with in the area.

Old Cooperians 1 v Writtle Wanderers 1st XV
(Essex 3 Shadow Fixture)
by Jon Horne
(the self-proclaimed "Voice of Rugby")

Scorers:
Tries: Rantell, Janes
Convs: Clark 2
Pens: Clark 2
Man of the Match: Chris Sullivan

The dictionary definition of a cooper is a keg or cask maker and by the end of this enthralling match the Mandarin Marauders certainly had these former pupils over a barrel!

The game began with some early exchanges between the forward units. Theobald became the first casualty on a day which saw several players make visits to the blood bin. Unfortunately, for this whole hearted player, the Wanderers' medical staff were unable to staunch the flow of vin rouge and Hall made an early appearance as substitute, coming on as wing forward with Wallbank reverting to his accustomed position in the front row.

Scoring began early, with a Clark penalty ten minutes into the game punishing a late tackle on the Wanderers number ten.

From this point the first half was dominated by defence, which stifled the attacking flair on offer. Kicking and line out play were to play a major role during this facet of the game. To be fair, the home sides' well drilled operation gave the black and tangerine visitors more than a few problems with lineout throwing a particular area for concern.

Two incidents stood out as the half drew to a close. Iles, at fullback, gave what can only be described as a red cross parcel to Taka, in the form of an horrendous hospital pass. Howarth was to blame for the second incident which saw him cleaning out an opposition player in illegal fashion. This gave the visitors an easy three points to level the score three all. The matter did not end there with the over committed Clementine Colossus seeing yellow for the first time in what was till then an unblemished rugby career.

Although down to fourteen men for the first eight minutes of the second half, the Wanderers began in a more organised fashion. The line out began to bear fruit with Rantell at the front of the line securing possession from both his own and opposition throw-ins. This quality of possession soon led to relentless pressure. On more than one occasion it seemed the visitors had crossed only to be denied by a knock on or stoic defence from the home sides back row.

Thompson, playing now at stand off, was sure he had scored, only for the referee to adjudge a handling error and call a 5 metre scrum instead. This, however, was a temporary setback. Formidable pressure at the scrum led to Richards stealing the put in and Rantell at 8 was able to career over the line to score the first try of the game. A wonderful reward for this talented and combative back row dynamo. Clark converted to make the score 10 – 3 to the Writtle Nomads.

Cooperians restarted the game with a small mountain to climb if they were to make inroads into the Wanderers' defence. This, however, turned into a peak of Everest proportions within seconds of the ball arriving back in play. Fielded by the orange pack and through an interchange involving Messo at his lively best, the ball landed in the hands of Tim Janes in centre field. A point blank assault began close to his 22 metre line. Scything his way through the opposition back row he found himself in space with only a disorganised and disjointed back line to beat. A deft chip and expert collection saw this Tangerine Tornado terminate any hope for a Cooperians' revival. Clark converted again to make the score 17 – 3.

From this point to the final whistle the Wanderers' tight forwards took almost total control of the game. Dawson was immense in the front row, scrummaging against his opponent as if he were squeezing the pips from a juicy satsuma. Wallbank again, was dynamic in the loose tearing into the opposition with ferocious tackling and savage ripping. The man of the match award recipient was also one of the majestic tight forwards. Sullivan the giant lock forward was a rock under the high balls and his all round ball retention and presentation took the heat off the black and tangerines during key passages of play. With this kind of robust play, pressure inevitably turned into points with Clark again on target to make the final score 20 – 3.

With the first Essex III shadow league fixture under their belts the Writtle Wanderers look forward to the visit of Witham next week and will be trying to keep this early season form which sees them unbeaten going into October.