Shipston’s first game of the season saw a much changed squad from last season with a number of players choosing to step away and some injuries and unavailability. This season is going to be a tough one but nothing that a committed squad can’t cope with.

We travelled over to Newbold on Avon for the first game in the 2018-19 Warwickshire Cup. The pouring rain of the early morning soon cleared, and the sun came out to shine on a great morning’s rugby.

From the first whistle Shippo put Newbold under pressure. A good catch and drive move from a line out just outside the Newbold 22 gave Devon the chance to smash through a line and set up great passing move along the back line ending with George V touching down for the first try, George H converting. The restart resulted in Shippo gaining possession and a nice kick through from Henry bounced up and George V plucked the ball out of the air to run unopposed under the posts again George H converting. At this point George V came off the bring up his breakfast and on came Sam and with more good ball handling the first thing Sam did was collect the ball and show everyone he’s not lost any pace this year and scored another try. The great running rugby of last year was now in full force with good aggression levels from a new look pack not giving Newbold much chance to attack. More good scrummaging freed the back line to run again and now it was Alistair’s turn to score a try, a superb conversion from out wide by George H made the score 0-26.

Harrison is a natural at flanker and Alex in the 2nd row looks as if he has played there all his life. Yet another flowing move ended with George H wrong footing the Newbold defence with a sublime dummy enabling him to touch down under the posts and again convert it. More powerhouse forward work gave Max the chance to chance to break through and offload to Sam who was tackled just short of the line but managing to keep the ball alive and Zak swooped in and spun over the line to score 5m in from touch, again no problem for George H to convert, the score now 0-40. To their credit Newbold put Shippo under real pressure and spend the next 5 minutes camped 5m from the Shippo try line; but to a man the defensive effort by all was outstanding and Shipston wouldn’t budge. Newbold pushed hard only to be rewarded with a great interception by Henry 5m from his own try line, he then ran the length of the pitch to score a try, with an easy conversion the half time score was 0-47.

Half time entertainment was had in the stands from Lou Dews examining the new medical bag and asking “what does D stand for, oh A, B, C, D”; you had to be there and luckily Sean, Pete and myself were…:)

The referee came over and stated he was going to be very strict on Shippo for the remainder of the game and consequently the 2nd half did not flow quite the same as the first. The boys stuck to their task and more good forward work soon had the ball out to the backs and again George H broke down the line to score 0-52. At this point the game was won, the 50 point advantage giving Shippo their first win in the cup pool.

From the restart good work by Archie on the floor gave Shippo more ball but now we were beginning to get on the wrong side of the referee. Newbold exerted some pressure and a succession of penalties saw Will get a yellow card. The extra man proved crucial and Newbold got the ball down over the line, a successful conversion made the score 7-52. The annoyance the boys had at conceding a try gave the lads extra motivation and they soon powered their way back up the pitch with more good work from Max at number 8. The back line shipped the ball to George V to get another score and a cheeky drop goal conversion by Henry M. The next move saw Zak break away and offload to Charlie D who was never going to be caught and he touched down with Henry M converting, not long left now with the remainder of the game being spent in the Newbold 22. The last play of the game saw Declan denied what would have been a deserved try for him by a last gasp tackle on the try line. The final whistle went with the score 7-66.

Recognition must go to Newbold who didn’t give up and kept going to the end which hopefully will only help them in future games. Full credit also the whole team who could easily have struggled today with losing players and others playing out of position but the right attitude and togetherness was there for all to see. Pete’s treats went to Jonno for his excellent scrummaging technique which the opposition could not handle, Max for his storming runs and great play at no 8, Harrison for so much flair at flanker, Zack for his tenacity and tackling and of course, much deserved, Alex who was later recognised as Man of the Match by Newbold. With players to come back into the mix all looks good for the season.

Fines this week (yes already):
Will – Yellow Card – the first of the season
George V, Zak, Max – dress code violations

Andy C & Ruth