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Less than a month ago Ledua Jope was toasting the Gunners at the after game dinner as the Sappers skipper after they had overcome a strong spirited Gunner side, he looked ahead to the fixture against the RLC in December, perhaps he knew he wouldn't feature. It was 37 months ago the the Sappers last lost in the Merit league, it was the RLC that did them at Chatham then, and 37 months later Andy Geary and Mal Roberts two Loggie stalwarts plotted the downfall of the reigning merit league champions by inviting them to Marchwood, nr Southampton, home of 17 Port & Maritime, a highly successful Logistic Corps unit side. In the end at the final whistle Roberts and Geary had the smiles while Sapper skipper Ben Hughes was looking in the eyes of his beaten team; rallying his troops looking forward to the now must win game against the REME in January. The Roberts and Geary plan had indeed worked and the RLC are very much back on the map. |
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This was always going to be a tough fixture, the Logistic Corps were bound to play a strong side, not that difficult to predict really...the Sappers were missing a few, Army centres Navacamuto and Wessells and Army wing Qasevakatini and full back Slade Jones were not available nor was Army forwards Jope and Koroiyadi, however in this time of many a deployment you play with who you have and that is what all teams do. The Sappers started well and had the majority of the possession, the forwards were going well, rucking well and winning many phases of ball, from an RLC infringement Danny Cootes missed a kickable penalty and the RLC came straight back into the match, pushing up the Sapper left hand side of the field, a chip ahead found Taniela Bakoso who collected the ball and chipped the advancing RLC players, collecting the ball on his 10 mtr line he sped toward the loggies line, beating three defenders he touched down near the posts, Danny Cootes converted to make it 7 - 0.
Shortly after the restart Darrell Ball collected and marked the ball from a kick ahead and off loaded to Raz Erasmus who drove forward but became isolated, from the ensuing penalty Mal Roberts dumbfounded everyone and missed 30 mts out just to the left of the posts. Danny Cootes didn't though and made it 10 - 0 to the Sappers after 17 minutes. |
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The RLC came straight back into the game, surging forward up the right side of the field they kicked through, scrum half Zac Vakasawaka dived in vain to try and collect the ball and was unlucky not to get the ball however it was picked up by the attacking RLC backs and ran it in under the posts, and no Mal Roberts didn't miss, 10 - 7 to the Sappers. On 27 mins Taniela Bakoso decided he hadn't seen the ball for a while and decided to score another spectacular try, again beating many RLC defenders his speed is (in my opinion) faster than Mr Seru and Mr Qasevakatini, Army coaches take note....the try was too far out for Danny Cootes to convert however he did slot a penalty after 34 minutes to take the score to 15 - 7. Just before half time the Loggies should have had one in the bin for a dangerous tackle on Ralf Cooke while he was in the air and Sapper prop Rick Reeve was yellow carded for holding on in the red zone, consistency please gentlemen...that was it, half time and we took a few deep breaths....
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| Chris Clifford replaced Rick Reeve for the yellow and Richie Warmington who was showing great form playing for National league two Shelford was removed to make the 14, the RLC wanted to gain advantage of the extra man and did just that scoring after 45 seconds with a well worked try from the scrum scoring in the Sappers left corner, Mr Robers converted it and the RLC were to take the lead that they didn't surrender, 17 - 15 to the Loggies. After 7 mins of the second half the Sappers were penalised for hands in the ruck and Mr Roberts slotted the points to stretch it to 20 - 15 to the RLC. 5 minutes later Darrell Ball looked to have won good ball from the back of the line but the referee didn't have the same opinion and from the resulting penalty Mal Roberts made it 23 - 15. The Sappers needed to score next, from the restart they got the ball and Noxy Laqekoro drove deep with several defenders bouncing off him, he off loaded to Ken Davey who smashed his way from eight yards to go under the posts, Danny Cootes converted to make it 22 - 23 and it was game on, RLCs Andy Geary knew it too and he gave some stern words to his team under the posts. |
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The game was full on and it could have gone either way, the next score was critical, and it was the RLC who got it, good work from Mal Roberts who worked an overlap in the Sappers left corner for strong running for them to score in the corner, it was too far out for Mr Roberts though but it took the Loggies to 22 - 28. Shortly after an RLC replacement was made, within two minutes the replacement was shown a red card for leading with a clenched fist into a tackle, with 10 minutes to go could the Sappers make the most of the extra man? With 8 minutes to go they got a penalty 30 mts out on the left side of the posts but Danny Cootes couldn't find the uprights again, possession was critical and both teams strove to get the extra yard, the Sappers couldn't break the RLC defence and too many kicks were sent into the RLC half without any idea of what they were going to achieve, the penalty count rose and the RLC could have made the lead 9 clear but Mal Roberts missed one, and thats how it ended. Final Result Royal Logistic Corps 28 Royal Engineers 22.
So after 37 memorable months the Sappers lost, three merit league finals and Australia, those who have been part of it will never forget it, however just as the sun raises in the east and sets in the west it was always going to happen, it was a question of who was going to do it and when it would happen. Congratulations to the RLC, they deserved the win, the Sappers need to learn from the defeat, some complacency had creapt in; skipper Ben Hughes was the only man to speak to the team after the match, his words were strong and enough; all knew what had occured, the reaction and results of what he said will only only be known when Sapperrugby run onto the field at Arborfield on Wednesday 20 January when the REME will discover what he said.
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Man of the Match – Taniela Bakoso, two more tries displaying great speed on the wing, congratulations.
Sapperrugby – 1. Jon Auld 2.James Erasmus 3. Rick Reeve 4. Joe Uluikedekede 5. Ralph Cooke 6.Rich Warmington 7. Darrell Ball 8. Ben Hughes (Skipper) 9. Zac Vakasawaka 10. Ken Davey 11. Taniela Bakoso 12.Danny Cootes 13. Noxy Laqekoro 14. 15. Stu Douglas 16. Garry Windle 17. Nathan Young 18.Chris Clifford. 19. Gavin Clegg 20. Andy Gill 21.
Director of Rugby Rich Garrett, Manager Tim Poole, Kit Mark Westlake, Physio Sam Emery, Ant Marx. Coaching Staff Gareth Evans, Mike Thomas and Vic Reeve.
Thanks to Garry Cootes for the great photographs and Jonathan Fowke for video highlights |
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