Boars Dieppe report
They say that ‘it is tough to defend a title’ and a Heathfield Barbarians side found this to be true when they returned to Dieppe with the trophy won the year before. This side was much depleted from the one that won it with only 2 forwards and 6 backs returning from the year before.
Elite athletes train hard to win their competitions and probably do not meet at 5.30 am for bacon sandwiches, start drinking at 8.15 when the ferry bar opens and fall into bed at 4.30 am the next night. It was a great day’s entertainment but not great preparation for the rugby.
First up were Amir of Morocco (themselves previous winners of the trophy) and they did seem up for it as they set about Heathfield. The first 6 minutes were pretty even then a loose Heathfield pass saw the Amir backs pounce and recycled the ball well to score. This rattled the Barbarians who tried to get back in to the game but over committed bodies in the forwards and left spaces out wide and Amir made them pay again before half time. The second half started better when Heathfield were awarded a penalty try when Amir kept rushing in before a tap penalty on the 5 metre line was properly taken. However this was as good as it got as Amir got the last try of the game with the last play of the game. The general feeling was that we had lost this game rather than the opponents being a great deal better. The worse news was that we had broken 3 players, Steve Lester and Paul Jarvis were out while Paul Squires had hurt his back.
Next up were Pontauld 1’s who had just lost their game 3-1 as well. An important game to win! So we ended up having fun and drawing with a team we should have beaten handsomely. It was a clean fun game of rugby with Heathfield wanting to play running rugby and Pontauld wanting to work it through the forwards. Simon Hollingsdale and Guy Woods score the Barbarians tries in the 2-2 draw but the bitter taste in the mouth came as the ball was dropped just before the line, shortly before the final whistle when more selfish ball carrier could have just scored.
On to Auxerre of France who had just beaten Amir 2-1. This game got messy pretty quickly as the Auxerre backs turned out to be fast and the forwards turned out to be able to get them ball. Three tries in 6 minutes was tough but the heads went down when Mike Fellows but in an excellent rumble off a tap penalty only to drop the ball as he attempted to touchdown when over the line. He was reminded for most of the weekend that forwards must fall on the ball not touch down! The final score of 0-7 was harsh but reflected clinical finishing.
A good evening was then had by all in a harbour front restaurant but it was interesting to note that a lot more players were in bed by 1.00 pm.
Day 2 saw confirmation that Heathfield were in the bottom pool playing for places 13 to 16. There was a different atmosphere as the team gathered as many realised that to go from first place to last place was really possible. The players started to look like they had pride and wanted to win.
Our opponents were our old friends Le Plaisir from just outside Paris (we have played them in each of our 4 visits to Dieppe). A new tactic was discussed, one that had worked well for the Boars back in England namely have the forwards hunt in two packs of 4 and work alternative breakdowns. This paid immediate dividends as less players dived in late feeling guilty and more stood off to get a tackle in or carry the next phase ball. This sucked in defenders and left the spaces for Brady Burdett and his backs to attack their less mobile opponents. Levi Willis scored 2 tries and Brady also sold a dummy 35 yards out and ran in for a try. A 3-0 win and the relief was clear for all to see.
An enjoyable 20 minute break was spent watching the heavyweights of Budapest and Amir take 3 minutes to resort to punches under the guidance of a weak referee. For the record Budapest won both the rugby and boxing contests.
Our final opponents of the day were Lagny who had earlier beaten Oudja the other Moroccan team in the tournament. This game went pretty well with Jim Cumming on rampaging form ably supported by the hard tackling Bob Togher. 6-2 was the final score in this one with first half tries for Jim Cumming and Mike Brown and second half ones from Brady Burdett (another dummy bought), Levi Willis, Tony Rose and Simon Hollingsdale. A good win was an excellent way to end the rugby.
Lagny obviously have other traditions as their hooker and prop started to punch seven bells out of each other and the Heathfield team were needed to help their team-mates separate them.
This left us free to go and watch the final of the competition Brighton vs British Rugby Club of Paris. It ended up 2-1 to Brighton but the very spirited Paris side came very close again as they closed the game the stronger. The game was livened up by the appearance of our own Levi Willis in the Brighton team (as a first half substitute) and this was made even more surreal when he took a crash ball in his own half, gained control brilliantly (9 times out of 10 he’d have dropped it) and sprinted 55 metres to score what turned out to be the winning try in a very physical game. So Heathfield did actually win the cup again for Sussex but this time it goes to Brighton for a year.
The Sunday evening gala dinner is always a highlight of this tour and this was no exception with lots of singing and dancing until the wee small hours. The Heathfield Hokey Cokey was well received and may become a tour fixture.
Tour playing squad – M MacLeod, S Walker, S Lester, M Fellows, P Hookway, M Brown, B Togher, T Rose, B Hodges, K Lewis, J Cumming, S Hipgrave, B Burdett, D Hesketh, M Barber, G Woods, L Willis, S Hollingsdale, P Squires, K Davis, P Jarvis
Touring non players – C Burdett, R Hopwood, J MacLeod, C ‘Woods’, A Hesketh, J Chipchase, K Sheffield
Report by Mike MacLeod
Bob the Ogre v Pontauld 1's
Dieppe 2006 a nice place for rugby!
Early progress vs Amir
Pontauld 1's are introduced to the famous Guy Woods swerve!
Brady gets his dummy out to score vs Lagny,
well if people keep falling for it!...
Duncan vs Auxerre
A half break for Barbeur vs Le Plaisir
Jim stays focused vs Lagny
Simon Walker vs Auxerre
Tony waves to the hotel vs Le Plaisir
Latest News | The Boars
6/8/2006 12:06:47 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
|