Ipswich YM 22 - Swaffham 0

A strong diagonal wind at Rushmere affected this match, but from the start the YM pack asserted control and secured the lion’s share of possession from both the tight and loose phases of play. Only in the lineouts did the visitors get any change out of their opponents. Most of the play was in the Swaffham half of the pitch, with only a solitary break in the first half and some long kicks, aided by the wind, in the second, relieving pressure. The YM soon made this pressure tell; within 5 minutes of the start they opted for a scrum instead of a penalty on the Swaffham 22, moved the ball quickly and Josh Butler crossed wide on the right for the first try. The second followed a few minutes later, a massive drive in the scrum from the YM pack broke the Swaffham eight, and the ball was moved swiftly upfield, Ollie Hall crossing over wide on the left, after the YM pack secured quick ball from a ruck
close to the visitors’ line.

After this, the game lost shape and momentum, neither side seriously threatening the other’s line for the rest of the first half.

In the second half, despite playing into the wind, the YM were able to hold territorial advantage, and after a strike against the head of a Swaffham scrum, Drew Cooke ran determinedly through some scrappy defence to touch down, something he repeated a few minutes later, after a free kick to the YM was moved into the backs. That last try – the only one converted – made sure of the bonus point, but after that the match deteriorated as a spectacle, injuries to Swaffham players forcing uncontested scrums for the last few minutes.

This was a match in which the YM did what was necessary in terms of ensuring victory and gaining a bonus point, without the game or performance ever hitting the heights that this team can be capable of.

Dick Watson