CHIPPENHAM 17 – 22 DRAGONS U17S
The Young Dragons U17s continued their preparation for the forthcoming games with the Welsh Regions with a rousing performance against a Chippenham side full of talent, which contained a number of age grade internationals and national sprinters.
It was the home side that started the strongest and after dominating the early exchanges, especially within the scrum, and after two minutes, Chippenham No8 Rhys Brown ran in untouched after picking from the base on his ten metre line, out-running three dragons defenders in the process. (Chippenham 10) added the extras with a comfortable conversion.
Although trailing, the Dragons hadn’t had any possession, but when they did manage to build the phases, they played with good width and tempo and would comfortably gain territory. Unfortunately, the Dragons over-eagerness to maintain a high tempo often resulted in an individual error or turnover deep in the Chippenham half. After 16minutes though, the pressure finally told, and after seven phases which began in the Dragons 22 and moved the Chippenham defence to both sides of the park, some strong running by Exile back-rower Sam Williams resulted in a deserved try.
With both sides looking equally dangerous with ball in hand, it was the Dragons ability to attack at width that posed them the most threatening, but it was the scrum that provided the weak link, and for the second occasion, an uncontrolled ball spilled at the base resulted in a second Chippenham try, this time for dynamic scrum half Will Waddington.
The first half wasn’t over though, and with the lineout now functioning thanks to quality ball fro Adam Cullen and Skipper Tom Sparshott, the Young Dragons had a good base to attack from. With the final stages of the half being played within the opponents half, Dragons 8 Mike Preece turned the ball over superbly at the breakdown. He then managed to fend two tackles and carry two would be defenders with him over the line as he brought the half time score back to 12-10 in the hosts favour.
After some encouraging half time words from Head coach Nigel Whoofa Smith, even though the hosts began the brightest in terms of territory, and impressive Dragons Full Back Craig Duncan, who gained territory for fun with his evasive running had ten minutes in the bin for an infringement close to the Dragons line, the Dragons defence remained organised and composed to keep Chippenham at bay. As the game continued with the Young Dragons down to fourteen, they regained territory, but continued possession didn’t result in points. In fact, two errors gifted the hosts with their third score. A turnover from yet another Dragons Scrum on the Chippenham five metre line resulted in a lineout on their 10 metre line, and over throw here then provided them with the opportunity for a kick through, and with the Dragons unable to secure the bouncing ball, it was Waddington who secured his second try of the evening and provided the opponents with a 17-10 lead with the clock running out.
One thing this group of young Dragons has in abundance is character and the ability never to throw in the towel, and with impressive performances from Kurt Mogford and Ben Sanderson in the centre, the backline threatened at every phase. It was also the emergence of front rowers Dan Webb and Henry Palmer, along with dynamic backrower Oliver Griffiths off the bench that provided that extra spark. Ten minutes from time, some great direct running from the three quarters, assisted by the forward denting the defensive chain resulted in an overlap, seeing replacement Alex Ginn trot over untouched. This brought the Dragons back to within two points, but they didn’t have to wait much longer to take the lead. After a great lineout, Carreg Allen’s barnstorming run took the Dragons into the 22, and after direct running from forwards Webb, Palmer and front row Brad Jones, there were no defenders left to stop replacement scrum half Aaron Bidgood dive under the sticks untouched. Replacement Kasey Hurley also added the extras to take the score to 22-17 in the Dragons favour.
To be fair to Chippenham, they returned with gusto, and it took some courageous defence to ensure the score remained as it was and result in a third win from four games for Whoofa’s players. Assistant coach Hugh Gustafson was encouraged by the performance, especially the players ferocity in the contact area, and all bodes well for their next fixture, against the Ospreys on October 24th.
Chippenham - 17
Tries: Rhys Brown, Will Waddington (2)
Conversions: Joe Bodman (1)
Dragons U17s – 22
Tries: Sam Williams, Mike Preece, Alex Ginn, Aaron Bidgood
Conversions: Kasey Hurley (1)
Dragons Squad
C. Duncan, L. Dunn, A. O’Brioen, K. Mogford, J. Congreve, T. Senior, R. Long; D. Powell, R. Thomas, D. Morgan, C. Allen, A. Cullen, T. Sparshott (Capt), S. Williams, M. Preece; Reps: A. Bidgood, A. Jeffries, T. Richards, K. Hurley, B. Sanderson, A. Ginn, H. Palmer, B. Jones, D. Webb, O. Griffiths, C. Clarke.
