Beverley Go To Top Of Table With Twelve Try Blitz

 

What a performance. Beverley RUFC stormed to the head of the table with a twelve try romp taking their points total to 122 in two games. In the searing heat they simply ran riot with some breathtaking rugby. It was not that Morpeth were a poor side. They never stopped running the ball at Beverley and stuck at it with great resilience until the final whistle. In the end it was tough on them to have gone down by 74 points after having contributed eighty minutes of attacking, if unrewarded, rugby. Their misfortune was catching Beverley on a day when the quality of their rugby was really quite exceptional –a day when everything they touched turned to gold.

Morpeth briefly led with a penalty by scrum half Matt Jinks but by the fourth minute the die was cast when Richard Bussey touched down for Beverley’s first try. A second try by Goran Jelencic and a conversion and penalty by Tomasi Tumani all within the next ten minutes took Beverley twelve points clear. What was already an uphill struggle for Morpeth soon became mountainous as first Chris Infield and then Francis Pickering added further tries with Tumani adding a conversion. At the end of the first quarter Beverley were already 27-3 up and the eventual outcome was as good as settled.

For twenty minutes Morpeth enjoyed their best spell of the match. They moved the ball about and ran hard at the home side. But they lacked the flair and cutting edge of the home backs and they seldom looked like breaking down the Beverley defence. Beverley in contrast had terrific pace in the backs; whenever they attacked a try looked on the cards. Up front the Beverley pack quickly got the upper hand, not least through some tremendous support play. David Worrall, looking fully fit again, was back to his rampaging best but all eight forwards played out of their skins, as did Alex Ogilvie and Craig Hancock from the bench. Sam Kelly made a promising debut at hooker getting through some good work in the loose. One of the key factors in Beverley’s domination was the lively work of flankers Joe Picketts and Tony Riby-French who constantly harassed the visitors around the fringes. As a result Morpeth were hardly ever able to get their game going. Picketts in particular had a fine game in both attack and defence and probably rivalled Worrall as the outstanding player on the field.

On the stroke of halftime two further tries by Worrall and Lee Birch with one conversion by Tumani allowed Beverley to turn round 39-3 ahead. The second half continued in similar vein, the only surprise being the remarkable pace at which both sides somehow kept going in the oppressive heat. Nor was there any flagging in the quality of the rugby. A burst down the middle by Ogilvie led to another try for Jelencic; Junior Tupai chipped through the defence to set up Sam Atiola for an eighth Beverley try, and Hancock was on hand to touch down after Tumani had cleverly scooped up another Tupai angled kick. With a quarter of the match left Beverley were 58-3 ahead and still going strong with some scintillating rugby.

Morpeth continued to counter attack with great determination but without ever really creating any threat to the home line. It had long been a hopeless cause and Beverley with their tails up ran in three more tries by Birch, Tumani and Tupai. Birch had another impressive game on the wing showing plenty of dash and covering back well in defence. In the second half he took over the kicking and comfortably slotted four out of five conversion attempts.

On this showing it is going to take a good side to get the better of Beverley this season. Coach Anthony Posa has clearly gathered a fine squad of players around him, and happily now with an adequate strength in depth. If they can keep this up a successful season must surely lie ahead.

Beverley RUFC 77 Morpeth 3 | Reported by John Nursey

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