A great physical display against Armagh RFC U16s this morning. Armagh are unbeaten this season in the club league so the game promised to be a tough contest. The ERGS boys did their usual timid start allowing the home side to score the first points, but then began to up their intensity and soon presented themselves as well organised and determined. On the half time whistle No.1 Ethan Clarke then opened the ERGS account off a quickly taken penalty close to the Armagh line, 7-5.
As the second half commenced it was clear that both sides believed they could be the victors. Armagh’s quick thinking, as they spotted space on the left wing, allowed a kick and chase to put their winger over the line, 12-5. ERGS responded with a strong counter attack and pushed Armagh back towards their own line threatening to score on a number of occasions. With 15 minutes to go, Armagh then brought on their ‘impressive’ bench to stabilise their defence, despite the rather daunting scale of some of the older members of the squad, the ERGS lads continued to push the home side backwards into their own 22 causing Armagh to concede a penalty. Taken quickly, it was No.10 Darragh Love who then found his way under the oncoming tackles and over the line 12-10.
With only 5 minutes to go, the weary ERGS boys had to dig deep to cope with the onslaught of a large fresh set of substitutes. They tackled hard and defended with everything they had but Armagh had the final say, as their back row powered down the park and offloaded to the wing to close the score on the final whistle, 17-10.
With a week to recover and re-group, safe in the knowledge that they played some excellent structured rugby against a much more physically dominant side, the boys are now looking forward to their next challenge; Belfast High School in the quarter finals of the Medallion Trophy.
