Another convincing Display by the 1stXV this weekend defeating Belfast Royal Academy 43-5. Next week they travel to Bangor Grammar with the 2nd XV and Medallions whilst our Junior under 12s, 13s and 14s take on RS Dungannon at Castle Lane.
Enniskillen Royal 1stXV vs BRA
4 January 2020
Enniskillen Royal commenced their run of School’s Cup warm up matches with a comfortable 43 – 5 win over Belfast Royal Academy at the Eisenhower Playing Fields. BRA had come a close second to Coleraine in the Group Stages of the Cup and had beaten ERGS this time last year, so were not a side to be taken lightly.
The home side went on the attack from the start and although they had the majority of possession, they managed to spill the ball at critical moments before props Aaron Crawford and Matthew Graham combined to drive over the BRA line following a series of rucks. Out half, Eddie Keys made the simple conversion.
After that, ERGS rarely let the visitors out of their own half. They kept hold of the ball and combined strong forward drives with very slick passing amongst the backs. However, their next try came via some individual skill when outside centre, Stephen Balfour, was handed the ball just inside the BRA half. Balfour has, up until now, played a quiet but solid roll defending in centre field and being a very efficient conduit for the ball on its way to the more dynamic wingers. He scored an excellent try against Inst last weekend and repeated the process in this match, swerving around BRA’s centre and wing before dummying the full back and touching down. Keys conversion attempt hit the upright.
Although they were only 12 points up, ERGS were quite clearly well in control of the match and it was not long before BRA were defending their line once again. Another break by Balfour led to a ruck inside the visitors 5 metre line from which ERGS scrum half, Matty Bothwell, picked out his left winger, Taine Haire, with a wonderful pass. Haire is almost guaranteed to beat at least one defender and he did so again by side stepping the full back and diving under the rushing defence to score. Keys converted from a couple of metres inside the touch line and the first half finished with ERGS leading by 17 points to nil.
ERGS ramped up the pace of play in the second half. Their accurate passing, fast recycling and deft off loads kept BRA scrambling to maintain a coherent defence. With space appearing all over the park Balfour struck again, this time from inside his own half. Inside centre and team captain, Robbie Mills, ran a dummy scissors with his out half, Keys, who fed Balfour coming through at full pace. His deceptive speed undid a couple of BRA defenders before he swerved outside the beleaguered full back and raced over the line for his second score. Keys converted and ERGS had 24 unanswered points on the board.
BRA did, finally, produce a reply when their inside centre spotted the replacement winger sitting well outside a rather narrow ERGS defence. An excellent long pass released the winger to sprint for the try line. He was tackled on the line and although he may have had a foot in touch the referee, who was some 20 metres away, gave him and his attacking team the benefit of the doubt.
Despite this, ERGS continued to play with increasing confidence. Although some of their off loads were a trifle ambitious, they were playing at such speed and, for most of the time, with such accuracy that BRA could simply not keep up. A deft interplay between Callum Smyton and wing, Sam Balfour, led to Smyton adding to his impressive list of tries for the season. ERGS had been gradually introducing their bench since half time but the forced replacement of injured hooker, Matthew Beatty, was of some concern for ERGS as he had been one of their most prolific ball carriers up to that point.
Nonetheless, ERGS finished with two more tries, both benefitting from quick accurate passing. The first was scored by flanker, Henry Keys, just reward for his phenomenal work rate and the second by the omnipresent Smyton.
With recent wins over Campbell, Inst and now, BRA, confidence in the camp must be high and with some justification. It wasn’t just the speed or accuracy of play, which in themselves were impressive, it was the determination to keep the ball in play that has proved too much for many opponents. In notching up almost 30 off loads out of tackles in this game, they kept BRA moving backwards and struggling to keep a defensive line. When the gaps in defence eventually appeared, ERGS had any number of strike players capable of exploiting them.
ERGS next game in this warm-up series is against Bangor Grammar who are coached by ex-head coach at ERGS, Rhys Botha. Bangor were also comfortable winners of their Group in qualifying for the last 16 so both sides will be keen to take the measure of an opponent they might well meet in the forthcoming knockout stage. The match was scheduled to be played at Enniskillen, but logistical problems will now see it played in Bangor on the morning of Saturday, 11th.
ERGS Try scorers:- Aaron Clarke, Stephen Balfour (2),Taine Haire, Callum Smyton (2), Henry Keys.
Conversions:- Eddie Keys (3), George Foster (1)
