Nottingham Casuals 1XV, Saturday 5^th January, Home, Won 28-24

Royces welcomed Nottingham Casuals to Victory Road in a league match to kick off 2008. With several players returning from injury it was again a different side to that which signed off 2007 with an impressive result against Dronfield. Iwan Ranft took to the field this week looking like a newborn baby in a bonnet, in the clubs special piece of sports apparel.

Royces won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the first half. Royces started brightly and were quickly in the ascendancy in the set piece with the lineout functioning well and the front 5 destroying the Casuals pack in the early scrums.

However it was to be Casuals who scored first on 15 minutes. A punt through from the Casuals No 9 led to a lack of communication in the Royces defence and ended in a sickening clash of heads between J. Peacock and J. Scott both jumping for the high ball. The ball spilled backwards over the Royces try line only for D. Poole to scurry back and touchdown the ball for a Casuals scrum 5. (Thankfully both players recovered from their clash of heads to finish the game). Royces again pushed Casuals off the ball in the resulting scrum against the head but the referee deemed that the hooker had his foot up before the ball was put in. From the resultant penalty Casuals spun the ball left to touch down in the corner. Conversion missed 0-5.

Not deterred by this, Royces kept playing at a high intensity and it was from a scrum that they got their first score. Winning a scrum against the head just outside the Casuals 22 the ball was recycled well from the backs move and from the following phase DFRL squirmed his way over the line, successful conversion, 7-5. Royces continued to dominate in the set piece and from a second turnover scrum inside the Casuals 22, centre Lawrence Betty danced and drove his way over the line. Conversion successful 14-5. Casuals then rallied and Royces indiscipline cost them 6 points from 2 penalties under the posts, reducing the deficit to 14-11.  Royces continued to exert pressure on the Casuals scrum and from the resultant back move Dave Poole intercepted a pass and scurried home from 35m to touch down. Conversion successful 21-11.  However it was Casuals who rounded off the scoring in the first half with more indiscipline gifting them another three points. Half time 21-14.

The second half started with Casuals pushing hard for a score but some resolute Royces defence kept them at bay for 10 minutes. Through a series of wind assisted kicks and penalties Casuals kicked their way into the Royces 22. After a series of drives Casuals touched down in the right hand corner, conversion missed, 21-19. With 20 minutes remaining and clearly buoyed by this score Casuals pushed on hard but solid defence by Royces saw the ball break free and good dribbling skills first by Loz Betty and then the Chickatron saw Royces get to within 5 metres of the line - quick recycling and a clear overlap allowed hooker Luke Daigneault to bundle his way over, just desserts for him and his front row colleagues for their scrummaging dominance! Conversion successful 28-19.

Still in the game Casuals kept on coming at Royces and were awarded a penalty five metres out from the Royces line. The ball was given to a prop who got in at the right hand corner. Conversion missed 28-24. From the restart Royces used their heads and closed out the game well with a series of forward drives keeping Casuals pegged in their own half for the last 7 minutes. Full time 28-24.

A good start to 2008 for Royces, who showed great commitment and desire to win throughout, with a very good team performance. Man of the match was hooker Luke Daigneault.

Next up it’s Casuals at home again, this time in Round 6 of the EDF National Junior Vase.

Everybody associated with Rolls-Royce RFC wishes the Casuals player who broke his leg in the 2^nd XV game a full and speedy recovery.

Team: Jon Peacock, Jon Scott, Lawrence Betty, Paul Hill, Duncan Myres, Paul McLaughlin, Dave Poole, Iwan Ranft, Luke Daigneault, Adam King, Nick Golding, Andrew Taylor, Ian Baker, Sandy Thom, Dan Sanderson. Subs: Gregory Fowler, Mike Brown, Tom Feehally