Hartpury RFC vs Nottingham (A) - Match Report - 38-24

Hartpury given few Boxing Day gifts at The Bay

By Muhammed Sher, at The Bay

Yes, ‘tis the season’ to give.

But on a bitterly cold day in the East Midlands, Hartpury found a Nottingham outfit who offered all the delights off the pitch, but were in mood for handing out any gifts on it.

Now, when you delve into a defeat, especially one as bruising as this, there are often handicapping circumstances.

Travelling the best part of three hours on Boxing Day wasn’t ideal preparation, as was the significant lack of numbers at Hartpury head coach Mark Cornwell’s disposal. The fact that Harry Short was deployed in a patch work midfield pairing spoke volumes.

Cornwell, though, will never mince his words and he is as honest as they come. He pulled no punches in his post-match interview (see below), citing the defeat as due to his side’s inability to quell Nottingham’s relentless energy and no little venom in attacking areas.

With the sun shining on a frosty and blisteringly cold day, the men in red fired up well and Hartpury co-captain Will Crane got the first chalk on the scoreboard. His early try came at the end of the visitors’ best period in the game, a series of penalties forcing The Archers to yield from five metres out. 

Fly-half Harry Bazalgette unusually missed the conversion, and from there the half, and ultimately the game, turned on its head for Hartpury. 

Miscommunication led to a Nottingham high ball failing to be collected by a red shirt, and Nottingham’s outstanding openside flanker Michael Green – who ran, carried, tackled and passed to perfection all afternoon – swooping to take his side close to the whitewash.

The Archers whipped the ball wide and over went Notts inside-centre Levi Roper before fly-half Gwyn Parks scored the conversion to put the home-side ahead on the quarter-hour mark.

And, minutes later, Nottingham had a second. With Haydn Lewis questionably dispatched to the bin by referee Jack Sutton, Nottingham hit the corner and drove over hooker Jack Dickinson for a well worked driving maul try. At this point, alarm bells were starting to ring.

They were positively blaring for Hartpury just before the half hour mark when green-and-whites winger Harry Graham scooted into the corner unopposed, a quickly taken penalty causing carnage. Crucially the festive momentum was all with the home-side.

Graham was again involved in getting Nottingham by Hartpury’s try-line before tighthead prop Dan Richardson muscled over to claim the bonus-point score just before the break. 

The diminutive wide man was hauled down short, scrum-half Will Yarnell preaching patience - allowing Dan Richardson to sneak through a gap for a score very well appreciated by a bumper Boxing Day crowd. 

With Hartpury now 21-points adrift, it was always going to take something special to turn the tide in the second-half.

There was hope to warm the souls of the small Hartpury supporter entourage when loosehead prop Louie Trevett was pushed over in the early exchanges of the second half; again, however, there was unusually no follow-up conversion by Bazalgette.

Hartpury scrum-half Oscar Lennon was the latest visiting man to be given his cooling-off orders for ten minutes on the 43^rd minute, and with him went any semblance of continuity for the travellers from Gloucestershire.

Utility king Harry Short was sent in to cover him at scrum-half, and despite him giving it everything, there was no rhythm to any of Hartpury’s attacking work.

Minutes later, Green raced over for a thoroughly well-deserved Nottingham score which sniffed out the aforementioned hope.

Then as the game clicked over the hour-mark, Notts loosehead prop Aniseko Sio bundled over after a well worked move in the right corner for Notts sixth try, and putting the tie beyond doubt.

To ‘Pury’s credit, there was a positive finish as outside-centre Robbie Smith crashed over after receiving a fizzingly fast ball out wide on the 66^th minute and then replacement hooker Ethan Hunt dotted down from a well-worked line-out move to ensure there would at least be a try bonus point to take back home, keeping hopes of a top-six play-off spot come the end of the season, still very much alive.

A little bruised, some wounds to attend to, very much so.

Cornwell and his staff have been here before, and with a few days off, you can be certain a very different looking group will take the field next Saturday 3^rd January when Cambridge are the visitors to the 4ED Hartpury Stadium.

Stats:

Nottingham RFC: Evan Mitchell, David Williams (c) (Luke Rokomoce 64’), Kegan Christian-Goss, Levi Roper (Charlie Davies 53’), Harry Graham, Gwyn Parks, Will Yarnell (Kody Vereti 58’); Oscar Stott (Aniseko Sio 53’), Jack Dickinson (Arthur Allen 49’), Dan Richardson (Mink Scharink 64’), Jay Ecclesfield (Will Ramply 53’), Osian Thomas, George Timmins (Josh Goodwin 58’), Michael Green, James Cherry 

Tries: Levi Roper 14’, Jack Dickinson 17’, Harry Graham 28’, Dan Richardson 33’, Michael Green 47’, Aniseko Sio 63’ 

Conversions: Gwyn Parks 15’, 18’, 34’, 48’

Hartpury RFC: Jacob Morris, Brad Denty, Robbie Smith, Harry Short, Haydn Lewis (Josh Field 58’), Harry Bazalgette, Oscar Lennon (Sam Allford 76’); Louie Trevett (Archie McArthur 53’), Will Crane (cc) (Ethan Hunt 69’), Jon Benz-Salomon (Oliver Minnis 64’), Dale Lemon, Jack Davies (cc) (Josh Gray 64’), Cameron Cobbett (Peter Paramore 58’), Ellis Hart, Jarrard Hayler 

Replacements not used: Alex Gibson

Tries: Will Crane 7’, Louie Trevett 41’, Robbie Smith 66’, Ethan Hunt 72’

Conversions: Harry Bazalgette 67’, 73’

Sin bins: Haydn Lewis 16’, Oscar Lennon 43‘

Referee: Jack Sutton (RFU) 

Attendance: 2,121

Half-time score: 26 – 05 (to Nottingham RFC)

Star players: Michael Green (Nottingham RFC) / Harry Short (Hartpury RFC) 

Reaction:

‘Two daft yellows cost us’, says Cornwell

By Muhammed Sher, at The Bay

“SIMPLY not good enough” was Mark Cornwell’s unerring and to the point assessment of his side’s defeat at the hands of a clinical Nottingham unit on Boxing Day, bringing to a halt ‘Pury’s recent run of good form.

Unbeaten in four going into this clash in the East Midlands, hopes were high for a win which would have propelled the University side into the top four, but they never quite got going at The Bay.

“That’s a really frustrating one. We simply weren’t good enough and yes, coming up here on Boxing Day with a depleted squad is not ideal, but we didn’t get going,” he said.

“Even in the moments when we are on top, we’ve not forced the issue. We’ve put them under pressure early on and got a good score, and we should probably get a second not long after, but we’ve coughed it up on the line.

“And then, it’s compounded by our own errors. When you make mistakes away from home, against a side as well-coached as Nottingham, you are going to get punished, and that’s exactly what happened.

“Let’s also say it how it is, we’ve picked up two daft yellow cards, and you’re tearing your hair out. Again, how can you not expect to be punished in those moments? 

“At half-time, we talked about the need to manage those moments when they are quickening the game up and you think you’ve got a response when we’ve come out and scored early on after the re-start. Then we pick up a second yellow and you’re almost back to square one again. The wind goes out of your sail.

“Yes, there are mitigating circumstances in terms of selection, as we are very thin on the ground. This block of six fixtures has been tough on the group, and we’ve got a forward in the backline today. It doesn’t help, and neither does spending your whole morning travelling.

“That’s the hand we were dealt with, though, and it’s no excuse. What we need now is some rest and see what we’ve got to work with across three sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. We’re back at home next weekend, where we’ve been good this year, and it’s important we start the new calendar year on the front foot.”

Hartpury’s defeat means the RFC have slipped to seventh in the tier two Champ standings, with their Boxing Day conquerors Nottingham rising above them in the table.