There was much to celebrate this weekend, with both the second and first XVs of the club achieving the fabled “Blue Rinse” with two wins against their respective opponents, one home and one away versus Bramley Phoenix; the successful achievement of the hitherto elusive try bonus point after two weeks of hard slog and the hosting of a “Ladies Day” at Mallorie Park, the likes of which have never been seen before. Hats off to everyone involved in such marvellous success on and off the pitch and emphatic testament that this is club that values its members, strives for excellence on the pitch and knows how to enjoy itself.

The game was a long time brewing before it yielded the right result for The Blues and with a scrappy first half in which the visitors showed a bit of an edge out wide, with two tries to Ripon’s one, the half time score of 10 – 10 might have been of some concern to those unfamiliar with the resilience and fortitude of this young and committed squad. Not all plain sailing for The Blues, the squad had to work hard for the full 80 minutes and maintain solid discipline in the face of much provocation and efforts by the opposition to break down Ripon’s creative style of play. On the discipline front, Ripon’s seven penalties conceded to the opposition’s double that amount, but with two yellow cards in the second half reducing the hosts to 13 players at one point; there are still lessons to be learned as to how to keep the referee on board and eliminate 50/50 decisions going the wrong way.

Ripon had the edge in the set piece, with the usual strong scrum and fully functioning line out but there were two key factors that forged the basis of this victory. The go-forward impact of Ripon’s main ball carriers was devastating at times, with carries into contact progressing up to 20 metres at a time. With the opposition continually on the back foot, they lived off scraps and only managed to create their scores from Ripon errors. The second, was the patience and composure that oozed from the players’ pores, as they steadily built-up phases, took the right decisions and used their considerable skills mostly to constructive effect.

A marked difference from the previous two week’s games, in which The Blues threatened well but didn’t quite manage to impose their will on their opponents to close the games down. This match places a very clear line in the sand as to what Ripon need to do to maintain winning ways and ensure the magical bonus points keep coming. On a negative note, Ripon again managed to keep their penalty count down into single figures, with one less than last week. Two of them however, ended in Yellow Cards for Butterill and Perez respectively. Reducing the penalties takes significant concentration on discipline at all times and this young squad is getting there. We just need to be mindful of the mood of the referee and their response to the perceived severity of the offences. Going down to thirteen men, albeit for only four minutes, could have caused serious problems against more superior opposition. Fortunately The Blues stepped up to cover the gap and indeed the final score of the game came with only fourteen men on the pitch for Ripon.

This week’s selection saw eight changes in total again, three recalls, four positional re-shuffles and one debut for Ollie Bennett, returning to the fold after a break of a few years.

In the pack and for the third week running, “Mack” Koroiyadi, James Pearce and Dom Dalby provided the foundations for yet another strong scrummage display. All three were a dominant force at the set piece and made great inroads with ball in hand, as well as putting in some powerful tackles; Dalby adding another long range try from ten metres to his tally. At Lock, Henry Fletcher finished his last game before going travelling, with style, putting in a 100% performance from start to finish. Fellow Lock Tom Roebuck had a good day in the line out and added pace to the defensive plays. The back row saw a minor reshuffle with Harry Veitch at Blind Side and Jacob Butterill at Number 8, performing with power and confidence way beyond their tender years. Freddy Wharton returned to the fray at Open Side and showed his usual pace and tenacity.

The back line saw Harry Drane at Scrum Half and man of the match James Cooper starting for the first time in his preferred Number 10 position. Cooper, fast developing a reputation as the “human punchbag” showed great leadership and distribution, as well as latching onto a loose interception and sprinting from halfway for The Blues’ opening try. The Wings saw young Mosley and Take both play with flair and creativity. The former’s elusive running style making good ground around the edges and the latter’s more direct running, making hard yards and ending the match with a bang with a fine individual try in the last seconds. The Centres saw debutant Ollie Bennet’s first adult game with the club after graduating from age grade a few years ago and making an immediate impact. The pairing with Will Barrett gave the midfield significant strike capability and brick wall defence. Another notable last game for a while, as Barrett heads back to University to continue his studies. Matt Binks finished the starting line up at Full Back and showed safe hands and strong tackling in defence and some dangerous counter attacking potential. The bench saw another all forward “bomb squad” of try scoring Nick Perez, Jacob Drane and Tom “600 Dollar Man” Austin all enter the field at various points and make their marks.

The bright sunshine gradually gave way to a dull and cool breezy afternoon but the wind direction varying considerably but mostly from side to side, gave no particular advantage to either side. Bramley kicked off and Veitch fielded straight into contact. The next moves saw Ripon push infield to open up options and at the third ruck, Bennett was called for foul contact and the visitors were offered their first kick at goal on 40 seconds. Fortunately the wind carried the ball past the posts and Ripon looked to get back into their stride. After a slow start, the Ripon scrum started to cause the opposition all sorts of bother, with their Number 8 doing well to recover the ball going backwards. Play went largely The Blues’ way for most of the first half, with big carries from Dalby and Butterill, with Barrett incising with precision. Ripon’s first scoring chance came on 13 minutes after a high tackle call. Drane’s goal kicking effort suffered the same fate as his opponent as the ball drifted wide in the wind.

After some further exchanges involving Take and Fletcher, a further breakdown indiscretion allowed Drane to open the scoring at 3 – 0 from a penalty goal. Bramley fought harder in the final few minutes of the half and got themselves on the scoreboard at 34 minutes with an unconverted try after a kick and chase which just outpaced the Ripon defence on the turn. Ripon regained the upper hand with some more heavy-duty defensive play and deeper penetration with ball in hand. In close to what appeared to be the last play, a Bramley attack made slow progress and Cooper, with impeccable timing, snatched at a looping pass, pinned back his ears and ran half the pitch unopposed to score The Blues’ first try. Drane converted for 10 – 5. Ripon were then close to increasing this lead after Mosley burnt up his touchline for some 40 metres before bringing play infield. The stunning play stuttered to a halt as a midfield pass was just out of reach for Mack and the rushed Bramley defence hacked out wildly. The pacey Bramley Winger turned Take well and with a kindly bounce, scooped up the bouncing ball to score their second try. The conversion attempt failed and the score remained at 10 – 10 at the half time whistle.

The chat at the break was about maintaining consistency, discipline and composure for the second half and shutting the visitors out of the game. That’s exactly what Ripon went on to do, scoring a further three tries to win the second half 17 – 0 and gaining the hitherto elusive try bonus point.

In a repeat of the start of the first half, Ripon were offered a penalty goal attempt within the first minute but the wind was just too strong for Drane’s strike. His fortune want from bad to worse for the rest of the game, with just one out of three conversion attempts successful. At seven minutes, Dalby broke the deadlock by appearing twice in the same handling movement. Mack and Bennett linked well to progress up field before feeding Pearce. Next out wide was Dalby, who gathered a modest collection of defenders around his waist as he bouldered his way over the line. Drane added this conversion for 17 – 10.

After a further ten minutes, Perez added to the visitors’ misery with a typically powerful drive. The move was started by yet another clean line out delivery from Roebuck and quick play to the right. Dalby and Austin carried forward strongly before releasing the “Sad Yank” to batter his way through. With Drane’s conversion attempt cruelly bouncing off the upright, the 22 – 10 scoreline was developing a sizeable comfort zone for Ripon. However, not all over yet as the lively opposition kept them on their toes continually.

As the game went into its final quarter, so tempers started to fray and so the penalty count for both sides started to increase. Despite provocation, The Blues managed to avoid the temptation to engage in handbags, though the referee was inclined to talk with both captains about calming down a couple of times. The first of two bitter blows for Ripon came on 64 minutes when Butterill was unable to extricate himself from a ruck to the referee’s satisfaction. Eight minutes later, he was joined on the naughty step by Perez, going from hero to zero, allegedly causing an obstruction. Thankfully, Bramley were unable to make anything of the power play situation and didn’t look like they had any more scores left in them.

Butterill rejoined play for the dying minutes while Perez languished in the technical area. That last bit of oomph offered by Butterill, enabled The Blues to close the game down and put pressure in the visitors’ 22 metre zone. From what transpired to be the final scrum, Ripon nudged Bramley backwards and the blind side was exploited to put Take away. The nippy Fijian showed immense agility and strength to batter his way through the defence and touch down for the all-important fourth try. Drane’s kick didn’t make it unfortunately, so there the scoreboard stopped at 27 – 10 and everyone grateful for the final whistle.

The elation of the bonus point victory and third win in a row, was a joy to behold, especially as the other results put Ripon neatly into second place in the league with 13 points. Finding their groove nicely, this squad is looking more comfortable playing together and whilst there is still more to do regarding fitness and execution, this start to the season bodes well for another happy season.
Next week Ripon are back on home turf again at Mallorie Park for league round four versus Yarnbury. The kick off on 28th September is at 3.00pm and all supporters will be very welcome.