The Tamar Saracens were spending the day entertaining their VIPs and invited the Argaum 2nd string to take on their counterparts in a home double header. Their 1st were to take on Plym Vic in the league but before that the pitch was to play host to an ever improving Wanderers side who are playing rugby to a level not seen in an Argaum 2nd side for many years.
Argaum started on the front foot and took the ball deep into the Sarries territory and it wasn’t long before the whitewash was crossed only for it to be adjudged as a double movement. Saracens went on the attack but were thwarted by the tackling of Will Cox and centre partner George Seymour. The back row of Kevin Sidebottom, John Ireland and Adam Wood went into rucking overdrive and the ball was passed out to George who was able to run through a couple of tackles to put the first points of the day on the board, followed up by a Courtney Richards conversion.
Sarries were never going to lie down in front of their VIP guests and came back at Argaum in full force. The defence stood strong and forced their way into the maul with Dave Shepherd somehow coming out with the ball. With Jack Humphrey bossing the pack in the number 9 shirt, the forwards were organised and used the pick and go to great effect marauding into the opposition 22. It was an infringement at one of these rucks that allowed Dan Sargent to slot a penalty on 14 minutes. The next few minutes were a little disjointed and after a stamping which went unseen Dave Sheps received a yellow for taking the law into his own hands.
The 2nd half saw Argaum once again taking it to the foe, now with Karl Sullivan in the number 9 berth, taking over where James left off, the pack were in command setting a near perfect platform for the backs. The backs were soon released, and with the rugby brain of Courtney Richards in control, the backs were running basic lines but running them well. The ball was moved through the hands to find full back Tom Underwood off the shoulder of flying wing Scott Anderson. Even with the ball in hand Tom still had work to do, and after stepping his opposite number he dived into the corner to start the scoring for the 2nd period of play.
Just seven minutes later the backs were at it again, Kevin ‘Sid’ Sidebottom started the move with one of his scything runs into the heart of enemy territory before passing off to the centre combo of Will & George. George took the ball from the 10M line and powered his way through a rugged defence to place the ball down under the sticks for his 2nd try of the day and helping towards his man of the match award. Discipline was once again as good as it gets on a rugby field but when the laws were stretched the ref didn’t miss much and on 16 minutes the Sarries once again gave Dano the welcome chance to add to the visitors tally, which he did with his pendulum like boot.
It wasn’t all one way traffic and to be honest the home side were unlucky not to get a couple of tries with one such effort being knocked on over the line after some great defensive work from a team that don’t like to give anything away. With only 2 minutes to go the Wanderers were determined to have the last word, with a display of total rugby No. 9 Karl went over for the last 5 of the day.
One piece of trivia from the last couple of weeks, the Argaum 2nds defence has stood strong and not let a single point through in 3 hours of rugby.