May 19
Champions!
With the new league set up for Beijing rugby this year,it was only right for the best team in Beijing and possibly China...make it tothe final! They took on the locals known only as 'Beijing Team' in what was a gamefull of fireworks and some impressive displays of skill.
The Devils have started slowly in most of their gamesthis season and having lost to Beijing in the last matchup, there were somenervous faces floating around for the Devils. But once the whistle went it waspretty clear they were well up for the contest!
Devils managed a get a penalty early, after someimpressive work in defence. They kicked to touch and made plenty of groundcourtesy of Fraser, which set the platform for a phase of play that coach Mikehas only been able to dream of this season! A clean catch and drive pushed Beijing back and sucked in a few of the backs and then the ball was passed outto coach Mike himself who held his man beautifully before passing it onto Jackwho scored in the corner and Fraser slotted home the extra 7-0 Devils, less than 5 minutes gone.
It was all Devils for the next 20 minutes and they looked like a well-oiled machine and it was clear the Devils wanted this win badly and were not going to disappoint the fans. The forwards set the platform again with some huge scrums andobliterated the Beijing scrum 5 meters out from their try line and Gloucester legend Buxton just had to control the ball at the back of the scrum and wait for the forward to cross the line.
It was only a minute later Tobby scored in the corner following a lovely p**s off and hands from Brent, giving Devils a healthy lead nearing halftime, 19-0. Unfortunately, following the try, Tobby one of our youngest players dislocated his shoulder from a hard hit. After the pause in play the Devils got stronger and again Tobby and Brent worked well together to start putting the game to bed. Brent beat his man then bulldozed his way over the supporting defender and off loaded to Tobby running the support line. 24-0.
It had been all Devils for most of the game, but Beijing was not giving up and the Devils knew if they gave them opportunities in brokenplay and space they will capitalise and one of their players raced through afrenzy of flinging arms to score under the posts, 24-7.
However, following the restart, the game took a sour note and what can only be described as some disgraceful play by several opposition players. Punches were being thrown and one sub decided to come in with his version of a karate kick at the Devils. Fortunately, his kick landed on the body of Ali, which was much like a glass hitting a brick wall. Devils kept their cool and did not react and from resulting play the sub was red carded, somehow that was the only card...importantly though Devils were hurt and we set the example by not rising to the foul play. There wasn't much to report after that!
Halftime with the scores 24-7.
The start of the second half Devils got a penalty and our second row turned professional kicker Andrew kicked at posts to settle the nerves following the scuffle in the first half. 27-7
However, despite settling the nerves some poor defence in the middle field gave Beijing a try under the posts. A lapse in concentration again meant we opened the door for Beijing again.
The next 20 minutes play was relatively even with both teams hitting hard and giving away penalties or knocks. The slow ball did play into the Devils' hands, but we couldn't capitalise on those opportunities. Eventually though through a rolling maul which went 30 meters, we put the Devils on the scoreboard again and gave Ali some space to jump over the line 32-7.
The last 10 minutes was all Devils though and credit to Beijing who fronted up in defence, but there was little they could do with the tired bodies having to take down our big runners in Jason, Buxton, Chris and Poese. The final nail in the coffin came from a well-worked set-piece, pick and go at the back of a scrum and Buxton who ran a lovely line offloaded to Poese running on the inside line who crashed over and then converted his own try.
Final score 41-14.
Devils are crowned champions!