Farnham welcomed old friends and rivals Old Reigatians on Saturday. The two clubs have grown and developed in parallel over the past ten years and invariably produce close and close fiercely fought contests. This encounter was no exception but sadly it ended in controversial circumstances and, for some, a sour atmosphere.
The scene was set for an old fashioned, wet weather battle. The pitch was sodden and the rain incessant as Farnham kicked off towards the nursery end. Early sparring was on equal terms. Both sides had talented, physical forwards and speedy, inventive backs. A good game beckoned. Gradually Farnham asserted an element of control. The kick and chase game from the back three pushed the visitors back into their own marshland of a twenty two. Jack Scullion, the Cornish full back with a kick like a mule, backed by flying wingers Reece Stennet and Tom Cerullo hassled and hustled the ORs defence. They win a penalty and Scullion kicked to the corner.
Ben Brown, the hooker, has worked on his throwing and picked out prime jumper Ben Adams on the five metre line. With the maul set Farnham smuggled the ball back to Liam Welch at No. 8 and drove aggressively for the line. Welch plunged over for and the first score of the afternoon. 5-0. The conversion is by Toby Salmon in difficult slippery conditions.
The Reigate boys rattled back but Farnham held the upper hand. Marco Azevado, Jules Joris and Ben Adams led the breakouts backed by Rob Mitchell with the back row of Toby Comley, Liam Welch and Andrew Kidd. With Ben Adams often at first receiver, the plan was direct and aggressive. Drive up the middle through Centres Michael Salmon and Declan Kavanagh supported by Welch who, in particular, marauded at pace and covered virtually the whole of the pitch.
On 28 minutes Farnham repeated their previously successful move. Scullion kicked a penalty to the corner where an accurate catch and drive allowed that man Welch to barrel over for his second of the day. The backs joined in on the maul to up their involvement levels and claim that they helped – a bit!
10-0 with half time on the horizon and ORs launched a series of multi-pronged attacks. Desperate defence from the Black and Whites and a yellow card for Ben Adams adjudged to have deliberately knocked on to deflect the OR pass. An easy three points for Reigatian. 10-3 and a well-deserved break after a sapping first half.
Still the rain fell as both sides probed for the advantage. Farnham with 14 men struggled to keep the visitors at bay. They needed a spark but the ORs were determined to drive home their advantage. Sweeping out to the left the OR fly half spotted the Farnham right wing isolated and put in an inch perfect cross field kick for the score. 10-8 and all to play for.
The pace rose and the tackles upped in intensity. It was a case of “next to blink”. Hooker Ben Brown went down with a broken nose and prop Joris went off with a recurrence of an old injury. Farnham had no replacement front rowers left with Andy Naisbitt and Connor Haynes already on the field. The outcome was the dreaded and much maligned unopposed scrum. Imagine the frustration as sixteen fully grown, testosterone-driven men now leant on each other. The temperature rose.
There is a rule for squads of 23 players that under these circumstances the side without the replacement front rower must remove a player from the field thus giving the edge to the team with a full complement. The referee determined that rule did not apply to this game with squads of 18 and the game continued at 15 a side.
The Reigatian coaching staff were incensed and we had the unedifying spectacle of a coach on the field of play on his phone to the league secretary to clarify the law. The young referee was unmoved having made his decision. The atmosphere continued to deteriorate.
At this level of rugby the referee is the sole, isolated arbiter. Taken to its extreme a situation could arise, for example, in which a team continuously plays offside but the referee, from his perspective, deems them on side. Could the losing team lodge a complaint and demand the game void on the grounds that the referee was always wrong? If so, the whole structure of our great game would be swept away. What would Nigel Owens say?
Farnham took advantage of the disruption and raced away to a flattering 32-8 bonus point win with superb break out tries from Toby Salmon (2), Dave Flower and the coup-de-grace from Rob Mitchell converted by Toby Salmon.
That’s 7 from 7 for Farnham with the top of the table clash at Battersea Ironsides next week. It should be a high-octane game as the Irons are enjoying tremendous success leveraging the Kyle Sinckler factor and congratulations to them for doing so.
Podium points
Toby Salmon – 3 raced away for the lung busting, match winning tries.
Liam Welch – 2 with another superb all-round performance.
Marco Azevado – 1 dominated the scrum during the opposed period.