| RCL Finish 2014 with Hugely Significant Win
At the week-end Rugby Club Luxembourg (RCL)'s 1st XV took on the DRV South/West league leaders RC Rottweil at Luxembourg city's Stade Josy Barthel, coming away with a 12-5 win in what was to be the last game before the winter break. The visitors had won every match, save one with a bonus-point win, prior to this game and started the match in exactly the manner you would expect: quickly winning the ball back after the kick-off, they kept RCL on the back foot for the first few minutes of the game. The home side managed to get out of their half after winning a penalty, and started to get a better grasp of the game - kicking into the corners when in their own half and chasing well to pressure the opposition back-three into making mistakes. The game was very evenly balanced throughout the first-half. Rottweil had the best chances, getting close to the line on a few occasions, though RCL’s defence stayed strong, keeping them off the scoreboard. Centre Stephane Decaris unfortunately had to be taken off the field after taking a hit to the head. RCL’s chance came thirty minutes into the game when fly-half Max Dozin almost found winger Filip Vymon with a cross-field kick. The ball bounced awkwardly and just out of his reach. Rottweil were deemed to be offside a few phases later giving RCL a chance to come away with three points, though Max Dozin was unable to convert the kick from out wide. Just as Rottweil dominated the first five minutes of the half, the home side laid down their marker in the last five. Winger Adrian Timmermans created RCL’s first try of the game. On the counter-attack, he kicked the ball into space out wide, seeing the full-back out of position. Though Filip Vymon lost the foot race, the ball bounced in his favour this time around, at the expense of his opposite man, allowing him to score in the corner, converted from the touchline by Max Dozin. The away team seemed determined to get a try back before half-time and were able to mount a good attack deep in RCL’s half. In a fantastic display of forward dominance though, RCL’s pack drove the German scrum back five metres until they collapsed, winning a penalty in the dying seconds of the first-half.
RCL take control of the match
The second half was a much more one-sided game, with over 80% of the half being played in the German half of the field. RCL stuck to their game plan, kicking for territory and pressuring the opposition into making mistakes. The home side kept the momentum up from the end of the first half and went on the attack straight away. Five minutes into the game, after a few phases of play, Max Dozin quickly switched the direction of attack, releasing full-back Peter Hartman who was stopped just ten meters short. RCL were awarded a penalty though for not rolling away which they chose to kick into touch rather than take the three points. Captain Pol Remedi was rewarded for his decision in the end with a try, scored by scrum-half Steven Clarke, from a maul off the back of the line-out, unsuccessfully converted. The home side had plenty of chances after their second try; Captain Pol Remedi almost scored after charging down a kick, then a great break by Steven Clarke leading to nothing, two unsuccessfully converted penalties and twice RCL were stopped just short of the line. RCL grew slightly overconfident however, and let Rottweil back into the match ten minutes from the end. Adrian Timmermans looked to counter-attack after the German fly-half failed to kick into touch, but Rottweil’s kick-chase did extremely well to tackle him back in the home sides half. The visitors quickly turned the ball over and chipped over the top of the defence. A mix up between RCL’s full-back and winger ended up forcing the home side to ground the ball in the in-goal area and concede a five-metre scrum. RCL managed to hold out for a while but when they conceded a penalty in front of the line, they could do little to stop a much bigger back mauling the ball over the line, unsuccessfully converted. Though RCL continued to control the game in the last few minutes, the game did open up with Rottweil looking to attack whenever they got their hands on the ball. In the dying seconds of the game the German team looked to play out wide but lost the ball in contact allowing Filip Vymon to kick the ball into touch, just crossing the touchline, to end the game |
