Six tries for Hornets in a scorcher

Hornets notched their second successive bonus point win against a stubborn Loughborough Students’ side in searing heat at Epinal Way on Saturday, although two late tries from the home side cost Hinckley top spot in the division on points difference. Nevertheless, this was a pleasing performance in conditions that would normally have better suited the brand of rugby played by their opponents than that to which Hinckley are more used to. That said, the fact that the two sides were able to play at all in the extreme heat was testimony to the fitness and resilience of both teams.

The score suggests that the game was a tighter affair than it was in reality with the two late tries giving a greater degree of respectability to the scoreline from a Loughborough perspective than perhaps was deserved. At 40-17 with just nine minutes to play, the score had the look of a heavy defeat for the Students which would have been a little unfair. Loughborough competed throughout the game but the difference was perhaps that Hinckley were just that little bit more streetwise. With Hinckley claiming six tries to their opponents five though, it was never dull.

In many ways it was a curious affair with Hinckley being matched, if not bettered in areas of the game that they would have expected to boss – the lineout being one – while their back play (usually an area of strength for the Students) looked sharper and quicker than their opponents.

‘Overall, I was delighted with the performance,’ commented DOR Chris Campbell after the game. ‘As far as I am aware, Hinckley have never won at Loughborough University and such milestones are important, especially with a squad littered with Loughborough alumni.’

‘Our backs looked really threatening in the first half and our shape is coming together nicely. The try which Callum Dacey in particular scored I thought was excellent in terms of our team play leading up to it.’

‘We tired in the last 10 minutes and that allowed Loughborough to score those two late tries. We are fitter than I think we have been in previous seasons but given the heat, against what are close to full time athletes, I wasn’t hugely surprised. However, what we didn’t do was manage it well and that’s something we need to look at.’

Hornets had opened the scoring in the ninth minute when a series of scrum penalties allowed Hinckley to set up a catch and drive close to the Loughborough line but the execution, so clinical last week, was lacking. A Loughborough knock-on though gave Hinckley a second chance this time from the scrum. The result was a try for Callum Dacey which Archie Heard converted with ease.

Students responded with a short-range catch and drive just four minutes later after Hornets had been penalised for a high tackle to pull the score back to 5-7 and there was little to separate the two sides as the game entered the second quarter.

Hornets though were the next to strike when a lovely break by the Hinckley backs from a line-out on hallway ended when Nigel Mukerati managed to wrestle his way over the line despite the best efforts of the last-ditch Loughborough defenders. Heard again notched the extras.
Two further tries in quick succession, the first from Ed Drake-Lee after Dacey had broken the students’ line on halfway, the second a solo effort from Ben Pointon jinking through from the Loughborough 22m line put Hornets in firm control at 5-26 with halftime approaching. Students did though grab one back from another short-range catch and drive to stay in touch at the interval.

The gap was further reduced almost immediately on the return when, with the referee playing advantage after Hornets had been penalised at a scrum in their own 22m, Students chipped the ball into the in-goal area and Jake Metcalfe beat Dacey to the catch.

At 17-26, there was all to play for but Hornets were able to re-assert control with two further tries in quick succession to take the lead to 23 points. Dale Bowyer claimed his sixth try of the season in much the same way as the other five, being driven over from a short-range line-out, and then Morgan Tunneycliff collected the ball to go over when Ben Pointon had been hauled down just short after being fed by Mukerati from the base of a scrum on the Loughborough 10m line. Heard’s conversion took it to 17-40 with almost half almost half an hour still on the clock and the game seemed to be over as a contest.

From there, the game did drift a little until a yellow card for Paul Wells reduced Hinckley to 14 men for the last ten minutes. Students took advantage of the extra man to stretch the tiring Hornets, grabbing two tries in quick succession, and there were a few anxious moments in the dying minutes but Hornets had done enough earlier on to hold out for the win.

Nick Robinson