Round 6: Europa Stormers 27 – 22 Buccaneers
Thursday evening saw the two top teams in the League go head to head in Round 6 of the u-mee Gibraltar Rugby Championship, with DHL Europa Stormers earning the bragging rights, with a narrow bonus point win against the undefeated Ibex Buccaneers. But it could have been a different result had the Buccaneers controlled their possession better and taken their chances when they made them.
It was a strong start from the visitors but rather than convert their possession into points, too often they were penalised, allowing the hosts to clear. The Buccaneers did cross the line but a double movement meant that the score didn’t stand and, despite having the better of the territory, it was the Stormers who almost scored first. The ball was shifted out to the wing where full back, Shay McDonnell, raced down the wing, only to be tugged back as he put his grubber kick through. Nothing came of the resultant penalty and it wasn’t until around the 20th minute that the Buccaneers broke the deadlock with Albert Loddo taking a crash ball to beat what, until then, had been a pretty mean defence. Ed Lewis duly converted and the Buccaneers were 0-7 up.
The next quarter, however, was blue and white as the Stormers turned their defence into attack. They exploited the Buccaneers wasted possession and showed some great handling along their back line with their two big centres punching holes in the defence. A lovely move worked the ball wide to Carlos Navarro, who, still with work to do, broke the final tackle to score in the corner. No more than five minutes later, fly half Simon Adamson, who dictated much of the Stormers game, made an audacious step to break through the Buccaneers defensive line, and then had the legs to win the race to the goal line. Scoring under the posts made his conversion that much easier. Keeping up the pressure, the Stormers missed a clear overlap opportunity but, from the next play, made amends with another score in the top left hand corner. This time it was Jensen Bosio that got his name on the scoresheet, finishing off another lovely passing move.
You would not have predicted 17-7 at half time on the first 20 minutes action, but as the teams went into the break, it was the Buccaneers who were on the ropes and needing to re-group. But they were hit again, straight from kick off, conceding a penalty in front of the posts and Adamson slotted it from 35 metres out. This seemed to spur the Buccaneers into action and they started to raise the tempo and physicality. They were less careless with the ball, started running some good lines and found their passing more accurate. Gathering momentum, and with quick hands, they worked the ball along the line to Loddo, who grabbed his second try of the evening to bring the Buccaneers right back into the game. It was the Stormers who were reeling now, and they’ve been guilty of switching off in the third quarter of previous games. Ed Lewis, playing a pivotal role for the Buccaneers, took advantage and with a wonderful wide pass split the defence, giving Luke Payas a straightforward canter over the line. And, with 10 minutes left on the clock, Josh Curwen, on his debut, charged down a clearance kick, collected the ball and showed just how quick he is by beating the chasing defenders to add another try to the scoreboard.
Having clawed their way back in to lead 20-22, it should have been game over, but the Buccaneers continued to push for another score rather than control possession and see out the clock. They gave away an innocuous penalty on the right wing, but didn’t set their defence properly, and quick ball over to the opposite the wing was picked up by McDonnell who galloped through the defence to take back the lead for the Stormers, who’s effort was also converted by Adamson. Much as they tried, the Buccaneers couldn’t get the possession they needed and it was the same McDonnell who stopped a promising break in the last play of the night.
With referee Barley’s final whistle, the Buccaneers will rue the loss of their undefeated status, but stay top of the table. The Stormers, however, are on a roll, recording their third consecutive win, and the margin at the top is now down to only five points.
u-mee Gibraltar Rugby Championship 