WORCESTERSHIRE & HEREFORDSHIRE RFU Vs SHROPSHIRE RFU
15/03/2023
THREE COUNTIES CUP
Wednesday 15th March saw the 3rd round of the Three Counties Cup commence. W&H had been scheduled to travel to Greater Birmingham earlier in the month, but had to concede the fixture due to availability issues, thus giving Greater Birmingham a free pass to the final after narrowly beating Shropshire in the opening round. No such free pass would be given to Shropshire though, who travelled through the wind and driving rain to Woodrush RFC to take on W&H at their home venue. With a squad of 22 players, and 16 debutants for W&H, it was apparent that this would be a hotly contested fixture, with the winner meeting Greater Birmingham in the final at Newport Salop RUFC on March 29th.
The rain and wind had slowly intensified all day, culminating in conditions less than ideal for Shropshire’s brand of expansive rugby. From W&H’s kick off, the slippery ball was spilled off the field, giving the opposition an early lineout close to the Shropshire 22. Several phases of hard lines and particularly soft defending saw W&H crash over from close range, and after adding the extras, they were 7-0 up after only 4 minutes. Trying to steady the ship, Shropshire tried to kick deep on the restart, but once the wind got hold of the ball, it was only ever going out on the full, giving W&H a centerfield scrum. Chris Pinner duly kicked W&H deep into Shropshire territory, and after fumble of the ball, W&H crashed over for their second try of the night after only 10 minutes. At 10-0 down, Shropshire looked in danger of being mauled by a motivated W&H team unless they could cut out the errors and play in the right areas of the pitch. The following 20 minutes was a battle for possession and territory, with neither team looking keen to run the ball and throw risky passes. A smart box kick from Will Lever put Shropshire deep into W&H’s 22, and after conceding a penalty 10 metres out for going off their feet, Lever took the penalty quick and sniped over for Shropshire’s opening try. Lever added the extras to leave the half time score at 12-7 in W&H’s favour.
The half time talk rallied the troops and after just 2 minutes into the second half, a switch back in play gave debutant winger, Rhys Williams the chance to coast over in the corner virtually unopposed. Williams had the presence of mind to get as close to the posts as possible which delighted Lever who duly tacked on the extras. Having taken the lead at 12-14 for the first time in the match, Shropshire were now in the ascendancy and hard yards from Dan Bolton and Zac Williams had W&H on the back foot for the first time in the match. The match was far from over, and W&H continued to battle back into Shropshire’s territory forcing a penalty in front of the sticks. The attempt drifted just wide, but less than 30 seconds later, Shropshire infringed at the breakdown on their own 22 and gave the W&H kicker a much easier attempt, which he calmy slotted to retake the lead 15-14.
Entering the final 15 minutes of the game, both teams were starting to fatigue as the pitch cut up under foot and became very hard to run on.
Shropshire, still attempting to stretch the defence with their expansive gameplay, troubled the W&H line several times, but at the last pass, a handling error almost seemed to save W&H from losing their slender lead. A break away from Bolton on halfway gave Shropshire their best chance to catch W&H on the turn and support from Sergeant and Tait gave debutant centre Sam Brooks the chance to show his footwork and after beating several defenders, he dotted down for his first try for the county. Lever was unable to add the extras, leaving the score at a perilously close 14-19 in Shropshire’s favour.
The final seconds of the game saw Shropshire try to keep W&H in their 22, until a break from their illusive winger threw the result in doubt. Scrambling defence from Mahal, Sergeant and Tait managed to haul the winger down on halfway and force a scrum after a knock on. Captain Deery, who was now filling in at front row wanted to tap and go to run down the clock, however the referee heard a call to take the scrum and it was Deery’s time to shine. Pushing W&H back, the ball was secured, and Lever punted the ball into row Z to win the game 15-19 for Shropshire.
Shropshire will now meet Greater Birmingham on 29th March in a final that replays the first round. Will Greater Birmingham have bolstered their squad, will Shropshire have a point to prove on their home turf… It’ll be a winner takes all to be crowned Three Counties Cup Champions!
Written by Peter ThomasMatch
