It was as if the heavens parted for Corsairs at The Bay as the visitors for their first NLD Vase encounter arrived for the first game of 2023.

Ollie kicked off the match and Corsairs immediately started to pile on the pressure, securing rucks and moving the ball well along the back line until it eventually found Adam on the right wing, sending him over for the home team’s first score of the match within just a couple of minutes.

From the restart, Jay took cleanly and rampaged through the centre of the field to take the ball straight back into the opposition half, assisted by Tom ‘The Beast’ G. Corsairs went through the phases, securing ball each time an attacker was tackled until good use of the back line again sent the ball whistling out to Jacob, who found Emilio who was then brought down just inside the Chesterfield 22, but not before he managed to offload to Giles, who exploited the gap created and ran the rest of the distance to place the ball down behind the posts, setting up Ollie for a straightforward conversion, which he duly scored. 12-0.

The Chesterfield restart didn’t go 10 metres, so the referee brought both teams back to the halfway line for a Corsairs scrummage. The Green Machine, awesome as ever, secured their own put in effortlessly, with Ollie rocketing the ball to Giles who carved through the defence again, releasing Stanley, on the left wing, to get deep back into the 22 before being tackled into touch. Despite Chesterfield being awarded the lineout, Corsairs quickly pirated the ball away to Giles, who floated a pass into the waiting arms of Hari W, sending him through the posts for the next try, again clinically converted by Ollie.

Chesterfield were finding themselves under enormous pressure each time they kicked off into the longing arms of the Green and White Tsunami, which generally washed their defence far back into their own 22 each time. The next kick off was to be no exception. The first errors were committed inside the opposition 22, resulting in a Corsairs scrum from which Ollie attempted a successful pick and go to score Corsairs next.

From the next restart, Corsairs were penalised for a high tackle and the visitors elected to kick for touch. This put Chesterfield in a position which posed a threat to their opposition. Unfortunately for them, the throw wasn’t received by the jumpers and Ben stole away from the back of the lineout with the ball in hand and took it all the way back to the opponents’ 22, ably assisted by Myles B, who looked like he’d been training for a marathon today judging by the positions he continued to ‘pop up’ in throughout the game. Once camped in the 22, Corsairs went through the phases, dazzling with their lines of running and finally confusing the defence enough to launch Hari W over for his second try of the match, to the left of the posts. Although a more difficult angle, Ollie still stepped up and came home with the goods to make it 31-0.

Stanley was brought off for a well-earned rest, allowing Corsairs’ own Forrest Gump, Charlie P to come on and make his presence felt almost immediately, evading three tacklers on the left wing before unfortunately not quite getting a clean enough ball away to Jacob, resulting in a knock on inside the Corsairs half. Not to matter. The Green Machine knew what had to be done as the pack juggernauted the opposition off their put in to win against the head and send The Beast, galloping the length of the pitch to score the next try without serious challenge.

From the next restart, George gathered, and like a carbon copy of Jay’s earlier run, smashed his way into the opposition defenders to come out the other side of the halfway line before being brought to a halt. From the ruck, the ball found Jack, who once again found George, getting them well into the 22 on this occasion. From the breakdown, the ball started to move swiftly along the line where an overlap had developed on the left wing. On this occasion, it didn’t need to go the distance as Giles spotted a gap, changed his angle of running, and hoodwinked the defence into allowing him in for yet another try. The whistle sounded for half time seeing Corsairs 41 points up with no response.

The second half kicked off, much like the first, with Corsairs quickly ploughing a furrow through their opposition to send Hari W over for a hat trick and putting Corsairs within touching distance of an early win, according to NLD rules. Adam also managed to convert the try, edging his team even closer.

The counterattack from the next phase of Chesterfield possession started with Jack-al, who jackaled the ball successfully and used the line superbly to get the ball to Hari W. Spotting Charlie P on his right shoulder, Hari kicked a clever little grubber into space where he knew Charlie could get hands to it as it crossed the try line.

The referee now had to blow the whistle and award the match to Corsairs, who completely dominated throughout. The pack were magnificent, winning all their own ball and many against the head in the scrums and lineouts. The rucking was textbook, with the lads all covering quickly and securing the ball. Finally, the ball was moved well along the back line, showing what Corsairs can do when not afraid to use the width and bring every player into the game. Passing was confident and players were recognising when the team had created overlaps.

All players stepped up today, as the result suggests, but Man of the Match was deservedly won by Adam. A new player this season, whose background with the wrong shaped ball we can quickly forget if he continues to put in performances like today’s. He is obviously a natural ball player with good hand-eye coordination and is quickly proving to be a big asset to the team.

It was great to see the lads start the New Year off with a high and to have total control of the game. However, we can bank on the next match against Dinnington not letting Corsairs get all their own way. If the boys can replicate the same level of skill shown today against greater defensive pressure and not be phased by it, there is no reason why the Green & White Tsunami cannot prove to be an impenetrable wall and continue recent success with washing more opposition aside.

Nottingham Corsairs RFC

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Meet time

Location

Team Sponsors

Login