Queen’s College vs Dale College
In miserable conditions Queen's College beat Dale College 6-0 in Queenstown during the Queen's reunion weekend.
Queen’s reunion match was played in front of an expectant crowd which turned up in their numbers despite the horrendous weather which consisted of driving rain and bitterly cold winds. The game was characterised by two teams who defended very well and, mainly because of the weather, had few opportunities on attack.
Queen’s kicked off and were immediately on attack after turning the ball over from the kick-off. Sustained Queen’s pressure led to an early Queen’s line out that was beautifully mauled for 15 metres over the try-line only for Queen's to knock the ball on when it would have been simpler to dot it down for the try.
After this early missed opportunity the game settled down, but the weather conditions made it difficult to play any constructive rugby and the first half fizzled out into a half of handling errors and few try-scoring opportunities. Queen’s College certainly dominated in terms of possession and territory with Dale doing most of the defending; however, the only scoring come through the educated boot of Queen’s captain Simon Bolze who slotted a relatively simple penalty half way through the half.
The second half unfolded in much the same way as the first with Queen’s dominating possession and territory, and although the score remained close, they seemed in complete control of the match without ever putting Dale to bed. There was always the chance of a knock on being kicked through leading to a break away try from Dale, which would see them take the lead (and in these conditions that was always a possibility for either side). This led to an intense atmosphere around the Recreation Ground for much of the game.
Queen’s sustained pressure did lead to Simon Bolze converting another penalty mid-way through the half, to send Queen’s into a 6-0 lead.
Dale had their best opportunity soon after that with an attacking line-out right on the Queen's goal-line after a good kick and chase lead to Queen's bundling the ball out on their goal-line. Queen's defended it very well and forced a knock on allowing them to clear their lines.
The Queen’s supporters then believed the tension was over and the game sewn up when the Queen’s boys scored a well worked try in the corner only for the referee to – correctly – call a forward pass in the build-up. Queen’s managed to keep Dale pinned in the half for the remainder of the game and eventually the final whistle went and Queen’s won the defence-dominated match 6-0.
Both teams must be commended on their defensive efforts, allowing each other very little on attack which was difficult enough because of the weather conditions.
By Murray Basset
