Sherwood Park – An air-tight defence by the Strathcona Druids sucked the life out of St. Albert's premier men's rugby team Saturday.
Every drive by the first 15 died short of the try line in the 23-9 Alberta Cup victory by the Druids at Lynn Davies Rugby Park.
“Their defence was outstanding,” said head coach Jo Hull. “We just couldn’t break through them.”
A stout defensive line forced the firsts to kick for points. British fullback Antony Fitch stroked two penalties and with three minutes left in the first half. Australian standoff Troy Jeffs pulled off a nifty drop goal to give the firsts a brief 6-3 lead.
“It was a tough go all around for us. Their defence was superb and we didn’t match the physicality today,” said second-row Brian Pendlebury. “They were coming up quick on defence, which we weren’t able to adjust to quick enough, and our game plan didn’t follow through because of that.”
With under 15 minutes remaining, and the Druids hanging to a 15-9 lead, they refused to wilt as the firsts inched their way down field during a lengthy drive that got as far as a lineout outside the five-metre line before the ball switched hands.
Less than 10 minutes later, the firsts pushed towards the five before the drive stalled and the Druids regained possession.
The Druids would go on to kick a long penalty to go up by nine and added the exclamation mark with a game-ending try.
“Our defence was really, really strong. There were times we could’ve let them in but we put our heads down and stuck at it,” said eight-man Johnny Clarke of the Druids. “Our forwards played really, really well but the backs finished everything that we give them. Our set phases were consistent and strong and we were able to split them open and kept the pressure on.”
Fitch struck from outside the 22 in the 11th minute and the Druids replied 15 minutes later from in front of the five.
Late in the half the firsts were poised to regain the lead but couldn't push their way into the try area despite a couple of good cracks from close range. Their last stab at scoring followed a brief skirmish in the try area between Pendlebury and a Druids forward. Both players were yellow carded and didn't rejoin the proceedings until five minutes into the second half.
“They were holding down one of our players when we had a penalty (called against the Druids) so I took my creative liberties to remove him from holding down our player,” Pendlebury said.
After the firsts were rebuked by the Druids for points, Jeffs split the uprights with a good poke at the ball.
However the Druids charged back to score off a ruck with a determined run and the conversion made it 10-6 to end the half.
“Our first half was really strong. We came out and really took it to them,” said Clarke, an Irish import and the Druids’ man of the match.
The firsts played with a sense of urgency after the break.
“After everything kind of got less scrappy we retained our focus again and we were able to apply our game plan a little bit better,” Pendlebury said.
After Fitch kicked his second penalty with 13 minutes gone in the second half, the Druids wasted little time finding holes in the firsts’ defence to pad their lead with a try.
The Druids (2-0) continued to lock it down defensively and with time winding down they capitalized on their chances.
“We didn’t get complacent and let them back in. When we scored that first try in the second half that pretty much closed them off,” said Clarke, 25. “There were a lot of tired bodies out there and there were a few stoppages too and sometimes that can take away continuity but we stuck at it and kept going.”
The firsts dialed up the desire towards the end, as several substitutions brought fresh legs onto the pitch, but the visitors couldn't finish what they started.
“We started to get possession back in the second half and control the game a lot more but ultimately they played their game and they were a bit more controlled and more disciplined than us. Our mistakes cost us that game,” said Hull.
“They controlled the game from the start. They deserved the win today,” she added, noting the Druids’ discipline at the breakdown was a factor in the outcome. “We just couldn’t contain our own ball, which was disappointing.”
The loss was a step backwards by St. Albert standards after the firsts manhandled the Calgary Irish 57-3 the previous weekend in Leduc for their first win.
“We’re really disappointed. You can see the guys are not happy,” Hull said. “This is a new team, a young team that is building, but that is no excuse. We were poor today.”
The firsts are an up-and-down 1-2 going into Saturday’s match against the Irish (0-2) in Calgary.
“This was a game we wanted to use to build towards the future,” said Pendlebury, 30. “We can’t play like this every game so we’re going to come out on Tuesday (at training) and we’re going to refocus our heads and get ourselves back into the Alberta Cup.”
SCRUM BALLS: New Zealand import Sam Norris made his St. Albert debut against the Druids at scrum-half and took his lumps physically. Norris is the third scrum-half to start for the firsts this season.
Last Thursday the second 15 hung on after a quick start to post a 17-14 win against the Druids (1-1) in Sherwood Park.
The seconds (2-0) tackle the Clansmen (0-3) Saturday at 2 p.m. at Airways Park.
A skeleton third 15 squad dug deep to grind out a 5-0 decision Saturday against the Penguins (0-1) in Cold Lake.
The thirds (1-1) scrum down June 14 against the LA Crude (0-1-1) at 7 p.m. in Leduc.
