Saturday April 2nd 2011
Cobham 37 pts Independent Schools Barbarians 31 pts
On a fine day for rugby both sides played some thrilling rugby to provide a great spectacle for the large crowd, that included the unbeaten Cobham 1st team of 1963/64 who gathered for a bit of lunch and were able to enjoy seeing Cobham U18s win by 7 tries and a conversion to 5 tries and 3 conversions in a tough pulsating game.
The early exchanges set the tone for the game. The Cobham forward pack were able to push the scrums back and drive an early line-out 20 metres, whilst the Baabaas played a skilful offload game that tested the Cobham defence and organisation.
Cobham took an early 10-0 lead through 2 similar tries. The first from a line-out drive finished by Bliss, and the second an even more comprehensive drive from a line-out that ended with Coutts driving over. However the Baabaas kept coming with the offload game and even though the Cobham tackling was ferocious the Baabaas created gaps on 2 occasions to take a 12-10 lead after 20 minutes. Straight after the Baabaas second try Cobham created a good try. A straight ahead kick off was claimed by Peacock who drove on, and after the ball was moved right the forwards drove to the line where Philip scored the try. Both sides were playing good rugby despite the referee slowing the flow down with some eccentric decisions, but Cobham had the better of the second quarter, twice getting close to scoring another try before another good forward drive led to McCallum getting the try, converted by Sharpe
Half-time: 22-12
The marauding Irishman, Flynn, came on in the second half but he gave a silly penalty away which gave the Babas the momentum to play some neat rugby before scoring in the left corner. After this Cobham played strongly, with the backs coming more into the game and after some big drives from Stout and Coutts, the ball came right where Mathews and Burns provided space for Sharpe to burst clear to score in the corner. However the game was ebbing and flowing nicely and pressure from the Baabaas created a charge down from which they scored a simple try.
The Cobham forwards then took hold of the game. They kept it tight for a while with a series of drives from Mays and Stout taking play deep into the Babas 22, from which the ball was passed to Peter Saunders who took his try well in the corner. Then when Cobham took turnover ball, the forwards again were able to set up a line-out platform and the pack drove 10 metres before Coutts was able to drop and drive through the defence to score his second try. There was just time for the Baabaas to show true spirit and create space with a series of good offloads to gain the final try of a quite breathtaking game.
The platform for the victory was set by the forwards, with the front row dominating and the back row tackling and running hard with Stout and Cragg having strong games. Bliss ran the show from half back, and though the normal fluidity of the Cobham backs was missing at times the midfield defence of Jones, Swindell and Mathews never wavered.
The commitment and drive of the whole side was excellent in a very tough game, which was exhausting to watch let alone play in. They all deserved their beers after the game.
Our thanks to the Barbarians for a really tough but enjoyable game and we wish them well on their forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe.
NM
