Cambridge 7 - 20 Army

On Wednesday night a young Cambridge side lost to the Army in a flowing game that demonstrated plenty of running rugby, and deserved a better score line. The visitors were ultimately the stronger of the two sides sporting a much heavier pack and this strength, along with their military discipline, earned them two tries during the eighty minutes; one at the beginning and one at the end of the second half. Throughout the first half the Cambridge back line looked the more dangerous of the two and holes seemed to appear everywhere, especially off set piece play and on the counter attack. However, the Blues were often let down by a handling error after three or so promising phases. The army spent most of the first half kicking tactically to the corners having soaked up the pressure and waited for the mistakes to come. The only points of the half came from two comfortably slotted penalties for the Army and at half time the Blues were deservedly six points down.

The first 5 minutes of the second half were probably the best of the game for the Army. After some strong runs by the forwards the inside centre ploughed over the line, and with the conversion added the away team had opened a thirteen point gap. Despite this, the Cambridge team were still comfortable running from deep, and the game started to liven up. Unfortunately they were matched by the Army’s Fijian outside backs, who, on more than one occasion, attacked as a group, even calling their moves in Fijian. In this open stage of play Cambridge were looking dangerous, twice seeming to have got the army cover defence beaten but, as in the first half, they were let down both times at the final pass.

Cambridge’s only points came from replacement centre Miles Daly, after a looping pass from the Army centres bounced into the hands of James Greenwood and two slick offloads later Daly was able to stretch out and score. An impressive try for the Jesus captain, who is still eligible for the U20s.The army finished the half with the intensity they had at the start and managed to get another try. The move started deep in their own half and was only stopped close to the Blue’s line, albeit illegally. They then piled on the pressure with a strong, dominant scrum, and a few phases later barged their way through. The final score was 20-7 but the Blues will be happy nonetheless with the promising, positive, running rugby that they produced, especially with such a youthful side.