Pleb's kosläpp

After a 6 month off season of cold trainings and no games the mighty Plebs were eager to retake the rugby field in a friendly match away against Vänersborg. An early start followed by a 5 hour drive didn’t put a dampener on the occasion and the players looked like cows being released in Spring, with a noticeable bounce in their step when lining up on Saturday. The game began well for the visiting side, having good structure allowed for a series of hands in which forwards and backs were involved resulting in young powerhouse centre Fillip Grillfors to crash over 5 meters from touch, opening Uppsala’s account at 0-5.

Vänersborg would not take this lying down though. Subsequently a long defensive set for Uppsala with continued efforts to clear the lines, the wind and several silly penalties however kept the away pinned in their own 22 for over 10 minutes. 5 quick penalties given by Uppsala in the red zone lead to Vänersborg being awarded a penalty try; the score now 7-5.

Uppsala would have to step up to the pressure now and step up they did, after a few hard runs and strong attacks the pressure was now building on Vänersborg. With great heads-up rugby, Captain, Johnny Gorman, called for the ball in space tying up one defender and a superb offload put geriatric giant Per Adofolson diving through just to the left of the posts. An easy conversion for the skilled kicker Soral Mohammad left the score now at 7 -12 at the break.

Vänersborg was not to be kept down however with their man of the match no.10 performing a chip and chase in centre field regathering his own kick and then linking up with his winger to score in the corner. The try was converted for a score 14 -12. Uppsala responded with heart, turning over the ball from the restart and launching a series of attacks in the opposition’s half. Fresh back to the squad from his USA tour No. 9, Ryan Coupland, stepping from the back of the ruck, drew 2 defenders to him and throwing a deft offload inside to the long haired wonder, James Oakley, slicing through to score under the sticks. Again, converted easily by Soral Mohammad, left the score 14- 19.

Uppsala now had their tails up and pursued another try.  Several hard runs in centre field from their own tamed Tasmanian devil, Jack Smith, put Uppsala on the front foot. A few tight phases then followed from the big boys up front, with new signing, Lukas Ghijselinck,  and old hat Luka Ford, making their presence known and drawing in defenders. The time was right, and the ball spun wide through supple hands to get to Will Huntridge, who ran like a stabbed rat dodging defenders and a diving finish in the corner making the score 14- 24.

Vänersborgs needed to respond to stay in the game and responded they did. With two tries in quick succession. The first, a set piece move from a scrum in the middle of Uppala’s 22 put them away in the corner. Then a lapse in defensive concentration from Uppsala opened the door for a quick tap penalty to nip through and score on the other side. The score was now 24 -24 with all to play for. Uppsala refocused and were back on the attack. Several phases went on with the ball moving forward but always repulsed at the last minute by a dedicated Vänersborg defence. A penalty was awarded to Uppsala in the Vänersborg  22, quick thinking by Soral Mohammad saw a quick tap and the ball make its way to the blonde bombshell James Oakley, who used his twinkle toes to dodge the defence and dive into the corner. Not only securing 5 more points for Uppsala but also the Man of the Match award. The score now 24-29. Vänersborg had one more trick up their sleeve and after a great series of attack picking and going for over 8 phases. Their big boys dotted down under the posts. A quick conversion left Vänersborg in the lead at 31-29.

This was not the end of the story though, with a terrific series of attacks from Uppsala with good structure and striking runs left a large overlap on the left side. Jannes van Poppelen called for the ball with all his might and the ball he got. He did not disappoint, with some fancy foot work and his large hulk he dominated the covering defenders and dotted down over the line bring Uppsala back in front 31-34. With a mere 5 mins left Vänersborg threw all they had at Uppsala fighting for every meter in an attempt to get over the try line. But a dogged defence from the boys in blue with big tackle after big tackle kept them out. The final score 31 -34.

Thank you for Vänersborg for hosting a great game. A fantastic day was had by all with 5 debut players for Uppsala Men showing what an asset they will be in the coming season; Will Huntridge, Rasmus Ståhlberg, Lukas Ghijselinck, Troy Jernberg and Jack Haylock.  With that some very happy and well run “cows” were loaded back onto the busses for the 5-hour ride home with 1 or 2 celebratory nuggets and a sing-song to be had on route. 

/ Luca Illing