In a good weekend to be a NRUFC supporter, both of the men’s senior sides were in action as the first XV took on Rotherham Phoenix RUFC at the Lodge in the cup whilst the second XV faced off against Hartlepool BBOB away from home. Plenty of tries in both games ensured spectators were treated to a feast of rugby entertainment.
The men’s first XV have enjoyed some hard-fought victories in recent weeks to help turn around their fortunes in this season. The cup fixtures have certainly been a source of encouragement for all the players in the squad, and so they headed into this fixture against Rotherham Phoenix with an air of confidence not felt for some time. The early aggression came from the visitors as they pummelled the home defence from the kick off using their strong forward carriers to test the limits of North’s tackling. Thanks to two heroic turnovers in the ruck on their own goal line, the hosts were able to repel these advances. A long clearing kick from fly half Jedd Bainbridge chased up by winger Tom Vauvert took North to well within the Phoenix half. Stealing the ball back, the home side managed to put it through the hands and exposed a space on the outside for full back John Clouston to nudge a clever kick through. North’s other winger Jake Fisher set off in pursuit and dotted down for the host’s first try of the match and Fisher’s first try for the first XV.
North’s second try came courtesy of a wonderful penalty kick to the corner from Bainbridge, landing it only five metres out. An cunningly disguised over thrown lineout landed in the hands of prop Connah Richmond who barrelled his way over to extend North’s lead. From the restart, a knock on gave Phoenix an opportunity to set an attacking platform, however a loose pass out wide found the boot of centre Matt Argo who put a deft hoof to it and chased up his own kick. Diving on it before the opposition, he was able to lift the offload to flanker George Spink who duly dived over the last few metres to score in the corner.
The tails were up now for North, and they played with a flow that excited the crowd as every attack looked to yield some score. Hard carrying from the forwards with flanker Billy Burgin punching holes on every effort ensured there was space in the wider channels for the backs to exploit. This put the visitors onto the back foot and, in their desperation in defence, gave away more penalties that awarded North field
position. The trusty catch and drive routine came into action once again and the ball was carried over by Spink for his second of the match. The conversion was kicked from the touchline by Jedd Bainbridge. The excellent work at the breakdown from North’s back row of Swall, Burgin and Spink made life difficult for the visitors and they regularly found their attacks foiled after a few phases of play by a turnover from the home side. However, if at first you don’t succeed then try and try again seemed relevant to Phoenix and they duly stuck to their task. Having reclaimed possession and won a scrum, they quickly shifted the ball wide and attacked down the wing to crash over on the fifteen metre line and score their opening try for the day. The conversion was added to make the most of it. The response from North to this set back was swift. Setting up a platform inside Rotherham’s half, they copied the form of the away side and moved the ball through the hands to find full back Clouston who sprinted clear of any chasing defenders to score out wide. Bainbridge added the conversion. At this point in the game the
scoreboard operators were struggling to keep up with the pace of scoring, and a brief lull in the rate of tries made for some entertaining back and forth between the two teams as they both looked to wrest momentum in the match. Rotherham were the team to get things going again as they moved through the phases of play, stretching North’s defence until finding the whitewash in the corner of the pitch to score their second of the day. The conversion was added again.
The game so far had not seen too much scrummaging action, something that was clearly irritating the front rows who seemed thankful for an uncharacteristic series of knock-ons from both teams that allowed them all to get to know one another closely. From one of these encounters North made significant in roads towards the Phoenix goal line and, by moving the ball quickly through the hands the host’s put second row Phil Swall into a surprising space that allowed him to canter over the try line. Bainbridge added the extras. As the half drew to a close, North found themselves under pressure defending the lineout against repeated efforts from the visitors. Thankfully a fumble at the right time meant the referee blew his whistle on what had been a breath-taking first half.
The second half recommenced with the same intensity that had filled the first. North attacked early with a lineout and driving maul that was carried over once again by Spink for his hat-trick try. Rotherham were quick to return the favour and repeated North’s trick against them by driving a lineout maul close to the line before breaking off and crashing over from short range. Phoenix had another attempt on this play and were repelled only by some resolute defending from North that turned the visitors over on their own try line. A sharp line break from scrum half Will Robinson brought play deep into the Rotherham half as he raced away from the chasing defenders before being swamped from all sides. A sumptuous passage of play followed that saw every player on North’s team make a contribution as the ball was whipped from side to side, eventually finding its way into the hands of Iain Swall who galloped clear to score under the posts. Bainbridge kicked the conversion to extend the lead.
The visitors attacked valiantly and were rewarded by a well taken try of their own, scoring out in the corner after numerous phases of possession where they showed their full range of passing ability. North marched back up the field to take the restart with three quarters of the game gone and a healthy lead to boot. Despite the potential to slow down, the home side showed no signs of letting up and, from a scrum in the Rotherham half, Bainbridge decided to showcase his running skills to add to his kicking display. Throwing a dummy to open the gap he accelerated through and out paced the chasing defenders before throwing an audacious goose step to bamboozle the full back and dived over the try line. Bainbridge then held his nerve to convert his own try.
If North showed no signs of relenting, then neither it seemed, did Rotherham either. A swift off loading and hard running approach took them to within metres of the North goal line and they showed cool heads to drive the ball over from close range. A quick repeat of their attacking endeavours yielded another try that looked to narrow the gap on the score board however, a late flourish from North started by number eight Iain Swall breaking through the field meant that Spink, once again, found himself in space and ball in hand to finish in the corner with the last play of the game.
An exhilarating encounter for both sides that saw a feast of attacking rugby. The game finished with a final score of Northallerton 64 – Rotherham Phoenix 38. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match in such an open style. Thanks to Rotherham Phoenix for making the long journey and to all Northallerton’s supporters and volunteers who help make the day happen.

Northallerton’s second XV has been a mix of experience and youth for much of this and last season. This particular weekend saw the return of some familiar faces for North as they travelled to Hartlepool BBOB to play what promised to be an enticing match up.
Treating the game as a reunion event, many of North’s former first XV regulars came out of retirement to take to the field and this experience showed from the off. Wingers Sandy Gray and Reece Brammah proved a handful for the hosts, running in a bag full of tries between them as they finished off a number of attacking opportunities in the first half. Returning full back Iain MacLeod also proved his eye for a gap has not deserted him as he picked some intelligent lines in the mid field to claim a first half try of his own. Hartlepool were not without merits of their own and indeed they often threatened the North defence, forcing tackles to be made. On several occasions their endeavours were rewarded with well taken tries and the score board looked to be narrowing. Against less experienced opposition this may have been a cause for panic however, the cool heads of North’s veterans proved a valuable asset as they wrested control of the game back through the scrum as the front row of Joe Hargreaves, Simon Warren and David Baker set about their opposite numbers on multiple occasions.
Guest appearances from newcomers Carl Thomas in the back row and Harry Hinchley at fly half brought a wealth of tenacity and skill to the team. Hinchley knocking over three conversions and pulling the strings at first receiver whilst Thomas scored an impressive try that earned him recognition amongst the supporters. Second row Harry Huyser was the next name on the score sheet as he finished off a fine flowing move to extend North’s lead in the match. Along with his try, Huyser also gave a tackling masterclass to the rest of the players, earning himself the man of the match award. The pace of the game did settle somewhat as the second half wore on, understandably given the frenetic nature of the first half.
There was just enough time in the match for Dan Luck and James Hopkin to combine their ballistic running styles and barge through multiple defenders to score two late tries from the halfway line that sealed the win for North. The match finished with a final score of Hartlepool BBOB 24 – Northallerton 46. A fantastic win for a team that looked to enjoy every minute of the game. Many thanks to Hartlepool for the generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the match and to all the supporters who travelled to cheer the team on.