Gloucestershire deserved to retain title - Posa (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Gloucestershire deserved to retain title - Posa

5:23pm Sunday 10th May 2009 in

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Gloucestershire U20 29, Yorkshire U20 15

Gloucestershire retained their RFU National Under-20 Championship title when they repeated last season’s victory over Yorkshire with a four-try display at Twickenham yesterday.

“This generation of Gloucestershire players have proved themselves to have no match in this competition,” said coach Paul Morris: “Yorkshire are the best out there and they weren’t good enough.

“Winning the title last year was special, but retaining anything is difficult. These players have been exceptional here.

"I had doubts on Friday when we didn’t train very well, but come the game and we delivered. We said that if we got it right, we had the potential to be a better side than last year.

“Yesterday all they wanted to do was deliver for Gloucestershire and all the coaches and teachers who have worked with them from an early age.”

Said Yorkshire coach Anthony Posa: “Gloucestershire were the better side on the day and deserved their win.

"They gave us problems at the scrum and outplayed us in the contact area, which prevented us from developing the forward momentum we were looking for.”

Yorkshire opened the scoring after five minutes with a 25-metre penalty by fly half Tom Davidson (Wharfedale) when Gloucestershire infringed at a scrum, and that early success gave the White Rose side the impetus to dominate the initial exchanges.

Three difficult penalty shots by Davidson failed to find the target as Yorkshire held sway territorially, but Gloucestershire always looked menacing with the ball in hand.

Too often, however, their handling betrayed them at crucial moments, while Yorkshire were frequently undone by losing the ball in contact in a game where both sides defended robustly.

There were no blemishes, however, in the passage of play that brought Gloucestershire the opening try after 25 minutes.

The ball was worked to the left flank with some good support play and when the transfer to the opposite wing was smoothly executed, wingman Reuben Haile had just enough space to stretch over for a well-worked try.

That score turned the balance of the game in favour of the defending champions and as Yorkshire continued to turn over possession, Gloucestershire were able to take a grip of proceedings and force their opponents onto the back foot.

That territorial advantage was rewarded in the final minute of the half when full back Stefan Hawley converted a penalty from wide on the 22 to extend his side’s lead to 8-3 at half-time.

Yorkshire almost got on level terms after some strong forward play marked the resumption, but they were denied when the referee penalised them for a double movement in getting the ball over the line.

Having survived that scare, Gloucestershire were soon back on the offensive and two tries in as many minutes left Yorkshire with a mountain to climb. After 59 minutes, their defensive wall was finally breached from close range by replacement No 8 Ben Morgan and then a kick ahead ended in replacement Marcus Brown racing onto a favourable bounce to slice through the Yorkshire defence, Hawley converted both scores to give his side a 22-3 cushion, but Yorkshire responded quickly when a charged-down clearance brought a try for centre Jamie Broadley (Leeds University) that Davidson converted.

Gloucestershire were in no mood to release their stranglehold and centre Paul Jarvis sliced through tired Yorkshire tackling from 40 yards for a try converted by Hawley, a last-minute try for Yorkshire by centre Tyle Stimpson (Dinnington) being a slender consolation.

Gloucestershire Under-20s: S Hawley (Cinderford); R Haile (Cinderford), P Jarvis (Hartpury Coll), S Morris (Stourbridge), O Winterbottom (Cinderford); K Cook (Loughborough Students), J Williams (Lydney); G Porter (Lydney) capt, T Stagg (Bath Rugby), K Newport (Bath Rugby), H Casson (Cleve), J Robson (Cheltenham North), W Foden (Stourbridge), J Preece (Birmingham & Solihull), H Tovey (Clifton).

Replacements: W Davis (Cleve), W Cooper (Chaddesley Corbett), B Morgan (Scarlets), M Brown (Cinderford), S Arnott (Cinderford), J Hall (Cleve), C Surman (Cheltenham).

Yorkshire Under-20s: J Avison (Yarnbury); A Orr (Sandal), J Broadley (Leeds University), T Stimpson (Dinnington), H Munro (Skipton); T Davidson (Wharfedale), J Gill (Wharfedale); P Altham (Wharfedale), T Doughty (Doncaster Knights), L Thiede (Doncaster Knights), B Harris (Huddersfield), D Chamberlain (Morley), N Carter (Harrogate) capt, W Marshall (Dinnington).

Replacements: G Newman (Sandal), C Sant (Pontefract), J Aikman (Pocklington), J Moss (Otley), J Maud (York), D Parsons (Sheffield Tigers), S Burke (Morley).

Referee: A Hartwell