Coming up Roses

There are usually two or three occasions during the season when my local football is postponed, but pitches are still playable for rugby union. That has not been the case this season, Prescot Cables have been fortunate that, on a few occasions when weather was bad to the west of the Pennines, we were away collecting points in Yorkshire. On other occasions, pitches were frozen or under a couple of feet of melting snow, which made them unplayable for any game.

The extension of the EvoStik League season meant that I also missed the first game of the County Championship for the Bill Beaumont Cup, although as Lancashire played Durham at Hartlepool, I may have missed it anyway: I do not have the commitment to the Lancashire cause that takes me on long distance trips with Prescot. Granted, last year's trip to Scarborough was long distance, but that included a couple of days in a seaside resort.

I nearly missed Lancashire's home game against Yorkshire at Fylde RUFC too. My train was delayed by the failure of a track circuit in the Huyton area. I was delayed for an hour on the first day after the engineering works that put it in about 4 years ago, and it has been causing bother when I go that way ever since. A gentleman sitting opposite me wearing a rugby shirt and bearing a ticket to the same destination decided to call it a day and headed to the ticket office for a refund. I decided to stay put, as, even if I was on the next train from Preston, and therefore an hour late, I would still catch the last 10 minutes of the first half, and it was only £5 to get in.

I arrived to find a scrum being reset, which was to be something of a theme for the afternoon. Both sides seemed to be infringing, with a number of scrums ending up going round in a circle.

The referee inspects the forming scrum

As the gentleman in the entrance booth looked like he had just counted his takings, and I only had the right change for admission, not for a programme, I did not get a team list. There are substantial changes in the teams from one season to the next, complicated by a couple of leagues having extended their seasons, meaning some players missed the first game being still needed by their clubs. I recognised about half the players, at least by sight, and in some cases by name, from last year.

Ryan de la Harpe

The weather was drier than I was expecting, although the wind was coming off the sea, so I was having bother seeing at times, as it was making my eyes water, a problem I encounter less than one might suppose.

Watching the game felt as though it was one scrum after another, which I am sure makes for a good game for those participating, and for former players with an in depth knowledge of the game, but less of a spectacle for the less trained eye. However, looking at the photos later, there was plenty of flowing action to capture.

When I see a good individual try in either code of rugby, I always get an ear worm of the rugby league commentator (and former union and league international) Ray French MBE announcing "a magNIficent try". We were treated to one such from Christopher Johnson. Here, he is starting his run (the line in the background is the Lancashire 22)...

... on the way ...

... and avoiding the last of the opposition.

He converted it too.

As someone more used to football, I never get used to what happens in rugby when time is up. In football, the referee ends the game regardless of what is happening, most referees are not unwise enough to blow the whistle when the ball is in mid air heading towards goal. In rugby, play continues until the ball next goes out of play. This was the first year the County Championship league stage has used bonus points (4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, with bonus points for scoring 4 tries and for losing by less than 7 points). With the score at 40 minutes at 35-25 to Lancashire, Yorkshire continued to press forward for the try that would secure a losing bonus point, so play continued for three and a half minutes until Lancashire gained possession and put the ball out of play.

The sides prepare for another scrum

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.