BLACKHEATH 20 RICHMOND 31

Rob Powell’s men started their season off with a daunting challenge. A trip to Blackheath to play the oldest game of club rugby in the world. Blackheath had made some waves in the off season with some notable signings headlined by ex-Richmond player and Fijian International Tex Cavubati.

Despite Blackheath’s home advantage and impressive off-season recruitment, Richmond started their season with a 20-31 victory away at The Utilita. David Massey lead the side out with the injury absence of Captain Alexander Post to a hard fought, physical victory which still left much to be desired from the Richmond side as they won without a try bonus point.

The start of the game set the tone for the 80 minutes that were in store as 2 minutes in Blackheath’s centre and vice-captain Burcham fell victim to a destructive carry by George Nugent and suffered a loss of consciousness. We wish the best and a speedy recovery to Burcham. The next few minutes went exactly as Rob Powell would’ve imagined as a Blackheath infringement allowed Lewis Dennett to kick Richmond into a 0-3 lead. This was shortly followed by a clean exit strategy from Richmond which leads to an early try for debutant Callum Grieve who crossed in the far corner to put Richmond 0-8 up. Lewis Dennett narrowly missing the extra points from the touchline. The kicking game of Richmond was proving vital to their success as smart kicks from half backs Alex Schwarz and Lewis Dennett were keeping the hosts pinned in their corner alongside 50/22’s from fullback Callum Grieve and number 8 Sam Pim. The next period of the game was not as fruitful for Richmond as poor discipline led Blackheath to a short range penalty to reduce the Richmond lead to 3-8. Moments later another string of poor discipline meant Blackheath gained a lineout on the Richmond 22 and a first phase carry from ex-Richmond player Ffitch led to him beating two defenders to score a try under the posts which gained Blackheath the lead after he converted his own try. With the score at 10-8 to the hosts Richmond experienced more ill-discipline as Number 8 Sam Pim was sent for 10 minutes on the side-lines in the 23rd minute. The following 10 minutes were highlighted by a continuation of a strong kicking game from Richmond as well as some brutal defence headlined by some titanic tackles from Jake Monson and Man of the Match Theo Bevacqua. Blackheath experienced their own misfortunes with discipline which led to Callum Grieve striking through a penalty on the 34th minute in order to make the score line 10-11 to Richmond. Richmond were back to the full complement of 15 and were displaying the form that saw them start the game as they played themselves into the Blackheath 22 which led to slick hands down the blindside and flanker Toby Saysell finishing well in the same corner as the first Richmond try. Callum Grieve who had taken over the kicking duties then converted from the touchline to put Richmond 10-18 in the lead heading into half time.

The second half started in similar vein to the first half as Richmond started the brighter of the two sides with new scrum half Alex Schwarz crossing the white line in the 43rd minute after a dominant carry from Sam Pim. The try was converted by Callum Grieve, leading the scoring to 10-25 in Richmond’s favour. Much like the first half Richmond suffered from poor discipline which led Blackheath towards the Richmond line where they converted a penalty from close range to reduce the deficit by 3 points to make the score 13-25. The Richmond lead was further cut just 7 minutes later as on the 62nd minute the Blackheath backline cut through from a scrum and Jake Hennessey was on hand to finish the move with Tom Ffitch converting to take the hosts within striking distance and set up a grandstand finish as the score stood at 20-25. The next 10 minutes of play were dominated by Richmond’s ferocity as the scrum spearheaded by Christian Freeman and Luke Spring became completely dominant as Richmond’s defence was clinical and physical with Jake Monson again provided a couple of standout contacts. One of these collisions led to a Blackheath player sealing a ruck inside their own half. The resulting penalty was converted into 3 points by Callum Grieve on the 73rd minute which took Richmond out of striking distance as they led by 8 points at 20-28. The last 7 minutes of play showed Richmond’s tactical nous as Lewis Dennett calmly slotted a drop goal in order to extend the Richmond lead to 20-31 with 5 minutes left to play. The game finished with no further score and the only disappointment Richmond will have is that they did not convert one of the attacking opportunities into a bonus point try. Rob Powell’s men will hope to carry this winning form into their match next week where they travel to Rosslyn Park for a 3pm Kick-off on Saturday.

An all-round dominant display of tackling, carrying and scrummaging led to loose-head prop Theo Bevacqua being awarded Man of the Match on debut for Richmond.

Tries: Grieve, Saysell, Schwarz
Conversions: Grieve x2
Penalties: Dennett, Grieve x2
Drop Goal: Dennett

PoTM: T. Bevacqua
Team: C. Grieve, A. O’Meara, S. Dardis, D. Massey ©, C. Obonna, L. Dennett, A. Schwarz, S. Pim, T. Saysell, E. Benson, J. Monson, G. Nugent, L. Spring, C. Torpey, T. Bevacqua
Subs: W. Goffey, C. Freeman, H. Wills, M. Marsh, S. Smith