Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 Sport 61 RUGBY PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA Swieqi demolish Gladiators BRYAN CORLETT Swieqi Overseas ...... 107 Gladiators ............... 0 SWIEQI Overseas Rugby Club were just too powerful for the Gladiators Rugby Club. A torrential downpour just pri- or to the kick off created muddy conditions for the Rugby, as Gladiators took on Swieqi Over- seas. In pouring rain Overseas kicked off and play swung right and left with Overseas using their big runners to get over the gain line. An Overseas knock on gave the scrum to Gladiators but Over- seas won the scrum with Clayton Cassar (8) bursting upfield but he was tackled and the ball was knocked on. A penalty to Gladiators and they relieved the pressure kick- ing downfield and into touch. Overseas were awarded a pen- alty by Referee Killian O'Brien, they tapped and ran with Steele taking the ball upfield 30 metres but the slippery was lost forward and Gladiators were awarded a scrum. Another tight head and Briffa (10) hit it up and off loaded to Cassar (8), he straightened the move but his forward pass killed the momentum. Overseas are awarded a scrum on the 10 metres out from the Gladiators try-line Cassar (8) went the blind side and scored 5 metres to the right of the posts. Briffa converted. Overseas 7 Gladiators 0. And the rain was still pouring down. Another charge from Cassar took him 30 metres upfield as he was tackled play went left but a 3 man overlap was ignored with the runner caught in possession. Gladiators kicked downfield to relieve the pressure. Overseas were handling the ball well in the rain and they broke downfield with their Full- back Cameron Brown (15) run- ning well. From a scrum Cassar went blind side and stepped around three tacklers to score 5 metres from the posts. Briffa converts. Overseas 14 Gladiators 0. From the kick off Cassar (8) having a dynamic game broke upfield he off loaded to Brown (15) who off loaded to Roderick Borg (14) who then passed to Duchange (12) who scored bril- liant handling in the wet condi- tions. Briffa converts. Gladiators were awarded a scrum near their line and Over- seas hit it hard and drove them over their own line and got the scrum. Cassar worked it blind stepped three defenders and crossed the try line, but unself- ishly gave the ball to his winger Roderick Borg (14) to score 5 metres in from touch. Briffa missed. Overseas 26 Gladiators 0. Gladiators were using low tra- jectory kick offs using the muddy conditions to force knock ons, but were not able to take the ball over the gain-line as they were repeatedly knocked over by re- lentless Overseas's tackling. Cassar (8) scored again after a period of Overseas attack with the ball going left then right and he received it running in the wingers position. On 38 minutes there was that man Clayton Cassar (8) again scoring after a series of hit ups breaking the Gladiators's de- fence. Two more tries before half time are scored first after a Pe- ter Debono barge through and then a Briffa grubber kick has the Fullback caught in posses- sion from the penalty Overseas tap and go and Duchange (12) scored. This French boy who has played Club Rugby in France for Blagnac Club was working magic out wide drawing defenders and putting runners into space. Another backline move had Brown (15) sprinting down the touchline to score around under the posts. Gladiators went on the attack from the kick off when an Over- seas player dropped the ball but bad passing from the ensuing scrum lost them 30 metres as Overseas kicked downfield. Andrew Schembri was yellow carded for retaliation after a high tackle so he spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. A brilliant pick up from a poor pass by Briffa (10) who then threw a long pass to Brown (15) in the line who then ran it in under the posts to score. Briffa converts, it was now Overseas 57 Gladiators 0. From a long kick by Briffa which went over the Gladiators try line the ball was snatched from the defending players and Roderick Borg ran it in under the posts. Briffa converts and the scoreline has blown out to 64 nil. Nicky Vella broke from a scrum and off loaded to his forwards Oger (6) Galea (6) John Debono (1) then the ball went wide right for James Steele (13) to score. No conversion 69 nil. The second half is like global warming as the sun comes out and the umbrellas are put away. Luke Galea (6) is having a lively game tackling hard and carrying the ball straight at the Gladia- tors's defensive wall. Duchange (12)steps his way again and threw a pass to Dan Gauci (11) who scored. Cassar (8) busted his way up- field and off loaded to Peter Debono (19) he sprinted 30 me- tres shrugging off tacklers to score. Briffa converts, 83 nil. Gladiators have not given up and tried to work their way up- field, but they lack continuity and take the wrong options. A simple tactic in wet weather is to kick the ball high to create confusion, but not once in the game was the high ball used. The scrums were now uncon- tested with no replacement front rowers available. Duchange again scored after an interchange between backs and forwards. Another try was scored by Brown (15) after a crisp back line move through the hands with Duchange straight- ening his run to then off load to his fullback. An Andrew Schembri charge down the middle he then off load- ed to Duchange who passed back inside to Cassar (8) who scored. Luke Galea (6) bashed his way over from a ruck to make the fi- nal score 107 to nil. This is the first year that Gladi- ators are playing in the Premier division, so a learning curve for them. Gladiators may have been filmed in Malta, but this was not a game for Gladiators to "Crowe" about. DON HEWER Kavallieri ............... 33 Falcons .................. 0 A tightly contested game, with a much improved Falcons. A completely unsighted referee missed a short arm tackle by Kavallieri 's Samuel Zammit, which could have resulted in a dismissal. Falcons were hold- ing their own in rucks, but finding it difficult to counter Kavallieri 's mauls. The first score came in the 24th minute from a maul, where Chris Desira crossed the line to score a try for Kavallieri, which was not converted. 5-0. Good organisation by Daniel Holliday was helping Falcons contain Kavallieri. Sustained pressure by Kavallieri with continual mauls, resulted in another try by Samuel Zammit, converted by Darren Edmunds. 12-0 at half time. Falcons were doing well to contain Kavallieri, especially in the scrums. The second half continued in much the same way as the first. Kavallieri trying to dominate in the for- wards, and Falcons defending well. Falcons were trying to get their fast backs into the game, which was difficult in the wet conditions. A very good move by Kavallieri backs was fin- ished well by Aled Griffiths, converted by Darren Edmunds. 19-0. Another f lowing move saw Thomas Aquilina score, converted by Edmunds. Great defence on Falcons own try line kept Kavallieri out, but even- tually Terence Galdes scored, with Edmunds converting for a final score Kavallieri 33 Fal- cons 0. The performance of Falcons augurs well for their continued development. Kavallieri defeat improved Falcons PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA