Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/906955
maltatoday SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2017 Sports 62 RUGBY Stompers too fast for a battling Kavallieri Stompers ReMax .......... 61 Kavallieri .................... 10 BRYAN CORLETT TOO many handling errors did not allow this Cisk Lager League game to flow and too much indis- cipline by Kavallieri did not al- low them to keep the pressure on Stompers ReMax and build some phases. Stompers started with their trade mark high speed Rugby from the moment referee Joseph Cuta- jar got the game underway, but a Kavallieri rush defence forced dropped passes and wrong op- tions as Stompers tried to get over the gainline. You have to earn the right to go wide and a team expects their big forwards to get them moving forward, dragging in the spread defence. Finally Jeremy Debat- tista(23) scored after a number of forward rushes, finishing off with a try in the corner. Max Galea(9) skipped around a ruck and ran 20 metres to score Stompers second try as gaps be- gan to open up in the Kavallieri defence, Gum(10) converted from right in front to make the score 12 nil to Stompers. Stompers playing in their new french style strip were trying to open play up but hard tack- ling by Branton Bonello(5) and the feisty Nathan Zammit(7) disrupted their game plan. Debattista started to receive more ball in his direction and used his speed to outflank the defence to run down the touch- line and back under the posts to score a fine individual try after a charge with ball in hand by Isaac Bezzina(6) Kavallieri worked their way down field and from a drive to- wards the line Branton Bonel- lo grounded the ball, with the Stompers forwards steamrolled by the Kavallieri pack. With the score at 19 to 5 finally there was a glim- mer of hope for Kavallieri. But after a poor Kavallieri kick from a penalty on their line which failed to find touch, Malcolm At- tard(13) plucked the ball out of the air and ran it into the corner to score to frustrate the Kavallieri forwards who had worked so hard to score their last try. Two quick tries from Stomp- ers using their backs took the score out to 34 to 5 at halftime. First Gum doubled around At- tard, he pushed off two weak tack- les to score, then another series of hit ups by Cerketta, Hili and Sullivan created space for Attard to offload to Debattista for him to score his hat trick by half-time making the score Stompers 34, Kavallieri 5. The second half saw the ball swing back to the other wing and Josef Luke Azzopardi(11) scored two tries, first with his speed down the grandstand touchline running 40 metres to score from quick passes through the hands of the Stompers' backline. His second try had him fly kick a poor pass in his direction which then wrong footed the Kaval- lieri defence, he chased his kick 30 metres towards the tryline and the ball bounced up kindly for him to score near the posts. 15 minutes into the second half and Stompers were 44, Kavallieri 5. Poor discipline throughout the game also punished Kavallieri, as players were sent to the sin bin for high tackles and shoulder charges. In fact, at one time they only had 13 players out of 15 on the pitch, allowing Stompers room to move around. Attard(13) scored his second try off a charge from Gary Hili(8) from the base of a scrum towards the line, receiving the ball Attard stepped back inside and scored with a "Hollywood" dive under the posts. Galea(9) converted to make it 51 to 5. Sandwiched between two fur- ther tries by Stompers, Kavallieri managed to get one of their own with quick hands by Brendan Dalton(9) and quick feet by Vuk Strbac(23) who stepped his way to the line. Nick Formosa(20) had scored for Stompers out wide af- ter some 7s style Rugby moved the ball from side to side, then the strong running of Matt Camill- eri(12) ball tucked under his arm, with no intention of passing to anyone, powered his way over to make the final score Stompers 61, Kavallieri 10. Men of the Match: Stompers: Gary Hili(8). Kavallieri: Nathan Zammit(7). Referee: Joseph Cutajar. Assis- tant Referees: Sam Ramage and Celine Smith. In the second match of the day Overseas beat Falcons, 50-14. It should be noted that at half time the score stood at 19-14. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT PORTELLI Local rugby referee officiating in European competitions MALTA Rugby Union Football (MRFU) referee Leonel Silva has been called upon to officiate in France. Last month he already travelled to Czech Republic and took charge of two TOP league games in Prague. This is the third consecutive month he will preside over French games: af- ter an U16 national 2 and a U18 national 2 coupled with some senior regional league games on Sunday. This time he will be moving up to a higher level by taking charge of a U18 national 1 followed by a national 3 senior games on the next day. But the big test will happen a week later when he will be in Toulouse, considered as the birthplace of French rugby, and Silva will take charge of 2 other games in front of some officials and assessors based there from Rugby Europe (the European rugby federation who's offices are in Paris). "On a personal level, I want to show that despite being in the smaller competitions in Malta, we have good officials who are still capable to take on high level games in Europe" "It's a big responsibility as it is a totally different rugby to what we are used to seeing at Marsa every Saturday and I've been preparing for it for 4 months already with individual training and lots of video analysis so I'm pretty much looking forward to it." "I get a great deal of pleasure learning more and more about a game I have played for so many years and has changed so much in recent years" "But the main target is to bring this experience back to Malta and improve the local league matches and develop further Malta's presence on the interna- tional stage." "We have received some posi- tive feedback about exchanges with other referees from others nations. And this shows that our officials have a standard that is internationally accepted but also demonstrates that the pro- grammes we have in place this season to develop referees will bear fruits for the benefit of the union and local games in the near future". MRFU President, Steve Busut- til, has nothing but praise for the work of referee Silva, and the whole of the the local referee society. They have shown great initiative in recent months all with the intention of bringing a higher level of officiating to the local game. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAKE GHIRLANDO