Match Report
ACT Vets v RAN Old Salts (IPAMM Cup) Brumbies Curtain Raiser - Saturday 10 April 2010
The Annual Brumbies Curtain Raiser was held in glorious conditions on Saturday April 10. The usual pre-match hype was waived and a full contingent of 30 plus Vets and 25 Navy Old Salts thoroughly exhausted themselves with a 40 minute warm up.
Once muscles had cooled down and were primed for damage, the game commenced.
The Navy boys set a cracking pace under the expert leadership of
temporary ACT Vets 'export' Dan Carter who captained the Navy side
for the evening. Use of experience, strength and clever running of
angles in the backline saw the Navy post two early tries.
Not to be outdone, the Vets rallied through the use of their secret
weapon Ian Wells who scored untouched by his gasping opponents.
Threatened by a looming 9 all scoreline, the match settled down in the second half with both sides exchanging fierce play in the forwards with the occasional punishing skirmish from both backlines.
Gary Kinnane has recently offered his services as Vets coach and Spirit Guide, and his training drills improved the recycling rate for the Vets. Your correspondent also heard rumours of counter-rucking being adopted by Craig Wilkes in partnership with John Hillier. More on these disturbing rumours later once confirmed. (Ed note: not a rumour, it really happened!)
Speaking of Mr Hillier, he was involved in a spectacular aerial
manoeuvre which fortunately did not end in permanent damage, but was
typical of the hard defensive effort the Vets displayed in dealing
with the hard charging Navy Old Salts.
Particular individual performances which warrant mention:
For the Navy
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Dan Carter for overall leadership on the field
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Brett Quinn, the Old Salts flyhalf, for agility, speed and tactical play
For the Vets
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Hard running efforts from Chris Parker, AJ Smith and polished efforts from the whole forward pack.
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Rip of the night award went to Norm Poulos, who was inspirational in the backline.
After a hellish 9 all draw the protagonists retired to the hill to share a quiet beer and a fruit platter (very genteel), whilst cheering on the Brumbies to a big victory over the Cheetahs.
No major injuries to either side and as usual Rugby was the winner.
Mark 'Fiddy' Woods
Thanks to John Lafferty and John Solari for the match photos
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