London Irish's representative in the RFU's AASE League, St Paul's College made it three wins from three on Wednesday (20th) with an impressive 32-22 victory over Beechen Cliff. A dominant first half performance was backed up by a spirited defensive effort to stop a resurgent Beechen in the second half. With victories over Truro & Penwith on the opening day, and away to Filton, St Paul's find themselves joint top of the table with rugby powerhouse Hartpury.
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| St Paul's (blue) attacking the Beechen Cliff line on the 4G at Hazelwood |
St Paul's, buoyed by their first two wins, came firing out the blocks at Hazelwood. With pressure applied at the breakdown from the first kick-off & winning the early collisions St Paul's were quickly into the lead in the first few minutes. They raced to extend their advantage with a 15-0 lead with tries from the wing, lock & prop. Beechen had only scraps to feed off for most of the first half but scored two opportunistic tries, and St Paul's fly-half also crossed the line before half time to give themselves a 20-14 lead at the break.
Beechen Cliff began to find their feet in the opening exchanges of the second half, scoring the opening points with a penalty. The St Paul's forwards soon reasserted their with a powerful driving maul finished by the number 8. Neat handling from Beechen narrowed the scores again with a try in the corner. With just 3 points between the sides St Paul's continued to defend superbly to repel the determined Beechen attack, much to the delight of the jubilant squad on the sideline. St Paul's sealed the win shortly after with a 90m breakaway try from the winger, who scored in the corner to seal the 32-22 win.
The win leaves St Paul's unbeaten in the AASE league and with a very impressive performance in both attack and defence, they'll be hoping to progress to the semi-finals later in the season. While the whole squad should be proud of their performances so far there have been standout players in the form of both locks in leading the side at the breakdown and in the tackle and from the no.8 who has scored twice at home already. Also the scrum half has shown great skill & vision, as well as pace and nimble feet across the back three.
There is an excellent comradery evident within the squad with every thumping tackle, dominant scrum & mazy run greeted with cheers and support from their fellow squad members. Several of the group's strong performances are likely to put them in contention for game time representing London Irish U18 later in the season. It's clear Richard Pryor and his team have created a really strong bond within the squad which will serve them well in the difficult games to come.
Next week will see by far the biggest test for St Paul's as they travel to last year's Champions and so far undefeated Exeter. With Exeter coming off a bye-week St Paul's will hope their passionate fast start against Beechen can be repeated to put them in the driving seat next week. With a bye the following week, St Paul's will play their final home game at Hazelwood against the always impressive Hartpury on Wednesday 11th October, before finishing away at Henley. St Paul's have put themselves in prime position for a place in the latter stages of the AASE league, but with difficult tests to come, they will have to continue with the positive and supportive atmosphere they have so far created.
