The return fixture between Oaks and Sheffield Thirds was lucky to have taken place given the fact both teams were struggling for numbers, perhaps due to the Six Nations still captivating the interest of many.

On the day each side turned up with 11 and neither had a full front row so it was decided we would play four quarters but keep it as an official merit league fixture.

Before the game Tristan was approached by a chap called John Millard who was interested to know how the club was doing as he had been teaching at Myer’s Grove when the Oaks were formed. The fact that he approached the Oak with the longest association with the club was lucky as there aren’t many of us left still associated who know the origins of the team. What wasn’t known was that the fella responsible for making Myer’s Grove so hot on rugby was an ex-England & Lions flyhalf called Alan Old who notched up 16 caps for his country. Alan’s Wikipedia entry is worth a read for a funny anecdote included therein so here is a link for anyone interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Old.

First Quarter

Oaks started the quarter well with a cross-field kick going straight to Ben who gained another 20 metres only to lose the ball in the tackle. Good work from the Oaks backline put Ben into space again but his offload out of the tackle was pounced on by a Sheffield player. The home team were struggling to cope with the Oaks diversity of attacking options and, after their scrum half had strayed offside, we went for a more direct approach with a couple of big carries up the middle. With their defence in tatters Sheffield infringed again; Conor saw the gaping hole in their defence, tapped and went straight through to score unopposed. Unfortunately Bryce pulled the conversion wide. Mr. Millard had to head home straight after this score but at least he left happy to have seen the Oaks score a try! 0-5.

Sheffield’s discipline had deserted them and, after a second penalty for a high tackle, the Oaks went for a maul from the resulting line-out. Sheffield pulled this down for another penalty. The Oaks continued to attack in the Sheffield 22 and the team in red infringed a couple more times. Ultimately the Oaks were turned over at the breakdown and Sheffield cleared.

Unperturbed by this setback, Ben broke through after gathering a loose kick. This time he passed to Max who nearly went all the way to the line before popping a pass off to Bryce in support. He crossed over and converted from in front of the posts. 0-12.

Second Quarter

Sheffield restarted and Zak knocked on from his attempt to catch it. From the resulting scrum Sheffield made a complete mess of trying to get the ball through the hands and Jordan hacked the loose ball ahead. He managed to get to the ball first and hacked on again. Had he been able to gather the ball from this he was in but, alas, he knocked on. At the first breakdown after the resulting scrum Max thought he’d turned the ball over but he was pinged for going in from the side.

The home team were able to start building some pressure from some more Oaks ill discipline but, every time they started getting something going, they were stopped in their tracks by some great work at the breakdown (first from Alex, then from Max) or big tackles of which there were too many to pick out anyone in particular. Kirky got in on the turnover act and, from that, some intricate Oaks passing plays nearly led to Conor smashing his way through after running a great line. Unfortunately he was too busy deciding which poor Sheffield player to flatten in the process and left the ball behind.

Third Quarter

After such an encouraging first half from Oaks both in attack during the first quarter, and defence in the second, the start to the second was far from ideal. After one of our line-outs went awry a Sheffield back broke through our defence by running a great line. A few of the blue shirts got back in time to form a scramble defence but, in the end, it was to no avail and Sheffield scored. 5-17.

A few minutes later things got worse for the Oaks when the defensive line was broken again, this time by a great offload out of the tackle to a supporting runner. Fortunately the Sheffield kicker missed again but there were some concerned looking lads on the away team trudging back to the halfway line for the restart. 10-17.

It could have gotten even worse still for the Oaks when Sheffield butchered a 4-on-1 but we managed to stem the flow of chances. However we were still struggling to find our groove again ball in hand. After a couple of offloads that either weren’t on or were poorly executed stopped us in our tracks Josh bellowed: “KEEP IT SIMPLE!” The lads seemed to take this on board and, the next time we had possession, passed the ball through the hands to Max who broke through again. Realising he was going to get caught he hacked the ball ahead. Although Sheffield were able to regather, they promptly coughed up the ball 10 metres out and Alex sniped his way over the line for a well deserved try. 10-22.

Kirky caught the ball at pace from the restart and made some decent metres. A few phases later Max smashed his way through the defensive line yet again. This time he was caught but managed to get another kick away. Ben did his best to get to the ball before it went out of the dead ball area but it beat him by a matter of inches.

Fourth Quarter

With a twelve point lead going into the last 20 minutes the mantra during the break was: “This is ours to lose so keep it structured and do the basics well.” Counter-rucking isn’t necessarily a basic but Mirre did it really well, spotting a lighter Sheffield player over the ball. Unfortunately Conor wasn’t able to control the resulting loose ball and the opportunity to kill the game off was lost. From the scrum for the knock-on the Sheffield 10 who had passed the last five times he got the ball decided to run and caught the Oaks defence out. With no cover, he ran it in from 60 metres although, somehow, he missed the drop-kick conversion from in front of the posts. 15-22.

In the next phases of play Sheffield’s discipline deserted them again, conceding first a free kick then a penalty. The Oaks scented blood and the call was tap-and-go every time. A big carry from Josh very nearly resulted in a try but the referee penalised him for a double movement. This was a quarter for big carries from strong Oaks lads and the next one, from Zak this time, created a two-on-one, which Kraussy was just about able to finish off. Crucially, with Bryce off for a bang to his head, Jordan slotted the drop-kick conversion and the Oaks led by two converted tries. 15-29.

Once again, a Sheffield player surprised us when their scrum-half sniped down the blindside from the scrum, taking advantage of the lack of a back row. He showed a turn of pace that we hadn’t seen all game, outpacing Oaks defenders before side-stepping Ben for a fine solo effort of a try. Once again their 10 couldn’t convert which meant the lead stayed at more than a converted try. 20-29.

Determined not to let the scoreline make the game look closer than it was, the Oaks ball carriers went back to work. This time Max nearly broke through but offloaded to Ben. Unfortunately his hack ahead went long. We didn’t have to wait long for the icing on the cake though when a barnstorming carry from Josh created havoc in the Sheffield defence.

Moments later he popped up again and smashed his way over the line with several Sheffield players hanging off him. 20-34.

Oaks finished much the stronger of the two teams as Conor carried well from the kick-off. Jordan managed to break the line yet again and, after great hands from the backs, he very nearly nearly finished the match with a try of his own.

An all round great performance from the Sheffield Oaks. Our defence was awesome, we dominated the break-down, our line-out worked well, and the creativity of the backline was a whole other level from what it has been previously. The only slight concern was the dip in the third quarter that nearly let Sheffield back into the game but, all things considered, plenty of positives to take into the last few games of the season.