by Admin
11/12/2008 8:33:00 AM
The next game for the British Police in their grueling World Cup campaign was against the New Zealand Police, who began the game as favorites being the only undefeated side in the competition so far. The British Police were battered and bruised, but reveling in the prospect of pulling off a World Cup upset. The British Police made several changes to their previous starting seventeen. Some forced changes through injury and other players being given their opportunity to shine against an imposing opposition. Two of the British players were forced to withdraw from the competition through injury. Prop Paul McMilan, who had been one of the stars of the British side is suffering from whiplash following a big hit from the Australians. Second row Peter Sutcliffe who also had shown glimpses of brilliance has damaged his elbow and is also unable to carry on playing in the tournament. These injuries, whilst a blow to the squad, give other players the chance to show their ability. Jamie Brentley and Thomas Dyson have been brought in to bolster the squad and will be relishing the prospect of getting stuck into the Southern Hemisphere opposition.
The Kiwis kicked the game off under floodlights in much cooler conditions than the previous games, due to the evening kick off. Both sides started strongly, exchanging bone crunching tackles early on. An interception by Richard Whitehouse stopped a certain try. However, the referee awarded a knock-on to the Kiwis. From the following scrum the Kiwis scored with a nice sharp move down the blind side. Leo Malaki opened the scoring, 4-0. The conversion was missed in the swirling wind conditions. The Kiwis looked to extend their lead when Donovan Aitken made a great break from a step. Only an interception by Steven Brown broke their flowing move. From the dropout the Kiwis were piling on the pressure. Good defence by Daniel Burton and Jamie Dixon stopped Fale Talaepa short of the line, after a powerful run. But having sucked in the British players, the Kiwis spread the ball wide, with the right winger Papaloa Tolosaga, crossing the line: 8-0. The British side responded well with some strong runs from Nicholas Smart, along with a jinking run by Richard Whitehouse. Danny Atherton used this momentum with a nicely executed chip. This was collected by Daniel Adams, who linked in with Daniel Atherton and Steven Brown, who was dragged down just short of the line. Some promising glimpses were shown from the British side, but the Kiwis always looked in control. Another fine British attack was thwarted as Daniel Adams made a bursting run cutting a great angle but the Kiwi scramble defence snuffed out any possibility of a score. There were powerful drives by both sets of forwards, the Kiwis using their sizable forwards to draw in several British defenders to stop them. From a British dropout under the posts, the Kiwis seemed unstoppable. They found a gap out wide and Donovan Aitken opened up his scoring tally for the evening. 12-0. It wasn't all Kiwi traffic as the British Police kept attacking. A nice grubber by Steven Brown forcing a repeat set as the Kiwis could just nudge the ball out of the play to avoid the chasing pack. Some good defence was shown by Nicholas Smart and Daniel Atherton, driving the larger Kiwis backwards. Even so the Kiwis seemed able to penetrate the British defence with ease. Papaloa Talosaga make an impressive run bursting through several tackles before being dragged down in front of the posts. Mike Kingston could then drive his way over from close range. The conversion was missed from in front of the posts in the swirling wind. The half time score was 16-0.
The second half began in a similar fashion to how the first half ended with Kiwi pressure on the British line. There was a lot of commitment shown by the British side in defence of their try line. It was frantic at times with the Kiwi fullback Tavilli Leunoa managing to side step his way out of his own shorts. But a nicely worked backs move saw Gavin Bailey cross the whitewash for his first. The British side continued their perseverance with strong drives and robust tackles. Exchanging sets in a period of hard work by all involved. But yet again it was the Kiwis who had all the aces, regularly sucking too many British tacklers with their big forwards and then releasing their speedy backs. Two scores in quick succession, by Papaloa Talosaga and Donovan Aitken. The British kept on trying. Jamie Brentley, a recent addition to the squad, being stopped on the line illegally with a barging tackle. As well as a nice burst by Stuart Meeks, which was not enough. The Kiwis again driving down the middle before releasing their left winger Kuripitone Tatupu to score: 34-0. Still the British pushed onwards throwing everything against the Kiwis, searching for an elusive score. The Kiwis had the last say the backs linking together well for Gavin Bailey to cross the line on the final hooter. This try was converted making a final score 40-0.
This was a committed performance, from an exhausted British side, which wasn't represented in the score-line. They were outclassed by New Zealand who showed why they are the World Cup favorites. The coaching staff of Jon Hamer and Mark Robinson will have their work cut out getting the squad up and running in preparation for their final pool game. The British side face a powerful Fijian team who lost by the smallest margins to the New Zealanders and have been wreaking havoc ever since.
British Police
1 Richard Whitehouse, 2 Jamie Brentley, 3 Philip Green, 4 Andrew Eastham, 5 Chris Cowling, 6 Steven Brown, 7 Adam Newton, 8 Stuart Meeks, 9 Jamie Dixon, 10 Daniel Burton, 11 Mark Elvidge, 12 Daniel Adams, 13 Daniel Atherton, 14 Nicholas Smart, 15 Rashid Alawiye, 16 Matt Dunn, 17 Kieron Maddocks.
New Zealand Police
1 Tavilli Leunoa, 2 Papaloa Talosaga, 3 Lee Tamatoa, 4 Donovan Aitken, 5 Lio Malaki, 6 Gavin Bailey, Boycie Nelson, 8 Mark Toflau, 9 Elliott Orr, 10 Ray Fa'aofo, 11 Fale Talaepa, 12 Mike Kingston, 13 Allan Lio, 14 Graham Bennett, 15 Richard Tupo, 16 Kuripitone Tatupu, 17 Ioritana Laumatisa.
No photos due to poor light conditions - night time game.
