Monday 28 June 2010

The ULR Samurai International team overcame a 14-0 deficit to defeat a visibly pumped up British Army side in a pulsating final at the West Country Sevens. With effort, work rate and clinical finishing paying dividends later in the day, the win puts them firmly in the driving seat on maximum points at the half way stage of the series.

An early start saw Samurai kick the tournament off at 10am with a 56-0 win over Raging Bull Ronin. Despite finishing off chances and taking advantage of some lacklustre defending, it was far from a perfect performance as the team looked to gel as quickly as possible.

A well organised Apache team were eventually disposed of in the second of the group games, securing the Samurai a quarter-final tie with the Gilbert Pups.

Domination at the restart proved to be the key to victory in a bruising encounter with the men in pink. After falling behind 7-5 Samurai quickly went through the gears to assert their authority. Two late tries by the Pups both brought some respectability to the scoreline and raised some concerns over the physical state of some of the Samurai team. Despite the 36-21 scoreline, the team looked tired and lacking in energy and would have to pick themselves up for a tough semi-final some 2 hours later.

The semi-final saw the strong rivalry between the Samurai and Marauders resumed in a clinical performance by the series leaders. Geoff Griffiths, John Rudd, Jake Abbott and Mark Bright all crossed the line before a consolation try brought the score to 26-5. A strong period of energetic second-half defence defined this performance by the Samurai, a big boost before the final against the potent British Army.

With the crowd in good spirits enjoying the early evening sunshine, the stage was set for a hotly contested final that would not disappoint. Some slack midfield tackling and a defensive mix-up saw the Army capitalise to take an early 14-0 lead however a devastating dart through the heart of the Army's defence saw Lee Rees put Geoff Griffiths away for a try that kept the Samurai hot on their heels. John Rudd powered over before half time reduce the Army's lead to 14-12 at the break. The close-knit team spirit developed throughout the weekend was clear to see in a passionate but focussed half-time team talk, with every member of the squad ready to work for each other for the last 10 minutes of a gruelling day. A piece of individual skill from man of the tournament Lee Rees saw him collect his own chip to score after some robust work from the Samurai forwards.

Buoyed by the success of their structured, clinical play Samurai began to turn the screw on the Army with Jake Abbott and Rhys Jones both crossing the line for well worked scores. Mike Davis scampered in for a try in repost to an Army score and with time running out, it looked as though the title belonged to the Samurai.

The Army grabbed two late scores to keep the crowd on their toes but the devastating post-half-time surge by the Samurai proved enough to claim their second win in two weeks and enhance their lead on the top of the National Series table.