WATCH: St Jacques Vikings are up and running after a big comeback win

Tuesday 17 September 2024

Playing in front of the Footes Lane faithful in the first double-header of the season, the Vikings were down against Bournemouth Nomads by 16 points at the break. By the final whistle they had squeezed past the visitors to win 20-19.

Bournemouth defied their last placed finish in Counties One Hampshire last season, with a strong first-half performance that had the black-and-yellows scrambling, and looking out of the contest.

On a warm dry day, the conditions were perfect for running rugby, which typically suits the Vikings.

They took the early lead through a penalty kick from captain Tom Veillard after Bournemouth infringed 35m out. But they were struggling to break down the dogged defence of the Nomads. Their attack was faltering.

The visitors were attacking much better when they had the ball, they were well organised and were manipulating the Sarnian defence to create opportunities. Although they initially stood strong, it was not long until Bournemouth scored an impressive try.

Having attacked deep into the Vikings 22, they were carrying the ball into contact with intent. After several phases they identified space on the left hand side, and executed a very clever cross-field kick that bounced kindly for the onrushing winger to pounce on and score in the corner. The conversion was missed.

The woes continued for the home side as Bournemouth extended their lead just a few minutes later.

Following on from the restart they scored almost straight away after they identified space and attacked to score an impressive team try that saw them exploit some lacklustre defending from the Vikings. The conversion followed.

Leighton Batiste’s side were on the ropes at this point, as the visitors looked threatening every time they had the ball. Their cause was not helped by struggling to break down the English side’s defence.

Centre partnership Jason Batiste and Niall McGann looked dangerous, but needed more space to truly exploit the opportunities.

JP Phelan was now on the field in the front-row for the injured Corey Wallis. He brought additional impetus on defence, as well as excellent scrummaging. This provided the Vikings with dominance in scrum which was one platform they could build off.

Before half-time Bournemouth extended their lead again to leave the Vikings with a small mountain to climb after the break.

When St Jacques returned from the changing room it was hard to know if the words of their new coaching team would make a difference, but they clearly did.

They started the second period much brighter, and their attack was working with more depth, which allowed them to stretch the Bournemouth defence. With this they were able to build multiple phases and periods of pressure.

After 56 mins this pressure finally told as they scored an excellent try.

Working from the base of a scrum 30m out, the Vikings initially attacked right with a sweeping move that saw Sam Ferry halted short of the line. Mitchell Smith then went close with a strong carry, before the ball was distributed out to the backs. It made its way into the hands of Jason Batiste who delivered an excellent long pass to Cam Le Prevost on the left wing who touched down in the corner. Captain Tom Veillard added the near touchline conversion.

Five minutes later they clawed another try back, this time it was Jason Batiste himself who scored. The powerful centre took a quick tap penalty from 8m out and battled his way over, after winning out of the initial tackle. Veillard added the extras and a most unlikely comeback was now looking more likely.

Bournemouth were not laying down, however, as they made several attempts to extend their now slender lead, but resolute defending repelled them.

Veillard had a long-range penalty attempt at goal but this narrowly missed. He would have another chance.

As the game was drawing to a conclusion the Vikings were hunting for an opportunity to grab the match winning score. They finally got it after Bournemouth gave away a penalty 35m out on the left hand side.

Captain Veillard stepped up, with nerves of steel, he expertly slotted over the difficult kick to rapturous applause from the good sized crowd.

There was time for the restart, but the Vikings cleanly gathered the ball and held on to it for several phases, before eventually kicking it into touch to end the game.

This was not the way they would have hoped to secure their first victory in Counties One Hampshire, but they can be proud of the determination showed to pull it back.

Next up for St Jacques is a trip to Eastleigh this Saturday.

Eastleigh opened up their season with a home win against Trojans (34-10) before losing on the road to Havant II last time out (53-27).