WATCH TRYLIGHTS: St Jacques play some of their best rugby, but fall at home

Friday 15 November 2024

St Jacques Vikings produced some of their best rugby of the season, but their failure to replicate it for 80 minutes meant they suffered their second home defeat of the season.

Playing against fourth placed Basingstoke, they were in the fight in what was a tight match until the final quarter, before the visitors ran away with it.

Layton Batiste's side will be disappointed, as they let the visitors off with poor defending late on, having earlier been strong both with and without ball.

They head to Trojans this weekend hoping to secure a much needed victory.

How the Basingstoke game unfolded

Basingstoke had an early chance to take the lead with a penalty kick, but they pushed it wide.

They would still be the first in the score sheet after five minutes though.

The Dragons had a scrum on the Vikings 5m line, after a couple of phases they forced themselves over. The conversion was successful.

St Jacques scored their first try of the afternoon after 20 minutes, with an excellent lineout move straight off the training pitch.

Having been awarded a penalty they kicked to the corner 5m out. The ball was delivered to the back of the lineout, before cleverly being transferred to Jacob Smith who powered his way over to score. The conversion attempt hit the upright.

The Vikings attack stepped up a gear next, as they strung together over 10 phases and manipulated the visitors defence, before Luke Sayer made a break. He was stopped but offloaded the ball to Jamie Mahy who scored. The conversion was missed.

Following the restart, a mistake by the Vikings handed the ball to Basingstoke, who gathered it and ran in unopposed for a somewhat opportunistic score. They added the conversion.

Rugby is often a game of momentum, and St Jacques still firmly had it with them at this point. Another series of excellent play following a lineout saw them powering towards the line.

Cameron Craine had just entered the fray from the replacements, and with his first touch of the ball in a Vikings shirt, he forced his way over under the posts. Matt Lomas-Lloyd added the conversion.

The start of the second half saw Basingstoke come out with renewed motivation to reduce the deficit.

They got that opportunity after a mistake from a set play just outside the Vikings 22, where an inside ball did not go to hand. The bounce was kind and they quickly found themselves under the posts.

That was followed by another try five minutes later, and the visitors were now in the lead.

Luke Sayer and Jamie Mahy went off because of injuries in the second half, they were both playing well and proved to be a big loss.

The woes for St Jacques continued as a poor tackle saw the visitors stroll in for another try, and everything was against the Sarnian side now.

Taylor Quate was having a very effective game for the Vikings, and when the ball found its way to his hands on the wing, he made metres.

It was not surprising that he scored next, after the Vikings had a midfield scrum. The ball was shipped to the left by Veillard who delivered an excellent cut-out pass and Quate dived into the corner.

Basingstoke scored again though, which put the result beyond doubt, as the Vikings failed to keep them out as the game drew to it's conclusion.

The home side did not give up although the game was now out of reach. They worked hard to get back into the 22, and from there they didn't make any mistake in ending the game on a positive.

Once again it was Cameron Craine who scored, after Jacob Smith had looked destined to score in the corner, but an excellent covering tackle halted him short. But Craine was on hand to finish the try.

This was a frustrating game for the Vikings, which they showed how well they can play, but also how not maintaining that performance level can cost them dearly.

Vikings (1-15): Mroch, Gardner, Bray, Williamson, J Smith, Mahy, Paul, Croft, Holland, Veillard (c), Quate, Barker, Lomas-Lloyd, Lee, Sayer. Replacements: Craine, Brown, Duerden