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Last weekend Wales Deaf Rugby team triumphantly defeated their arch rivals, the England Deaf Team. The fixture was played in England, kindly hosted by Banbury RFC and will be remembered as a very hard yet exciting game of rugby.
The teams had previously met three times, twice in Wales and once in England, and on all occasions the home side had been victorious.
The first half was dominated by a rampaging Wales team, controlling most of the possession and playing an attacking style of rugby from outside their own half. Wales number ten Mark Withey dictated the opening quarter and the Welsh back line appeared dangerous in attack, an early break by Wales inside centre Gareth Thomas should have resulted in a try. This enterprising style of rugby was rewarded when Mark Withey converted two penalties.
The 25th minute proved vital for England when Ian Collins, their open-side flanker and most prominent player was sin binned for a high tackle.
Wales immediately responded to having an extra man on the pitch, a confident long pass from Gareth John on the half way line allowed Mike Watkins, the Wales full back, to demonstrate his abundance of pace by scoring in the corner. The conversion unluckily hit the post, Wales led 0-11.
Sadly five minutes before half time Mark Withey suffered an injury to his lower back and was forced to leave the field. Wes Pooley moved in from outside centre to fly half and Richard Lewis of Dunvant RFC came on to make his first national debut.
The final minutes of the first half truly belonged to the Wales Deaf pack, led by Captain James Evans they furiously drove to the English line and second row Richard Watkins crossed for a try. The scoreboard reflected a first half of Welsh dominance, they led 0-16.
The second half saw a revitalised England team, with Gavin Jackson putting three points on the board with an early penalty. This was followed by a well executed England try; a cross field kick from England?s number ten was well taken by Jackson who stomped over the line. Jackson missed the conversion but England had deservingly played them self back into the game at 8-16.
Wales made a substitution replacing right wing Chris Haddock with Gerwyn Cape of Penygroes RFC.
Similar to Wales in the first half, England held the possession in the opening twenty minutes of the second, their back-row motivated by Ian Collins were significantly mobile around the park.
However the Wales backs proved too strong in key areas. Gareth John at scrum half was keen to make darting breaks while Richard Lewis at centre was having an excellent debut. In the 28th minute a miss pass and break from Lewis created an overlap and try for left wing Chris Haddock, Pooley missed the conversion.
In the last ten minutes, the England Deaf team adamantly showed that they were a team with strong character and persistent pressure in Wales? half, allowed substitution Josef Baines to break through the centre and score. The try was converted by Mark Grigg, and the final score of a hard fought out game was England 15 Wales 21.
The Wales Deaf Rugby Union would like to thank their main sponsor Arriva trains, for their continued support.
Author: James Williams
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