St Peter’s started their new season just as they left off nine months ago as the reigning champions played to the top of their game to whitewash a disappointing Exeter.The home side came off convincing winners in the first match of the college campaign and set out their intentions for what they hope to be another successful season.The two strongest sides in the First Division – Exeter finished second last season – looked well matched at first, but it was Peter’s who prevailed with the pace, skill and discipline that Exeter could not match. Robert Unwin and new boy Bertie Payne were the pivots in the Peter’s team who enabled the side in green to stretch out the lead to 52 points over their red-and-black hooped rivals, while James Clayton-Payne playing at number 8 and Joe Stewart added the edge for the home side.That Exeter, blessed with one of the largest front rows around and the terrific Luka Gakic at number 8, could barely keep up with the brilliance of Peter’s sheds light on what the rest of the First Division can expect this term. Despite the departure of a number of the Peter’s pack at the end of Trinity Term, the influx of talent among first-years has made up for any such losses, as David Poraj-Wilczynski, the Peter’s captain, was quick to point out.“We’ve got some good freshers in,” he noted. “We lost our whole pack. It needed a bit of regenerating. Luckily we’ve got three or four really sharp freshers including Bertie who was playing at flanker, and a couple of others. We’ve filled our gaps.”If Peter’s play as they did on Tuesday, surely their real ambition – Cup success – is possible. “The Cuppers loss [to St Edmund Hall in last year’s final] has obviously hit us hard,” Poraj-Wilczynski admitted. “It shows our bouncebackability! To come back and put a performance in like that is quite special.” A special season too, perhaps.Exeter were certainly not mediocre; just unfortunate to be playing Peter’s at their best. The visiting side started aggressively, if sometimes illegally, with Gakic trying to assert Exeter’s physical advantage that their size would normally give.But it was their sloppiness that prevented any fruitfulness from their attacking start, and Peter’s took advantage 15 minutes in when Tom Rayner’s interception led to a try for David Conway. Unwin, magnificent with his kicking all afternoon, converted it and then put Peter’s into a 10-0 lead with a penalty.Payne added another try by the corner flag ten minutes later. Unwin’s outstanding conversion in the severe wind put Peter’s 17-0 up before Stewart ran through a hapless Exeter defence to stretch the lead to 22.Exeter were fortunate at times not to slip yet further behind. Clayton-Payne would have scored but for a forward pass on the try line and Exeter’s Will Cochrane put over a 30-yard penalty in injury time at the end of the first half to go in 22-3 down at the break.If Exeter thought they could launch an unlikely comeback, they would be disappointed. Dan Lowther’s top-class tackling meant the Peter’s defence was never breached, and Bertrand Perrodo pushed the greens further with his powerful running.Unwin added three more tries – two of them after running through a line of Exeter defenders – and passed to Clayton-Payne for his score, as well as converting four second-half tries to give Peter’s a 50-3 lead. Ben Jones scored by the right corner flag four minutes from the end to complete the rout.Exeter can take heart from the fact that they will meet fewer teams stronger than Tuesday’s opponents. For Peter’s, however, anything but perfection would be a let-down after last season.“Last year [the Teddy Hall match] was the only match we lost,” Poraj-Wilczynski said. “I’d like it to be the same this year, but I think the quality’s going to be quite strong. We’re just going to see how it goes. But we’re confident.”Confident, but not complacent. “I don’t think they were the fittest or best side we’re going to play,” the captain added. “We’re not going to rest on our laurels.”ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005
