AFTER arriving ten minutes after the scheduled kick off time, Coventry must have hoped that it was time for their luck to change. Instead, they found themselves confronted with a Blues side full of enthusiasm and energy for the start of a new BUSA rugby league season.
From the kick off it was evident that the Blues, playing in the unfamiliar grey of their old boys’ kit, were looking to exert their dominance in every way possible. Their defensive line was quick off the mark and gave the visitors no time on the ball, leaving Coventry unable to play with any width. It didn’t take long for the home side to make their mark on the scoreboard. The first score came through winger James Batstone who stormed over the line for the opening try of an eventual hat-trick.
Although Oxford were playing against an obviously weaker side it was important to maintain good shape in attack and to stick to the same game plan and patterns they had begun the game with. As they face three though fixtures in the next three weeks against Staffordshire, Loughborough and Nottingham, the second half was not the time to be taking it easy.
With the half backs leading the side and man of the match Charlie Morris controlling the game from dummy half Oxford started to set about finishing off every opportunity they had. Some poor tackling from the visitors made it easy for the Blues to make their way up the field and a mix of quality and sometimes speculative offloads ensured the tries kept coming.
Scrum half Tom Muir was kept busy in his kicking role scoring an impressive eleven out of twelve conversion attempts. Club President George Smibert summed up the afternoon the visitors had been forced to endure when he put in a massive shoulder charge on one of the Coventry players, leaving his opponent reeling on the floor. Victory insured an impressive start to the season for the Blues but they have a long way to go before recapturing the form that saw them walk away victorious from last year’s Varsity.
Blues leagues ahead of sorry Coventry
