Doncaster Rugby Club

Waterloo 0 Doncaster Knights 44

Forster hat trick drives Knights to the top

This clinical demolition of a spirited Waterloo side on a muddy swamp of a pitch, in heavy rain, and under inadequate lights, demonstrated once again how good the Knights have become at dispatching lower sides in this division. It was a  tenth win in a row that took them top of the league table. With Russ Earnshaw and Ben Jones both missing the game with injuries, Ollie Cook started at Eight and Dave Scully at scrum half.

From the outset, their dominant pack imposed themselves with focus and power, forcing defensive penalties that saw the yellow card shown to Simon Cross as early as the 14^th minute for repeated infringements; and from this penalty, kicked to the corner, Jason Forster was in his accustomed place driving the maul over for his first try of the day. He had been over the line already but adjudged to be held up. He was to feature prominently, at his very best on the worst of afternoons. He combined neatly with Ben Phillips shortly after but a foot in touch prevented the score. But there was no stopping him a second time as he supported Donovan Van Vuuren’s break just before half time to charge over from short range. In between his two tries, two others had been scored by the backs – first Ben Gollings took advantage of an excellent advantage play to take fast ball on the right, burst the tackle and race away. His chip over the last defender was deft and his pace won him the race to the line. Then John Cannon, in the thick of the action all game, popped up after several phases of back play to break the despairing defense for a try of his own. Mark Woodrow, kicking out of the increasingly wet mud, managed just the one conversion, but the four first half tries – and news of Rotherham’s win over Leeds – meant a half time break already sure of top spot at New Year.

The second period started in new shirts, but with the same pace and intensity. Dave Scully was at the heart of the action, sniping and breaking, and it wasn’t long before another try – this time from Woodrow whose darting run caught the defense flat footed. With the game safe, six replacements on the field, the conditions just awful and Gollings now at ten, the match entered an aimless period as the Knights lost shape and became too lateral in their movement, and the home side raised their game. They had one sharp chance on the right but Anthony Carter’s smart interception of the inside pass saved a score and effectively secured the Knights’ second “nilling” of the season. Late in the game, the Knights got their act together again, used their superior fitness to good effect and scored three quick tries to give the scoreline the look it deserved. Gollings scored an individual beauty, taking a pass at pace off his boot laces, handing off his opposite number and outpacing the defense with a mazy run to the corner. Carter came into the line at a lovely angle to take an inside pass from Wes Davies and sprint over; but the icing on a very muddy cake was Forster’s hat trick try. He himself had started the move, which Cannon and Van Vuuren took on to set up the ruck from which Forster picked and drove over. It was his 20^th of the season, now just six short of the league record set by Duncan Roke for Worcester in 2002/03. Gollings managed one conversion, but it wasn’t a kicker’s day. Job done, top spot secured and everyone’s eyes on Doncaster now. Heady days! Starry Knights!!

Clive Griffiths was understandably delighted; “I have to keep pinching myself” he said. “I expected things to improve when I got here, but maybe not by this much! It’s a great feeling. It was a great team performance today and some of the tries were top drawer. I feel we deserve to be where we are and all credit to the boys for what they are doing. Everyone will be gunning for us now, just as they have been for Leeds, so we have to keep up the work and keep getting even better”.

Next weekend, when second and third placed Leeds and Plymouth play each other, the Knights have a tough – but potentially hugely rewarding - assignment away at a resurgent sixth placed Bedford.

Waterloo: Nutt, Broxon, Murchie, Payne, Kerfoot, Monro (Handley 53), Erskine, O’Keefe (O’Donnell 53), Ince (Tyms 56), Hopgood, Tchakoute, Townsend, Cross, Palmer (Smith 56), McKay.

Doncaster: Carter, Gollings, Davey (Hunt 61), Cannon, Van Vuuren, Woodrow (Davies 61), Scully (Storey 67), Bunting, Phillips (Boden 52), Tau (Rawson 52), Gross (Kenworthy 54), Cook D, Grainger, Forster, Cook O (Talei 45).

Referee: Chris Sharp (RFU)