Schoolboys fine play at Worksop - From the Guardian 1954
Worksop College beat Worksop RUFC 16-12 on the school field here today in a cheerfully excellent match of carefree open Rugby Union football. The match was to ce1ebrate the school’s diamond jubilee, and the two teams were strengthened by international, university and county players. The school side Included eight such players among them J. Butterfield, who is on the staff.
What was of special interest in the match was the way in which the school and club players combined with their more august colleagues. Here the school did particularly well, but not only did the boys respond superbly to their seniors’ promptings but those promptings themselves could hardly have been less selfish or more helpful. The club side’s guest players tried just as hard and except at stand-off half were only slightly less effective. They were, however, not nearly so efficiently supported. The difference proved crucial.
If the seven boys who played in this match, indeed, were fair samples of the first fifteen, then the Worksop school side must be a good one, one boy however played with distinction. He was Grieve, the school stand-off half. He has excellent hands which so sensibly, and alone of the 30 players he kept warm and dry from the misty drizzle with mittens. He passed well with the proper, contrary body swerve which enabled turn to draw first-class players early. He had an eye like a hawk for an opening, a quick cut or swerve to go through it. He was a splendid and surprisingly shrewd and tactical kicker, had command of most of the variations, and was as alert in cover as in support.
Grieve timed his passes to King and Butterfield beautifully, performed a flicked reverse pass scissors with King as if 1he had played with him all his life, flicked two unexpected inside passes to his win forward with the coolness of a veteran, and parried rushes from the line-out without a trace of flurry. He made a clear-cut opening for King’s try and scored the school’s last deciding try himself by racing outside Emmens, who had cut inside powerfully after a short, quickly taken line-out and had the width to pass out again. Grieve, indeed, was delightful to watch and played Winn, his opposite, out of the game.
As if Grieve were not enough the school has a remarkably thrustful fast wing forward. For all his short stocky stature and mere 16 years in Emmens. He sticks at nothing and expects to score from every outside edge. And score the plucky boy did. He beat his man and shook off the full-back after Butterfield had given him his first edge, and when Butterfield next swerved wide to the left, Emmens whipped behind and inside him and scored without a hand being laid upon him.
Finally in attack the school had in Metcalfe a reserve scrum half who made one wonder how good the regular one is. Metcalfe has only a short pass, but it is extremely quick and accurate. Forward the school had two particularly solid hardworking locks, whose backs were straight in the tight and who must in all conscience have shoved hard and well only because Thomson for the most part leaned and neither Sumrie nor Mitchell overworked themselves. Nazir’s quality was that he survived in the front row in the company of Mullen, Porisse, Berridge, Labuschagne and Jacobs. And survive firmly to the end he did. At fullback, Kidd tackled bravely and kicked fairly well. He has a deal yet to learn about positioning and above all must learn to go down on the ball.
Two things were clear from the start - both sides first aim was to play open, fast, attractive football and none of the visitors had the slightest intention of injuring each other or any of the boys. The game thus lacked only in controlled ruthlessness. The opportunities for clever combined running were the greater and the school side provided it generously. That the club side by comparison failed to do so was because Winn had a nightmare match at stand-off half. He ballooned passes over his centres’ shoulders and into their faces, hurled the ball impossibly at their feet and once, indeed, achieved a leg break. Hosen and Hopper thus had limited chances. Neither gassed consistently well in any event and when they did too often a wing or last man dropped the ball. Thus, while each of the school’s four tries, two of which King converted came from consciously designed and cleverly executed movements only two of the club’s tries were similarly ordered.
Worksop College XV
J.M. Kidd (Worksop College), M.H. Holliday (Bradford), L King (Harrogate), J. Butterfield (Northampton), N.J. Emmens (Worksop College), A.T.W. Grieve (Worksop College), D.M. Metcalfe (Worksop College), R. Nazir (Worksop College), K Mullen (Derby), R. Porisse (Sale), J.P Richardson (Worksop College), D.R. Wilson (Worksop College), G. Mitchell (Wilmslow), R.V. Thompson (Sale), R.M. Sumrie (Headingly)
Worksop RUFC XV
D.J. Turner, H Heaketh, R Howell (Loughborough College), D.J. Hopper (Harrogate), R. Gibson, R.R. Winn (Northampton), R.W. Adams, M. Berridge (Northampton), N.A. Labusechagne (King’s Hospital), C.R. Jacobs (Northampton), M.W. Horrocks, I.J. Salway, V. Bowles, E. Warner (Nottingham), M. Barross
Referee: C.R.W. Francis
