Marburg/Aschaffenburg 0-54 Darmstadt
Two weeks ago, the Darmstadt boys made the journey north to Marburg to take on „Arschburg“, the Marburg and Aschaffenburg SG. Pre-match in Darmstadt things already started to go wrong as Artem slept in/ didn’t set an alarm/ was hungover and didn’t turn up. After picking up the referee en route (not Felix this time) the boys arrived in Marburg and were greeted by a muddy pitch, some autumnal wind and rain, and full squad of motivated Marburg/Aschaffenburg players. A perfect recipe for a great day of rugby.
The game got underway with the boys receiving the kick, and immediately stringing some early phases together. Marburg defended well and whilst Darmstadt were advancing, each meter was fiercely contested. After playing some possession in the opposition 22, Henry ran a quick loop play with Ernesto to round the last defender for the opening try. This was followed up shortly by a barrelling run from Patrick M. who powered through under the posts. Seeking inspiration from his fellow forward, Phillip called a switch with Mauro off the scrum that was definitely not on, however with three defenders in front of him, he created his own gap, crashing through for Darmstadt‘s third try. Tommaso, who was on fire in the breakdown, finally got his reward and was able to squeeze past the winger in the corner following some nice hands for the 4th try. Darmstadt had found their rhythm by now, with some good interlinking plays and close control of the game. The wingers looked dangerous with AJ making some quick breaks down the right wing. Ernesto scored a try down the left wing, beating his winger one-on-one after narrowly being pushed out of touch in the previous attack. After breaking through the middle of the pitch, Felix was put clean through for what would be his first Darmstadt try. However, after spending most the time behind the whistle this season, Felix had clearly forgotten where the tryline was, opting instead to brake check and step outside the final covering defender, only to be bundled out over the sideline instead. Shortly before halftime, Henry added another try off the scrum to make it 40-0 at the break.
The second half got underway and with conditions deteriorating, so did the quality of play. Under the heavy rain, the number of handling errors crept up, and the constant running in the muddy pitch start to drain the legs of the Darmstadt players. Well, all Darmstadt players apart from PvH, who picked up a ball in our own half and found a gap to run the length of the pitch to score. In the following conversion, the Matchball was lost and replaced with an old training ball that had the grip quality of a bar of soap. With this development, neither side seemed to be able to string a phase together without a knock-on. At least the forwards were able to keep warm with some scrummaging, at least until Lorenzo moved to Prop for one scrum only to fold the opposition front row in half. The scrums went to uncontested after this. Davide then proceeded to make friends with his opposite number after some strong tackles and fiercely contested rucks, before his fellow Italian Mauro decided to try and start a fight in typical scrumhalf manner. After we managed to not knock-on the ball for more than two phases, Ernesto was able to break through for another try. Darmstadt then made some tactical subs. PvH stepped in at 10 and immediately chose not to play to his strengths and butchered a kick in a prime running attacking position. Angelo came on at Centre and with one of the most impressive first touches ever seen, managed to step his defender so aggressively that he fell flat on his face and knocked the ball on. After some more back and forth in the cold and mud, the boys were thankful when the final whistle blew at 54-0.
Many thanks to the ref for a well-controlled game, and to Marburg/Aschaffenburg for a fiercely contested and very enjoyable match. Thanks also to those who travelled to watch us!
MoM – Tommaso for his non-stop work rate and great try
DoD – Artem for his no-show