Rob Bell about to score
With the Blues squad honing their Michaelmas term preparations in foreign climes, a patchwork team, comprised largely of ex-blues and players from the local area, formed a Cambridge University Select XV against Japanese university champions Teikyo University, in what was the first of two tour fixtures.
It was unfortunate, perhaps, that a team which had never really played together should encounter such a committed, clinical and alert side. And though it is never a pleasant experience for a player to be on the wrong end of a 67-5 score line, there must have been occasions when the Cambridge XV marvelled at the flair and skill exuded by Teikyo.
The game began in traditional friendly, harum-scarum fashion, neither side holding territorial advantage for very long and handling errors disrupting continuity; Teikyo profiting from a forced Cambridge offload to score within the first five minutes.
The first half eventually settled into some sort of rhythm, a rhythm entirely dictated by Teikyo and their commanding fly-half Matsuda Rikiya. Varying his points of attack from deep to flat and kicking from hand with pin-point accuracy, he always seemed one step ahead of his opponents and put his team in exactly the right positions on the pitch.
A sharp angle at the edge of the ruck and a flying finish out wide extended Teikyo University’s lead to 17 points as the visitors began to hit full stride.
Cambridge, for their part, tried to mount attacks from all corners of the pitch but space was instantly suffocated by the visitor’s line-speed and abrasive tackling. However, for all their discipline in defensive formation, Teikyo conceded far too many penalties at the breakdown and handed Cambridge easy entry to their half.
The referee eventually lost patience with the catalogue of infringements before half time and dished out two yellow cards in quick succession, creating a mismatch which the Blues forwards duly exploited to send Rob Bell over for their sole score of the match.
Teikyo immediately hit back with the best try of the night. From the left touchline, winger Takeyama Koki returned a loose kick with decisive interesting, inviting his fellow backs onto the ball. Running with startling pace from depth, the ball flowed through numerous hands and ended up with Kaneda Eiji in the right corner.
The second half continued in a similar vein. No. 8 Mccurran Brodi Roy and his blindside companion Ilaua Olando decimated Cambridge’s defence and created gaping holes for their wide backs to make hay. A flurry of tries followed, including a second from Olando, and the game was put to bed with a quarter remaining.
Wholesale changes on the hour mark inevitably disrupted the flow of the game and blunted Teikyo’s attack somewhat, the visitors struggled to sustain the same tempo through the phases. Nonetheless, tiredness from the home side paved the way for a few individual scores in the final 10 minutes and brought to an end an entertaining game.
While next stop for Teikyo University is a trip to Durham on Monday for their final pre-season match, the Blues’ season begins in earnest against Blackheath away on Wednesday
George Perry