You will not see rugby much better than this. Beverley already had the league title wrapped up but Sheffield were still battling for a play-off place. And they set their stall out here to go for it. This was a cracking game in which both sides ran the ball from anywhere and went all out for a win. Sheffield needed a victory, preferably with a bonus point, while Beverley may have felt they had a bit of a score to settle after an unpleasant incident in the earlier game at Beaver Park. For all their ambition and running Sheffield in the end were simply not able to live with Beverley’s speed and handling. Beverley just wore them down.
For a quarter of an hour it looked like being a tight affair with a close finish. For ten minutes Sheffield attacked the Beverley line. Mark Ireland their fly half was outstanding, several times breaking through and looking likely to score. Only some determined tackling kept them out. But Beverley suddenly turned it round with a fine try. A long raking kick out of defence by Phil Duboulay found touch deep in the home half; Beverley got possession and Tomasi Tanumi sliced his way through for a try which Duboulay converted/
Ireland kicked a penalty for Sheffield and the home side again looked threatening. They retained possession impressively but Beverley needed merely to soak up the pressure until an error was made which was usually the case. On half an hour rather against the run of play Beverley again cut loose. Another long diagonal Duboulay kick was pounced on by Tanumi and Sam Atiola went over for Beverley’s second converted try. Sheffield huffed and puffed and attacked from anywhere but it was Beverley who had the sharper cutting edge. From a scrum on halfway Sheffield were completely split open by a smart inside pass from Duboulay to Tanumi who raced through to put Atiola in for his second try. Duboulay thumped over the conversion and Beverley turned round 21-3 up.
Sheffield must have spent halftime wondering where a score was coming from. They were simply being tackled out of the game. Nobody flinched from going in and with Joe Picketts tackling anything in sight Sheffield were frustrated at every turn. Early in the second half Sam Atiola was dismissed for a second yellow card. Yet still Sheffield could make no inroads in spite of a one man advantage. Beverley simply upped their own game and put on an exhibition of running rugby which can only be described as breathtaking.
It was not only the backs that did it. Beverley’s forwards outplayed their opponents in the tight and were a force to be reckoned with in the open play. The powerful running of Manu Kirkwood and Sam Kerry in particular was outstanding. Young Stuart Nel in the second row had another impressive game and Nathan Sharpe showed plenty of pace at number eight. Worrall as usual was everywhere.
A break by Duboulay put Picketts over. Picketts then added another from a quickly taken penalty and Chris Brant touched down after Tanumi had opened up play from his own line. Six tries and six conversions – Sheffield were down and out but they still went for it even though it was more in hope than expectation. Centre Alex Hill did eventually get over for them with a late try which Ireland converted but by then it was a hopeless cause. Within four minutes Beverley had added another of their own, David Worrall cutting through for a fine solo try. Duboulay kicked his seventh conversion out of seven.
Despite the one sided look to the final score this was a hard fought game and it made for compulsive watching. A bit over-feisty perhaps at times but there was plenty of thrilling rugby from both sides. Sheffield played their part in an enjoyable match but nobody watching this game would dispute that Beverley in this league are in a class of their own.
Final Score: Sheffield 10 Beverley RUFC 49 | Reported by John Nursey
