Rugby Lions succumbed once again this season to local rivals Leicester Lions, and effectively end any lingering hopes of promotion. On a dark, cold and damp December afternoon, it is hard to imagine a more depressing place to watch a game of Rugby than Westleigh Park, Blaby. In football, teams are only allowed to progress up the leagues if their grounds come up to certain standards. In Rugby, however, it seems you can rise up to national league level playing on an open field with no facilities whatsoever for spectators. Hardly surprising then, that the visiting supporters outnumbered the home fans.

The early passages of play were dominated by the boot, with a series of punts from both sides failing to find touch. A break from the base of the scrum by Brady freed Toby Handley down the left touchline with support coming from Alex Nash. As he was tackled on the home 22, Tristan Prosser-Shaw was in close support, but the move was halted when the referee bizarrely penalised Rugby for crossing, although TPS was clearly behind Nash. Former Rugby Lion Jon Boden slotted a penalty to give the home side an early lead, but Rugby responded with a break from Matt Goode. A good feed to Chris Murphy would have resulted in a try, but the pass was too high and the ball knocked on. Toby Handley then broke through the centre, but again the ball was lost forward with the try-line begging. Rugby were in complete control in the scrum at this stage and constantly disrupted Leicester’s ball, so much so that the home side opted for a lineout when Rugby’s throw-in was deemed crooked. After missing an earlier attempt, James Hawken kicked a penalty to tie the scores at 3-3 before Boden restored the home side’s lead with a drop goal.

Following a lineout, a minor scuffle broke out and following the touch judge’s intervention, Stuart Riding was singled out and shown a yellow card. This decision was to prove costly for Rugby, and against the run of play, second row Bennett crashed over following a number of forward drives. Boden converted for a 13-3 lead. A strong run from Hawken was halted a metre short of the line, and the decision again went against the visitors at the resulting ruck, with Leicester being awarded the put in.

With Rugby attacking on the home 22, the ball was yet again lost forward, and nearly resulted in a break away try for winger Roberts, but the covering Ade Hales bundled him into touch to end the half. But for errors at crucial times, Rugby should have had at least three tries, and have been well in front at half time.

Jon Boden soon increased the home side’s lead with another penalty, but Rugby were back in the game shortly after. The referee missed a knock-on by Boden following excellent sniping at the base of Leicester’s scrum by Handley, and Boden was allowed to kick up field. That decision was to back-fire on Leicester as Hawken ran the ball back, and linked with Alex Nash to set Toby Handley up to score under the posts. Hawken converted to reduce the deficit to 16-10. Another penalty by Boden put the home side further in front when Tristan Prosser-Shaw was harshly shown a yellow card by the very poor referee for handling on the floor and Rugby were again reduced to 14 men. Despite this, some lovely ball skills from Riding and Nash allowed Matt Goode to streak through and score under the posts. Hawken converted to make the score 19-17 and Rugby were right back n the game. Trying to force the game from their own 22, Rugby lost possession and poor tackling allowed Roberts an easy run to the try line for a converted score.

Leicester played out the last few minutes mainly in Rugby’s half and in almost total darkness the final whistle blew. Leicester won this match simply because they made fewer mistakes than Rugby. They have a very simple game plan, and although it may not be pretty to watch, it is very effective. Rugby, on the other hand, tend to over-complicate moves, and in doing so make too many errors.