AIB League, Lansdowne 6 Bruff 0

1st XV: Saturday was what you might call a “Perfect Storm” from a weather point of view. An extremely strong Lansdowne team containing at least one contracted player lined out against the lads in the RDS. All the points came in the first half with Lansdowne slotting two penalties with a mini hurricane at their backs. With it being dark enough to require floodlights right from the kickoff, things got so bad that both of the posts seemed to wave at least two feet over and back in front of the kicker. A day full of penalties at the ruck again for both sides but Bruff weathered the storm in the first half to hold on for a 6 point deficit at the half time break and hoping to have the wind at their back for round two. The travelling horde were ensconced under the roof to the side, somewhat comforted by the flow of hot toddies on hand nearby but it was just awful out there. Both teams literally ran for cover at the half time break to take a little shelter from the weather. The game should never have been played in those conditions and news was filtering through during the game about games being called off or abandoned all around the country, the condition of the pitch however was just excellent and this was probably the only reason that the game proceeded.

Second half began with Bruff on the attack but seemed to be completely unable to get inside the Lansdowne 22. The wind had changed to a lunatic swirl around the ground instead of the straight between the posts version which had dominated the first half. Every time that Bruff crossed that white border of the 22 they were pinged and play seemed to be concentrated between the ten meter lines. A few Lansdowne attacks were easily repulsed by the strong Bruff defence but the much vaunted Bruff pack just failed to make any impression on the Lansdowne defence. The only consolation, two penalty attempts by Brian Cahill, one a very speculative effort from his own ten meter line, but it was not to be and both sides were again eager to get off the pitch when the Lansdowne Scrumhalf finally kicked the ball out over his own dead-ball line to close proceedings. Both kickers had to have the ball held for them every time they kicked, line-outs were a complete lottery, but Bruff seemed to get the better of the scrummaging on the day. It was just a miserable wet, windy and cold afternoon and it finished with no score in the second half. Just as the Bruff squad headed for the bus the skies cleared and we saw the sun for the first time during the day. Lansdowne cemented their position at the top of the table, and Bruff gaining a losing Bonus point for their efforts.

Bruff: D. Horan, C. O’ Regan, S. Foster, A. Bourke, D. Murnane, M. Carroll, S. Shine, P. Malone, E. Maher, B. Cahill, J. Moore, J. Carroll, J. Malone, F. Hogan, B. Deady, M. O’ Donnell, G. Ryan, A. Laffan, D. Maw, G. Leonard.