Resurgent Emma Defy Favourites to Win Plate

After years of horrific rugby stagnating in the third division, Emmanuel College can now toast a worthy team. The newly promoted premiership team CCK (Clare, Corpus and King’s) were resoundingly beaten 33-12 by the underdogs in pink and blue. Heart-throb Emmanuel captain Paddy Gough, recovering after the game, commented: “I couldn’t be more proud of my boys. I even did a cry.”

A formidable CCK forward pack, which boasted a current Blues prop as well as many other stellar players, had the opposition worried from the start. However their relatively inexperienced front row luckily managed to minimize any potential damage as Emma produced a performance off the highest quality, in contrast to a semi-final where they had been extremely lucky to scrape past Sidney.

The 25-0 domination of the first half was a result of some textbook forwards’ play with Jack Jeffries twice placing over the line from driven mauls. Irish stallion Richard Boyd chalked up a few more points with a stunning interception from his own half.

The second half quickly brought them back down to earth before they even knew it. Toby ‘Tonk’ Haseler, playing on wing instead of prop, netted an impressive brace of tries. The temporary fear of God that had stuck Emmanuel was soon lifted when the referee doled out a yellow card to the CCK full back for some repeated scrappy play at the ruck.

This led to some speculation that George Bibby had wooed the female referee through some skilled ‘schwefffing’ (these claims are as yet unsubstantiated).

At the end of the day, a classic example of dogged old school rugby paid off for the Tompkin’s topping side. Many supporters had no doubt absconded from final supervisions and were rewarded with an exhilarating game. CCK will be disappointed to have lost to a lower ranked side, but on the day, there was only one team in it.