S&C Rugby Correspondent William Payne reports on last week’s match against Twickenham as injury strikes the Pompey RFC team once again.
There were more woes for Portsmouth this week, as players’ injuries saw Stuart Davies, Luke Richardson, Darren Crabb and Curtis Barnes all ruled out until the end of the season.
Kick off against Twickenham was delayed till 3:10 due to traffic that delayed Pompey’s arrival, but the late start was little help to the team as Twickenham scored their 4th bonus point try within the first 20 minutes of the game.
Despite the odds against them, Portsmouth secured 3 points off a good kick from Andy Barnes, after a stellar run from Luke Peters. At the end of the first half, the score was 31-3 to Twickenham.
At the end of the first half it was clear Portsmouth needed to pull their socks up and power on through to win the game. With four key players ruled out, the team faced a hard task, but were pushing through to put up a good fight.
10 minutes in to the second half, Portsmouth was playing a more controlled game with better overall attacking force through the forwards. After a good grubber kick, Andy Barnes touched the ball down under the posts and converted it, making it 31-10 to Twickenham.
Moments later, Elliot Worrall bundled over from a 5-metre scrum, but to the confusion of the crowd, the Referee gave the try as a penalty, bringing the score to 31-17.
Could a comeback be on the cards for Pompey?
Unfortunately, no.
Portsmouth finished the game as it started, conceding 3 late tries to make it 52-17 to the home side.
Poor discipline on both teams saw Twickenham awarded with 3 yellow cards and Portsmouth with 2 – one for Jackson Clarke and one for Rob Gicquel.
Overall, this was by far one of Portsmouth’s worst games this season. That said, and to take a positive from the defeat, Portsmouth need to work hard on the mistakes from this and previous matches to come back fighting for the games ahead.
Today Portsmouth welcomes a strong Warlingham side, currently sitting in 12th place.
William Payne will be back in a couple of weeks with a slow sports report Rugby Read reviewing the team’s progress. In the meantime, get along to the games or follow live updates over at Portsmouth RFC’s twitter feed.
Photography by Lesley Gicquel.