After the end of the regular season, the 1st XV of the RCBRS traveled to Dortmund on 20.04.2024 to play the first of two playoff games for 9th place. <\/span><\/p>\n The journey there was marked by heavy rain and hail showers, bringing back memories of the mud battle in the last regular season match against RSV K\u00f6ln. However, the Dortmund pitch was in perfect condition on arrival and so nothing stood in the way of a perfect afternoon of rugby in slightly damp and windy, but also sunny conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n In the run-up to the match, it was unclear whether SG Ruhrpott would be able to field a full team, but the SG mobilized all its forces and was able to announce a full team, much to everyone’s relief.<\/span><\/p>\n And so the match began, with a lively and balanced back-and-forth developing in the opening minutes. Both teams defended confidently and courageously, but there were also some sloppy passes and ball losses in attack. RCBRS gained the first advantage when scrum-half Vincent Martinet<\/span> <\/b>was able to pick up a loose ball from the ground and find a gap in the opponent’s defensive line. With a strong run on the right, he was able to beat several defenders and then pass the ball to Johannes Dziuba, who was running with him and was finally able to lay the ball off to the half-right in Malfeld to make it 0:5. Unfortunately, Dziuba’s subsequent increase bounced against the post and was unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\n SG Ruhrpott’s response was not long in coming. Cheered on by the home fans and motivated to equalize, the SG worked its way forward phase by phase and put the RCBRS defence under increasing pressure. Although they defended bravely, the number of infringements of the rules increased, meaning that SG<\/span> was awarded a free kick about 8 meters in front of the Bonn mall line. The SG started quickly and the RCBRS was no longer able to stop the attack. As a result, the SG was not only able to equalize the score at 5:5 on the half-right, but also took a deserved 7:5 lead with the successful increase. In addition, a Bonn player was shown a yellow card because he did not keep the prescribed 10m distance during a quick free kick and tried to stop the attack with his tackle in violation of the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n Playing in superior numbers, the SG gradually gained the upper hand and sent one wave of attacks after another towards the Bonn goal. However, the RCBRS defended stoutly and were able to win the ball back time and again and gain some breathing space thanks to clever free kicks by the link-up man Daniel Wey. One of these kicks could not be brought under control by the SG and led to a ball being played forward in the home half. The RCBRS did come under pressure in the ensuing scrimmage, but it was Vincent Martinet<\/strong> again, the later <\/span>Man of the Match,<\/b> which caused the pendulum to swing. He first picked up the ball at the scrum, then broke through the defense with a faked pass, overcame the SG’s final player and laid it off to the left of the goalposts to make it 7:10. The subsequent increase by Dziuba was successful this time and Bonn went 7:12 in front.<\/span><\/p>\n Playing with 15 men again, the RCBRS then gained more and more confidence and were now the dominant team in attack. Although the SG defended strongly and stopped the RCBRS several times just before the halfway line, there were repeated infringements of the rules and the Bonn attack took advantage of one of the short penalties in the min. 40 finally scored another try thanks to strong pod play. The ball was played to Mattia Langellotto, who broke through the defense with a strong line and was able to lay off to the half left. Dziuba’s lay-up was successful and the visitors went in at half-time with a 7:19 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n Coach James Ohlsen made a number of tactical and injury-related changes at half-time and shortly afterwards, meaning the Lions had to regroup. As a result, the game became a little choppy with good attacks on both sides, but also some easy mistakes and corresponding interruptions. <\/span><\/p>\n A quick attack by Bonn’s backline down the right-hand side, in which the ball was played to debutant Hanru Smith, provided the impetus. He shifted up a gear in a flash and let several defenders off. After a remarkable 60m solo, he took off at 7:24 under the staging. The subsequent raise by Smith himself was unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\n The next scene worth seeing on the Bonn side also belonged to Smith, who again broke through the middle after a strong run and made a spectacular tackle on the onrushing Ruan van der Schyff<\/strong>, the eventual Hammer of the Match<\/strong>. He ran in under the bars and scored at 7:29. The increase to 7:31 by Josh Talbot was successful.<\/span><\/p>\n Even though the Bonn Lions seemed to have gained a bit of an advantage at this point, the SG Ruhrpott players never let their heads drop and worked their way inch by inch into their opponents’ 22 in the ensuing phase of the game. With clever passes and strong runs, they repeatedly created gaps in Bonn’s defense and consequently and deservedly scored a strike from a half-right position. The SG was able to reduce the deficit to 14:31 with the successful increase.<\/span><\/p>\n After the Lions managed to survive a difficult spell with two players in the penalty box thanks to spirited defending, it was van der Schyff again who set the final exclamation mark for Bonn. Played on in the SG’s 22, he sought a direct route, outpaced several defenders and was once again able to finish under the bars. Talbot’s increase was once again successful. The final phase began with the score at 14:38.<\/span><\/p>\n The strong-willed SG Ruhrpott brought the game to a close with the last action of the game. After a few phases in Bonn’s 22, the ball went out to the backline and finally to the powerful inside three-quarter, who beat three Lions at once with a strong running line and deposited the ball under the uprights. The increase from the center was successful and so the referee ended a tough, fair and entertaining game in Dortmund at 21:38.<\/span><\/p>\n The Bonn Lions can be proud of a solid performance and an unchallenged victory. Even if there were some technical and organizational weaknesses, morale and will were impeccable at all times. A number of new players also slotted seamlessly into the team and made a successful debut.<\/span><\/p>\n The RCBRS is looking forward to the return match on May 04, 2024 at 14:00 in front of a home crowd. At the same time, the annual “Rhine in Flames” festival is celebrated in the Rheinaue, so nothing stands in the way of a perfect day of rugby.<\/strong><\/p>\n Text: Johannes Dzuiba Well-deserved victory in Dortmund against SG Ruhrpott After the end of the regular season, the 1st XV of the RCBRS traveled to Dortmund on 20.04.2024 to play the first of two playoff games for 9th place. The journey there was marked by heavy rain and hail showers, bringing back memories of the mud battle in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-match-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4680"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4729,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4680\/revisions\/4729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcbrs.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPictures: Anke Rolfes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"