Hoppers ring changes but still too strong for Manchester

Hoppers secured a bonus point win with a comprehensive victory over winless Manchester. Hoppers scored six tries and dominated all areas against the leagues bottom club and considering the number of changes from last week’s stand out victory there is more to take from this victory than meets the eye.

Dave Baldwin made eight changes to the side that beat Loughborough Students the previous week and named a youthful and somewhat inexperienced side, although plenty of key men were still playing, that allowed him to recall a few familiar faces and get a look at some of the emerging players.

After a lackluster opening quarter the game was given a spark for the wrong reasons after a brawl inside the Manchester 22, several players were involved but the referee took no further action than to award a penalty. Hoppers kicked to touch and mounted an impressive catch and drive which stalled just short of the line, but the ball was moved quickly into the backs and Tom Hughes was on hand to score by the posts.
If the first try helped to calm the nerves, the second straight from the restart banished them all together. Mark Rigbye collected the kick off and newcomer James Mawdsley showed good pace to get behind the defence and he and Matt Charters worked the ball well put Matt Hughes in the clear.

That was all the scoring for the first half but Hoppers started the second with a bang, Alex Zavallis-Roebuck collected a clearing kick and launched a counter attack, Tom Hughes advanced with a typical scything run and offloaded to Matt Hughes who once again had far too much pace for the home defence.

Hoppers secured the try bonus point thanks to a penalty try, a Manchester line out on their own 5m line was slapped back into the in goal area and after seeing a Hoppers player cynically held back the referee had no choice but to go under the posts.

Manchester tried to force themselves back into the game, but even with a man advantage after Roebuck was shown a dubious yellow card they did not have the power or the panache to do so.

Two late tries sent the visiting fans away with a smile on their faces, Dominic Moon rounded off an impressive performance with a late cameo which took the final score to something that better reflected Hoppers dominance. Moon smashed his way over from the base of a 5m scrum and then launched a typically powerful run through the midfield to set up Charters who rounded the game off in some style.

Hoppers will be pleased with the strength in depth that the squad now has and their ability to bring players into the first team and have them perform at a high level. Once again the pack was dominant, with the front row getting the better of the scrum throughout and the back row once again working tirelessly all around the park. The backs were able to turn on the style on occasions but it was a game of missed opportunities and more points should really have been scored but the win and the try bonus point were secured and not a single point conceded, even at the end of the game when the result were a certainty the effort of the players to make tackles and turn over possession is testament to the attitude and commitment that is shown throughout the team.