Grasshoppers put in one of the performances of the season to tame the elements and beat the league leaders at Lightfoot Green. Hoppers heavyweight pack controlled proceedings from the start and never allowed the visitors to get into their stride.
Head Coach Dave Baldwin was full of praise for his teams performance, saying; “It was very pleasing to see us carry on the form from last week; we handled the conditions very well and controlled the game”. Adding; “we looked after the ball and played smart rugby with a lot of patience and this allowed us to build pressure.”
Hoppers pack was the rock from which everything was built, the front row never took a backwards step, Captain Wayne Steel lead by example with a forceful performance and a powerful back row of Richard Morton, Luke Cunningham and Dominic Moon was at its rampaging best constantly smashing over the gain line and giving the Students nothing. This was typified with many long periods of possession were Hoppers kept the ball for multiple phases.
Things got off to a flying start for the host and they took the lead inside the opening ten minutes. After some solid defence, which was to be the trademark throughout, Hoppers scored with their first meaningful attack. A catch and drive from inside the 22 was advanced towards the try line. Loughborough were able to repel the forwards but when the ball was released to the back they had no answer for Mark Edwards’ clever kick through and Cameron Berry was first to the ball to touchdown, Edwards added the conversion to give Hoppers a lead they would never surrender.
This was to be the story of the game as Hoppers used the elements to their advantage and were able to keep the ball for multiple phases, eating up the clock. Loughborough had no answer to the relentless forward pressure as the home pack dominated at the set piece and in the loose. Hoppers extended their lead on the back of this forward dominance as the pack recycled the ball over and over again on the 22 and when the back got their hands on the ball it was again Berry who smashed through the line to grab his second, Edwards was again successful with the conversion and Hoppers went in with a 14-0 halftime lead.
The Students came out in the second half with an added sense of urgency and looked to take on the hosts at their own game, with the bleak conditions making flowing running rugby difficult they attempted a catch and drive of their own and after sucking in the defence they were able to find the extra man and full back Craig Holland was on hand to score.
This sparked the visitors into life and they had plenty of ball in the second half but Hoppers resolute defence held strong and they were rewarded when Tom Hughes powered over to score. Hoppers again built pressure with the forwards and Hughes was able to break and smash his way over the try line. In the dying minutes the defence held strong to give Hoppers a well deserved victory.
It would be easy to underplay the performance of the backs in such a forward oriented tussle, but they were every bit as impressive. The half backs orchestrated some clinical rugby with Mark Edwards pulling the strings and the three tries coming from the centres were a mixture of guile and brute strength. The back three, while starved of good attacking ball, were always looking for work and solid in defence and under the high ball, and who knows what would have happened if Tom Ashton wasn’t on hand to not only collect a dangerous kick through but make yards and give his forwards a target soon after Loughborough had given themselves a glimmer of hope.
Hoppers have had a bright start to the New Year and put in excellent performances against two of the league’s top sides, now comes back to back games against teams at the wrong end of the table where they will hope for more of the same and hopefully some bonus points.
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