Police 13

Renegades 23

Renegades took a giant step towards retaining their men’s division title with a dominant win over Police on Saturday.

A triumph built on forward power and the flawless kicking of Brian Archibald, the Renegades fly half, took the men in black and white six points clear with two games left to play.

Victory over Teachers on Saturday will be enough to secure the title, and while that is not a foregone conclusion the way in which the Renegades players celebrated at the final whistle suggests otherwise. Even a slip up then would not be terminal as their final game of the season is against a Mariners side who have won just once this year.

“We’ve still got to win one more game to guarantee the league, so we won’t be resting,” said Bennet Gibson, who led the side in the absence of Rich Cumbers. “We’ve still got another two weeks to go before we celebrate.”

Although still mathematically in the running, Police will need a minor miracle to overhaul the league leaders and they have no one to blame but themselves for losing a game they might easily have won.

Tries from Dan Cole and Patrick Graham, plus a Cole penalty goal gave Police a 13-0 lead with less than 15 minutes gone, and the fast start they made was only marred by the two conversions that Cole missed.

However, that was to be the last time Police threatened the Renegades line, from then on they allowed themselves to be dragged into a ferocious forwards battle that Renegades always looked like winning.

Renegades’s dominance upfront showed in their opening score, when Peter Dunkerley powered over from close in after good work by Jamie Baum, the flanker, and Simon Pettler, the prop. Renegades are also past masters of some of the darker arts at the breakdown, and Ben Green, the Police hooker, came in for some particularly rough treatment.

The treatment meted out by the Renegades forwards was not well received by Police, who allowed their emotions to get the better of them on several occasions.

That indiscipline resulted in Police finding themselves on the wrong side of Keith Hodgkins, the referee, more and more as the half wore on.

From one such incident Brian Archibald narrowed the gap to 13-10 with another well-struck penalty goal.

Three points ahead at half-time any hopes Police had of reversing the momentum that Renegades had built were ended with the loss of both props.

Peter Kiernan, the loosehead prop, was replaced early by David Hassbroke, much to Kiernan’s consternation, and moments later Nick West, the tighthead, hobbled off with a calf injury forcing a shuffling of the Police pack.

Renegades dominated proceedings from then on, and but for some desperate defence by their opponents would have scored more points than the ten they eventually managed.

Jahan Cedenio capped a powerful display with his side’s second try, crashing over from close range after Renegades had won a scrum against the head, and Archibald added the extras.

The loss of a forward platform on which to base their game meant Police spent much of the second half inside their own 22, and the pressure that Renegades applied at the breakdown resulted in two kickable penalties that Archibald slotted over with ease.

Even when Police did break towards the half-way line the ball did not bounce their way. Police’s day was largely summed up when a sharp pass cannoned off the hands of Roedolf van der Westhuizen and into the grateful arms of Conor McGlynn, the Renegades flanker, who carried the ball back to within sight of the Police posts.

“We really had to fight to get back into the game,” Gibson said. “All credit to the boys they go stuck in.

“The forwards really gave us the platform, the set piece was excellent, the front five dominated the scrum, put them under pressure and that really restricted them in attack.”

TEAMS

Scorers:Police:Tries: Cole (5min), Graham (10). Penalty goal: Cole (15).

Renegades:Tries: Dunkerley (16), Cedenio (46). Conversions: Archibald 2 (17, 47). Penalty goals: Archibald 3 (19, 57, 63).

Scoring sequence (Police first): 5-0, 10-0, 13-0, 13-7, 13-10 (half time) 13-17, 13-20, 13-23.

Police: M Halbert; P Graham, S Smith, J Oosthuizen, R Muuray; D Cole, T Edwards; P Kiernan, B Green, N West, A Richards, A Oberholzer, D Richardson, A Rossides, R van der Westhuizen.

Renegades: P Kelly; A Hassle, C Maule, C Ennis, J Quigley; B Archibald, T Healy; S Pettler, M Williams, J Cedenio, P Dunkerley, R Howells, C McGlynn, J Baum, B Gibson.