LEICESTER PHOENIX 4 OUTLAWS 58 (26/4/2008)

Report by Richard Johnson

Photos by Gav Slater (gallery)

Nottingham Outlaws Rugby League Club started their league campaign at white-hot pace on Saturday when they scorched to a superb 58-4 victory over local rivals Leicester Phoenix. In a turbo-charged performance the Outlaws were just too big and too fast for their enthusiastic but out-gunned local rivals who were put to the sword in an 11-try demolition job.

A new look Outlaws team took to the field with no fewer than 6 players making their first class debut in front of new coach Martin Crick. Add to that the fact that it was was the hottest day of the year and a strong wind blowing across the pitch and one would expect that a slow, measured start to the game was in prospect from the Outlaws. Not a bit of it!

The Outlaws started at break-neck speed and straight from the kick off they threw the ball across the line at pace and blitzed a badly-shaken home team who were taken aback at the speed of the early onslaught. As the ball zipped across the line huge gaps appeared and with the match only 2 minutes old debutant loose-forward Myles Rutherford latched onto a Calland pass to burst over for an opening try for the Outlaws. On the re-start the Outlaws went straight back on the attack and wiley stand-off Calland turned from try-maker to to try-scorer as he out-foxed the Phoenix defence for a great solo effort. There was to be no respite from the whirlwind for the shell-shocked Leicester team and when debutant full-back Will Thomas charged over from a marvellous reverse pass from Calland the Outlaws had scored three tries in less than 12 minutes. With Rob Brown converting all 3 the Outlaws led 18-0 and it seemed that the cricket season had started a week early!

Above: Centre Tom Howley issues his trademark 'don't argue' fend

As often happens in these sort of matches, the Outlaws took their foot off the gas in the mid-stages of the first half and began to over-elaborate when a simpler apprach would have reaped dividends. The completion rate dropped from 100% to less than 50% with the ball was dropped on numerous occasions as over-ambitious passess were simply caught by the strong wind and a turnover resulted.

With the game threatening to turn into a knock-on-athon Coach Crick used a gap in play to pass on a stern message to his troops to return to basics and cut out the silly plays and over-eager approach.

With the instructions ringing in their ears the message seemed to have been taken on board and the Outlaws began to re-assert their grip on the game. With it came more scores as the Outlaws went back on the try scoring hunt and their whirl-wind attacks began to pay dividends. First over the white-wash was elusive winger Roy Yorke who finished off after a smart pass from big Tom Howley and then centre Ben Thornton marked his return to the side with 2 quick-fire tries. The powerful centre has clearly settled in well after a couple of seasons at Derby but he owed both of these scores to great work by Jimmy Lewis. The mercurial scrum half orchestrated proceedings in the first stanza as the maestro conducted the Outlaws around the pitch in one of his best performances in an Outlaws shirt.

The Leicester agony was eventually given respite as the refereee mercifully blew for half-time with the Outlaws in total command at 30-0 and the promise of more to come!

The second half saw the Outlaws playing up the slope but it was business as usual as Paul Calland waltzed over the line for his second of the match which Ben Thornton converted to make it 36-0 and Thornton then went one better by completing a superb hat-trick to make it a memorable return for the flying Kiwi!

Above: Ben Thornton completed a hat-trick on his return in Outlaws colours

With the flood-gates threatening to open the Outlaws attacking game suddenly ground to a halt. A series of penalties against the Outlaws resulted in a prolonged period of scrappy play. Both teams began to get frustrated and the culmination was a sin-binning for burly prop-forward Dave Rogers who spoke out of line to the referee as the temperature rose. With the Outlaws losing concentration, the home team sensed a chance to show what they could do. For the first time in the match they began to probe the Outlaws line and after a period of pressure they were rewarded with an opening try that pegged the score back to 40-4

The Leicester score clearly upset Outlaws coach Crick and he responed by introducing Nathan Crichton and Chris Kemsley from the substitutes bench for their first team debuts, The introduction of fresh life seemed to have a steadying effect on the team. The assured approach of the workman-like Crichton in particular hepled restore order and the Outlaws went back on the attack.

With the Outlaws now back in command again more scores were inevitable. The next try came from seasoned campaigner Paul Calland. The unlcky Calland missed virtually all of last season with a serious knee injury. However, the much relieved half back was back in business and showed he has lost none of his attacking prowess when he completed a fine hat-trick with a superb solo effort. Next over the line was a deserved second try for big Aussie Myles Rutherford who had put in superb afternoons work at loose forward.

As the referee began to look at his watch there was just time for one more try. The last action of the match saw rangey second-rower Martin Edwards, operating in the centres, gallop over the try-line following superb handling in the backs. Ben Thornton added the extras as the referee drew the Phoenix's torture to an end with the Outlaws in total command at 58-4

Several players were in with a shout for the man of the match trophy, but they were just pipped for the award by debutant loose forward Myles Rutherford who put in an assured display for the full 80 minutes that he was on the pitch

Above: Man-of-the-Match Miles Rutherford looks to bust the tackles

After the game, Coach Martin Crick had mixed feelings on the performance, adding "I was really pleased by the start to the match. The intensity was high and a near 100% completion rate led to us scoring tries at will. However, the silly-stuff in the mid-section of the game was not what we needed and the players could see that we missed out on more tries. Once we returned to basics in the final quarter we were back on track and we showed we could score a lot of points"

Next saturday the Outlaws travel to Glocester Warriors knowing that this will be a much sterner test of their credentials. They suffered defeat at the hand of the Warriors last time they travelled down to the edges of the West Country and they know that they will need to brush up in a few departments if they are to take revenge for one of only 3 league defeats suffered in last seasons league campaign.