Rugby Union round-up: Sheffield Tigers looking forward to test against Sedgley

Sheffield RUFC suffered a heavy defeat in the Yorkshire Cup first round against National League Three North leaders Huddersfield.
Pictured is Sheffield Tigers 1st XV team coach Thiu Barnard Photo Credit: Ian AndersonPictured is Sheffield Tigers 1st XV team coach Thiu Barnard Photo Credit: Ian Anderson
Pictured is Sheffield Tigers 1st XV team coach Thiu Barnard Photo Credit: Ian Anderson

The Abbeydale side scored first and held a 7-0 lead for 20 minutes until one-way traffic from Huddersfield resulted in an eventual 39-7 rout.

At least Sheffield’s early exit from the competition means they can focus solely on maintaining their lead at the top of the National League Three Midlands division.

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They face a tough test in their next league game where they host third placed Old Halesonians on Saturday.

Across the city, Sheffield Tigers had a first round-bye from the Yorkshire Cup and instead travelled to Wharfedale for a National League Two match. Despite a slow start the Tigers eventual won the match 29-19, earning them a five-point road win.

Thiu Barnard, Tigers’ head coach, said: “We started really slow and conceded 14 points within the first fifteen minutes.

“Then we woke up and started playing well, defended especially well and turned the game around.

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“It was an excellent win, not many teams go there and come away with five points.

“It was a long three hour trip to get there so we were always going to be slow for the first bit of the game but I am very happy with the overall performance. I am delighted with the second half especially.

“Everybody worked really hard to get the win. It was the best performance I’ve seen so far this season defensively... barring the first ten minutes!

“Once we had woken up they were not really a threat, we were that good at defending.”

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Tigers play their next match at their Dore Moor home ground on Saturday. They will hope to carry their fine form into the fixture when they host Sedgley Park.

Regarding the fixture Barnard said: “Sedgley had a massive win at the weekend, winning 76-35, but they still conceded 35 points.

“I am not worried about the game. We are very excited about the fixture and we want to win the game.

“We are planning to win this game, there is no point going into a game hoping to win one or two points.

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“We want to come away with a win and potentially the bonus point.

“They are at the top end of the league but if we go in with the wrong mentality it could be a very long day at the office for us.

“We have a couple of game plan issues we need to work on for the weekend but as a unit we are looking forward to Sedgley coming over.”