9/4/2008

Sport

Rugby - Esher humiliated by strugglers

Esher                               0
Launceston                  41

ESHER were soundly beaten by a Launceston side battling relegation at Molesey Road on Saturday.

A hat trick of tries for winger Matt Jess and further tries for Dibble, Alford and du Plessis saw a lacklustre Esher humilated by a side they had beaten 20-0 away in November.

The loss was Esher’s heaviest of the season at Molesey Road and overshadowed the birthday of captain Duncan Cormack.

The Esher skipper turned 33 on Saturday but celebrations were in short supply as his team stumbled to defeat, conceding 20 points in the first half and 21 more after the interval.

Cormack also sustained a nasty ear injury and then had to endure a verbal onslaught by Director of Rugby Mike Schmid.

Esher’s captain admitted the performance was well-below par.

“We got a right kicking from Mike afterwards and he had every right to be angry,” he said.

“It was a pretty one-sided affair to be honest and they won every facet of the game.

“They won the contact area and Mike was obviously not happy with the performance. None of us were.

“It was hardly the best way to celebrate my birthday and I ripped my cartilage in my ear as well.

“We were outmuscled up front and well beaten at the lineout.

“You learn a lot about a team in defeat and we can’t drop to these sorts of levels.

“Too many players had a bad day. You can’t afford to drop 10 or 15 per cent in this league.”

However, Cormack insisted he  had not taken Launceston lightly.

He said: “I wasn’t stunned by their performance. I’ve been saying all season that there are no easy games.

“I don’t know if some of the guys were expecting an easier game but I wasn’t. I know we beat them 20-0 down there but it was still one of our toughest games and we played really well.

“Saturday was a game they had to win and they played some good rugby.”

It was the second successive week Esher had failed to get a point following a 26-0 reverse at second-placed Exeter.

Cormack said: “Mike was hugely disappointed in the effort, especially after a pretty good performance at Exeter where we played pretty well even though we lost.”

Esher have a weekend off this Saturday but then face high-flying Nottingham in their final home game of the season on April 19. They visit Moseley for their final match  a week later.

Cormack added: “Now we’ve got to make sure we prepare really well for Nottingham and make sure we compete.

“We also have something to prove to the home crowd after that defeat by Launceston. We also owe it to Mike because the team let him down.”

First printed in: News & Mail Series