Ipswich 41 Eton Manor 17

London Three North East league leaders Eton Manor were brought crashing down to earth with a thump as third-placed Ipswich ran in seven tries at Humber Doucy Lane on Saturday.

The Londoners’ powerful forward pack was the only weapon that the injury-depleted visitors brought and Ipswich produced a breathtaking display of confident running rugby to dismember the Eton Manor backline.

Ipswich had the ascendancy by halftime after scoring four tries but the team management were emphatic in their demand for focus during this replay of last week’s abandoned match.

Three of this season’s South African influx claimed five of the tries, with a brace each for phenomenal flanker Cristoffel Blom and right winger Pierre Theron, and mercurial flyhalf Jan Van Tonder crossing for Ipswich’s seventh try with a quarter of an hour of the match remaining.

Both teams finished with thirteen men each on the pitch after the referee showed four yellow cards as ill-discipline crept into a fiercely contested match.

Ipswich are now just one point behind second-placed Diss, who have yet to face Eton Manor for the return match following their 16-0 loss away to the Londoners earlier in the season.

Ipswich opened up a 22-0 lead in the first 34 minutes with some breathtaking open play, number eight Alex Primmer returning to form as he set up the first try with a twenty-metre break from the base of the scrum to supply Mike Ward who fed scrumhalf

Ollie Johnson for a try in the corner. Fraser Pratt missed the conversion.

Blom was next, fed by Ward again, with Pratt converting before Theron scored in the right-hand corner to give a 17-0 lead.

Fullback Sam Keeble-Taylor deftly filtered through the Manor defence to score the fourth as Ipswich established a deserved dominance over the now-desperate London visitors.

As with last week, when Eton Manor’s match at Humber Doucy Lane was abandoned due to an injured referee, the visitors took advantage of penalties to get close enough to launch their powerful pack at the Ipswich line and right winger Henrik Jonker brought the score to 22-5 at the turnaround.

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