Ipswich Lose Bravely to Colchester in the Cup

Ipswich lost to a tough Colchester side in a cup match but played a full part in a highly entertaining game with some sparkling running rugby with ball in hand.

The first 20 minutes of the match were a stalemate, defences were on top and the Ipswich line speed and tackling was much better than the previous week.

However on 20 minutes Colchester gained an attacking scrum 30 metres from the Ipswich line wide right, their robust and efficient scrum delivered the ball and Colchester drew the Ipswich defence towards the set piece freeing wide runners for an easy opening score. Ipswich attacked immediately gaining a decent attacking lineout before delivering a gift to an unopposed Colchester runner who had the pace to score from a 75 metre clear run in space behind the Ipswich defence.

A chastened Ipswich attacked strongly from the kick-off with the returning Eli Govindasami driving strongly to set up an attacking ruck in the Colchester 22 wide right, Ipswich span the ball smartly through all hands to release another returnee Jack Cottrell who scored a peach of a try in the opposite corner on 25 minutes.
The tackling dams opened a bit and Colchester scored two more with strong direct running to move on the score to 5-24 at half time. Ipswich had looked great with ball in hand showing some sparkling running rugby at times but Colchester had the balance of possession and the edge in size and demonstrated strong direct running and rucking and as fatigue set in Ipswich had started to fall off the odd tackle creating problems for themselves.

The first quarter of the second half was as tight as the first, but on 13 minutes Ipswich dropped a ball which bounced favourably to allow an easy run through for a Colchester converted try, by 19 minutes Colchester had scored two more before Ipswich dug in and reasserted their tackle defence.

Finally, Ipswich gained some ball and drove forward with some strong running with fluid back running and smart hands from Fred Bolton, Ollie Herbig and Adam Rudolf. Jack Cottrell and Jake Hoskins drove on when they could. Eli Govindasami was an ever-present threat and drove on remorselessly to gain territory. On 20 minutes Ipswich got back on the scoresheet with a fine try wide right from Jake Hoskins which was easily converted by Adam Rudolph.

Colchester scored again before Ipswich drove on again before Adam Rudolph fed a sweet pass to Eli Govidasami to score a fine try close in to underline his impressive contribution to the Ipswich game. Ipswich pressed again to the end but there were no more scores and Colchester had defeated a spirited Ipswich 43-17.

Nonetheless Ipswich had played very well at times particularly with ball in hand with a bare bones squad on the day and we all feel sure that once injured players start to return after Christmas the results will start to flow the Ipswich way.