Falcons swoop on Barbarians

Barbarians player Andrew Farrar is ready with a quick pass after the feed in a match against Alloway.

Max Fleet

ALLOWAY Falcons did what most local rugby union followers thought was impossible on Saturday, when they ended Wests Barbarians' undefeated streak with a rarely seen three-nil score-line in modern rugby.

The Falcons scored the winning points from a penalty goal in the 15th minute, then dominated possession for the next 65. Bundaberg rugby circles are used to Wests dominating possession from scrums and line-outs, but the hard work from training paid off for the home team and left their coach Nathan Freeman delighted with their performance.

“What we worked on in training they applied in the game,” Falcons coach Freeman said.

“It was just so good to watch them stick to a game plan and what we had worked at.”

Freeman said team changes forced through necessity had resulted in them finding a winning combination.

“There were players in different positions we had considered changing before,” he said.

“But they were already playing well where they were.

“Against Wests we had to make the changes, and those guys just played that much better in their new positions.”

Freeman said the Falcons scrummaged just as well as the Barbarians, but won 60% of line-outs and dominated 70% of possession.

“We kicked a lot and that was to get field position, once there we held it when we had to,” he said.

Tight head prop Chris Keogh received Freeman's three points as the man of the match, while hooker Dan Chadwick and loose head prop Peter Holmes were lauded by their coach as instrumental in the control of possession.

Defeated coach Rene Patmore said the match was a good game to watch despite being a low-scoring encounter.

“It was just a hard game, and credit to my boys that although we were camped in our territory for 75% of the time, their only points came from a penalty goal,” Patmore said.

The Barbarians' mentor believed the defeat was a result of their poor training in the lead-up to the game, and a wake-up call for them.

Patmore felt the Falcons should have scored more points.

“Three points or 20, a win's a win,” Freeman said.