Charlie Amesbury gave his new Cambridge University team mates a taste of what he can do as he scored a brilliant solo try in a 33-25 defeat against Richmond Vikings on his debut.
The Bristol Rugby full back, who has been given a two month clearance from the Aviva Premiership club to try to win a place in the Varsity Match on Thursday, 8 December, helped Cambridge restore their lead with a 40 metre break shortly after the re-start at the Athletic Ground.
His try, scored with two hapless defenders clinging to his back, hoisted the students into a 20-19 lead and seemingly put them on course for victory. They hit the home side with two tries in the opening quarter from lock Lola Erogbogbo and back row man Tom Stanley, and then added a third from Henry King .
Even so, Richmond hit back with three tries of their own to lead 19-15 at the interval. Hooker Toby Saysell rumbled over for two of them and Alex Brown got a third and young outside half Sam Jones added two conversions.
The try from former England Sevens international Amesbury at the start of the second half gave the Light Blues plenty of confidence and skipper Daniel Dass will have been impressed by his side’s attacking intent from start to finish. Things got even better when Mike Phillips increased the lead on 54 minutes, but of concern to coach James Shanahan will have been the goalkicking display from his team.
While Fraser Gillies had kept his cool to kick a last gaps penalty to win the ‘Town v Gown’ match the previous week, none of the five tries were converted at Richmond, one from in front of the posts, and a penalty also went astray.
The home side, on the other hand, converted four of their five tries and also made sure they capitalised on an extra man late in the second half after the Light Blues had lost a player to the sin-bin. Two forward tries, the final one to debutant Joe Tarrant, won them the game in the end.
Speaking to Cambridge News, Shanahan said: “It’s a sabbatical basically, like Jamie Roberts. He’s involved for the Michaelmas term and he went well on Wednesday night,” said Shanahan. “He’s a good lad and I’m looking forward to working some more with him.
“(To score) he attacked really well, beat a few men and got a great individual try in the corner. We were really happy with that and he adds to us, which is great.”
Scorers: Cambridge University: Tries: Lola Erogbogbo, Tom Stanley, Henry King, Charlie Amesbury, Mike Phillips.
Cambridge University: Charlie Amesbury; Henry King, Rory Triniman, Mike Phillips*, Ed Clough; Fraser Gillies*, Sebastian Tullie*; Will Dean, Andrew Burnett, Jonny Dixon, Tim Bond, Lola Erogbogbo*, Tom Stanley, Brian Du Toit, Daniel Dass* (captain). * Blue
Replacements: Fionn Dillon Kelly, Will Briggs*, Demitri Moros, Henry Rose, Andrew Hunter, Richard Bartholomew*, Dougal Balfour, Simon Davies*, Lare Erogbogbo, George Griffiths
* Blue
