An opening 10 minutes, where a combination of the elements, a half awake Nigerian team and a Hungarian referee with very little understanding of the rules ultimately proved Nigerian’s downfall against a well drilled Imperial Medicals. The game on Saturday saw the RFU experiment with a referee exchange and a very affable Hungarian chap take the whistle for Nigerian’s visit to the table toppers. Although Medicals deserved the game on merit, the match was rife with indecision and confusion as the Eastern European was hopelessly out of his depth.

Nigerian played into the wind for the first half, and it was this force 10 gale that proved to have a major impact on the game. Medicals came at Nigerian for the first 5 minutes, and although the Nigerian pack had the advantage at scum time and at the breakdown; the backline were unable to clear their line with any efficiency. The Hungarian Referee gave a penalty after 5 minutes for “hands in the maul” and the efficient Medicals kicker converted easily. From the restart a booming 70 yard kick saw Medicals close to the Nigerian line; a wayward lineout resulted and the ball spilled, much to the horror of the Nigerians a gleeful Medical’s flanker pounced for the opening try. The 2nd try came soon after and again came from an error; with Nigerian trying to run the ball out of defence, miscommunication saw the ball intercepted again for an easy try. Nigerian fought back and a well worked driving maul from 20 metres out saw Yinka Omilani crash over for an excellent try, the conversion was missed. Nigerians were unable to capitalise on this though and the Imperial Medicals added two further tries, largely due to missed tackles. Half-time – Imperial 30 – London Nigerian 5.

The 2nd half initially looked to be going the same way, as straight from the re-start, the impressive Imperial left winger skipped round his man to score an easy try in the corner. After 50 minutes Nigerian were looking down the barrel of a large defeat. However the sun emerged from behind a cloud, the wind abated and the Nigerian pack roared into life. Not content with a defeat, the front 3 of Osahon Omokhodion, Steve Hanlon and Guy Roberts completely dismantled their opposite numbers; any scrum resulted in Nigerian ball. The rampaging Hartley and Davey took full advantage of this and made huge inroads into the Medicals territory. The first try saw Yuki Omenai finish well after slick hands from the Shelleng brothers in the centre, set him free down the left. Soon after Nigerians carried deep into the Medicals half following a break by Odediran and quick recycling saw Anthony Obiekwe smash through the line; with a 3 man overlap, Ibi Shelleng was able to keep up his near try-a-game record and give the Nigerians a sniff of victory. The next 15 minutes proved sterile, as after a series of bizarre calls from the ref – including a “foot fault” at the lineout, and penalising a rampant Nigerian scrum for collapsing (?!) – the game lost a lot of its continuity.

However Nigerian were ready for one last push, and following another strike against the head from the omnipotent Hanlon, playing his 50th game in Nigerian colours, Hartley made a break deep into Imperial territory; Morrison was on hand to continue the run, and from the resulting ruck, the gargantuan Omokhodion proved unstoppable. Medicals kicked off and the tireless Davey again brought the ball to the Medicals; his offload saw the evergreen, yet ever fast Ekeowa scream through on a great line only to be stopped close to the whitewash. Medicals put in meant nothing, as Nigeria turned the ball over for the 6th consecutive scrum. Odediran switched with Davids who powered through the line, finishing under the posts, Ekeowa (finally) nailed a conversion to give a sense of respectability to the scoreline, 37 -27.

15 Ugo Ekeowa

14 Yuki Omenai

13 Ibi Shelleng

12 Ali Shelleng

11 Antony Bayne-Charles

10 Luke Davids

9 Gabriel Odediran

1 Ossie Omokhodion

2 Steve Hanlon

3 Guy Roberts

4 Ian Morrison

5 Anthony Obiekwe

6 Andy Davey

7 Yinka Omilani (Barrett 55mins)

8 Rob Hartley

16 Leon Barrett

17 Usman Mohammed

18 Bobby Nolla

Tries: Omilani, Omenai, Omokhodion, I Shelleng, Davids

Conversion: Ekeowa

Men of The Match: The Forward Eight

Report by Ian Morrison