LONDON BRONCOS 86 WESTS WARRIORS 0
HUW RICHARDS, Richmond Athletic Ground, Sunday

LONDON earned an early test of their Super League pretensions with a resounding victory over the amateurs of West Warriors at Richmond, a historic union venue which formerly staged England matches and the first women’s international played in Britain, and the 28th home of their peripatetic history. 

Next up will be Bradford, Championship rivals last season but now a Super League club. The Broncos’ owners will be well aware both of the attention that a Cup run can bring, and of the credibility strong performances will bring to Super League ambitions.

This match was always guaranteed at least a footnote in the record books as League’s first competitive London derby since Streatham and Mitcham beat Acton and Willesden 21-12 at Mitcham Stadium in April 1936, shortly before the Acton club folded after their single season.

And it did a fair amount of rewriting of records as well. London may have fallen a couple of missed conversions short of registering a point for every year since Streatham met Acton, but Gairo Voro’s score after the hooter gave them the biggest win in their history, overtaking the 82-point hammering of Highfield in 1995. 

And the Warriors at least did marginally better than their last clash with the pros, the 92 points scored last year at Headingley by Leeds.

Nor were they disgraced. Their fans contributed to a cheerful atmosphere in Richmond’s brutalist 1950s stand, and the team battled hard for as long as they could.

With four former Broncos in their side, they were always going to compete. And for the first 39 minutes at least they made the professionals work for their scores, while enjoying a period of mid-half pressure during which Neil Thorman’s shrewd kicks twice forced goal-line drop-outs.

The first four scores came from combined moves – the first three down the right where Alex Max first used Liam Tindall as a decoy to cross, then twice shipped the ball on for Tindall to score. A similar thrust down the left sent Elliott Wallis over, but the harbinger of a one-sided 11-try second-half came on the stroke of half-time when Ben Hursey-Hord sliced down the middle to send Voro over.

A trio of solo tries in 10 minutes after the break signalled that Warrior’s spirit was no longer enough – Hursey-Hord within a minute followed by two more from Max – and London would subsequently score pretty much as they pleased.

The lively Morea Morea went over twice in three minutes, then Marcus Stock crossed from close range. This was followed by two scores on the right, Max claiming his fourth and Tindall completing his hat-trick.

Robert Mathias’ long curving solo down the left showed quality which should worry stronger and less exhausted defences and only Epel Kapinias’s score, touching down after Warriors fumbled in-goal, showed any element of the farce often associated with one-sided games.

The Warriors tried to the end, Ross making a break after the hooter only for his pass to go astray, and being run back by Voro for that final, record-breaking, score.

GAMESTAR: Alex Max is a force of nature in attack.

GAMEBREAKER: A contest before the break, it became a rout with the Broncos’ three solo scores in eleven minutes after half-time.

MATCHFACTS

BRONCOS
1 Morea Morea
2 Eliott Wallis
3 Robert Mathias
4 Alex Max
5 Liam Tindall
23 Gairo Voro
7 Dean Hawkins
16 Epel Kapinias
18 Jimmy Meadows
24 Lewis Bienek
12 Jack Croft
21 Will Lovell
17 Marcus Stock
Subs (all used)
14 Finley Glare
28 Bobby Hartley
6 Connor O’Beirne
19 Ben Hursey-Hord

Tries: Max (7, 45, 51, 67), Tindall (12, 30, 72), Wallis (26), Voro (40, 80), Hursey-Hord (41), Morea (54, 57), Stock (63), Mathias (73), Kapinias (76)
Goals: Meadows 7/9, Voro 3/4, O’Beirne 1/3

WARRIORS
1 Iliess Macani
2 Semisi Ikahihifo
3 Tamati Gribble
4 Paul McCullagh
5 Reiss Walker
6 Bailey Simpson
7 Neil Thorman
8 Louis Robinson
9 Dylan Leney
10 Sam Roberts
11 Matt Ross
12 Aaron Small
13 Liam O’Callaghan
Subs (all used)
14 Dominic Aston
16 Jacob Morison
18 Justin Dunnet
17 Tyler Johnson-Thomas

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 16-0, 22-0, 28-0; 32-0, 38-0, 44-0, 50-0, 56-0, 62-0, 66-0, 72-0, 78-0, 82-0, 86-0

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Alex Max; Warriors: Matt Ross

Penalty count: 5-4
Half-time: 28-0
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte