Helsinki Rugby Club secured a place in the men’s championship final as Saturday’s semifinal against Kalev Tallinn ended in a 21–10 (14–10) win for the Big Guns after a nail-biting finish.
HRC was ready from the start, storming to a 14–0 lead in the first fifteen minutes of rain and heavy wind. Four minutes in, HRC’s player-coach duo led by example: flyhalf Jake Pratley caught the visitors off guard with a quick tap penalty in his own half, carried to halfway and passed to number eight David O’Connor, who finished the counterattack. Five minutes later Pratley spotted a gap in Kalev’s defence after a five-metre penalty and scored the day’s second try. Unfortunately his game ended in injury in the same play.
After HRC’s two tries, Kalev shook off the effects of the ferry ride to Helsinki and got into the game. The visitors first came to 3–14 with a penalty and then scored a try from the last play of the first half. Before that 10–14 try, the Big Guns had already stopped a Kalev try with last-ditch defence in the in-goal area.
Defence carried HRC through the second half
The weather cleared for the second half, but HRC’s game did not. The erratic handling of the first half continued, and together with penalties and inaccurate kicking it handed the initiative to the visitors. Kalev drove forward through most of the half, but the Big Guns’ tackling was effective and the defence held time after time. Towards the end HRC’s attack found more structure and the game moved into the visitors’ half. The suspense lasted almost to the end, as Kalev had players who could have decided the game from any mistake. The decisive points came a couple of minutes before full time, when Mika Takala finished a move in the corner. Joonas Bask sealed the final score of 21–10 with his third successful conversion of the day.
– The conditions on Saturday were extremely difficult, particularly against the wind and rain in the first half. Both teams can be frustrated with certain aspects of their play, but overall we are very proud of our team performance. Losing a player like Jake so early had a clear impact on our game plan for the following ten minutes, but as a group we settled well in the second half. The most impressive thing on the day was our defence. We didn’t want to leave anything on the pitch, and that showed in the last 20 minutes. I don’t think you could single out one player – everyone played out of their skin, said Saturday’s captain David O’Connor.
If earlier in the season the Big Guns had been dazzling and lethal going forward, the semifinal proved that the team can also grind out a win through defence.
The Warriors waiting in the final
The final will be a Helsinki derby, as the Warriors beat the reigning champions Jyväskylä 34–20 in the other semifinal. The two finalists were also the top two teams of the regular season. The men’s final is the last game of the Finals Day in Kuopio next Saturday.
Men’s championship semifinal: HRC–Kalev Tallinn 21–10 (14–10)
Tries: David O’Connor, Jake Pratley and Mika Takala. Conversions: Joonas Bask (3).
Line-up: 1 Ville Siiskonen, 2 Paulo Pannuzzo, 3 Chris Denholm, 4 Ilja Prohorov, 5 Wertti Bask, 6 Antti Järvenpää, 7 Iikka Ahlfors, 8 David O’Connor, 9 Luke Parsons, 10 Jake Pratley, 11 Joonas Bask, 12 Paavo Honkanen, 13 Riku Lempiö, 14 Mika Takala, 15 Dario Forneris. Substitutes: Kevin McCarthy, Emmanuel Courbin, Samuel Kuutti, Jesperi Virtanen, Mikko Moilanen, Anton Nevalainen, Ronan Rochford and Dyllan Hey.
Text: Mika Huopainen
