Coventry Rugby 54 Bedford Blues 19 - Bedford fall apart under Cov's second half onslaught

Hard luck and trouble is my only friend

I've been on my own ever since I was ten

Born under a bad sign

Been down since I begin to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck

You know I wouldn't have no luck at all

Born Under A Bad Sign - Albert King

Bedford Blues.

Catchy name.

Alliterative ones usually are.

As a literary device, an alliteration is designed to enhance a particular mood or feeling, to increase our understanding beyond the literal.

So, when Bedford refashioned its brand in the late 1990s, you'd have thought someone would have made mention of how the proposed change in nomenclature could backfire in the future when, as would inevitably happen, the club hit a poor run of form.

Yes, the club's blue kit is instantly recognisable, but when the players leave the pitch looking as downcast and dejected as they did yesterday after what can only be described as a humiliating second half display, Bedford Blues has an altogether different connotation.

The Bull had already been taken by then, and Bedford Bisons, Buffalos, Badgers or even Bandicoots don't have quite the same ring to them. But even so.

Pick a name that suggest a powerful or brave beast, a bobcat for instance, or a valiant profession, a buccaneer perhaps, but not something that in some situations resonates gloom and despondency.

Or just leave it as it is, even?

Whilst Coventry fans exited the BPA to the tune of 'You wanted a cathedral, we've got one to spare', Bedford fans were left singing the blues.

Yet at the break it was all so different.

Bedford had finished the first half the stronger of the two sides and having levelled the score at 12-12, momentum was with definitely the visitors. They'll have left the pitch the happier of the two sides. And of the two sets of supporters, it was Coventry's who were feeling the pressure.

It was a stop/start final 20 minutes to that first half and Coventry had begun to get on the wrong side of a referee who in turn, rightly or wrongly, was falling foul of the home supporters. That said, I'm not going to fall into the trap of badmouthing the referee; it's a hard enough job as it is without the likes of me, having never played the game at anything approaching a decent level, giving it large. It's a thankless task at the best of times so I'm just grateful that they give of their time for relatively little reward.

Bedford fans, and there was a good few there yesterday, must have thought that at the half way point they were in with a real chance of breaking the run of disappointing results against Coventry in recent years, especially at the BPA - I think the last win was in 2008?

And, indeed, they were.

Cov had weathered an early storm, and then quickly taken advantage of a loose pass to score from an interception in Bedford's 22, followed soon after by a second try to take a 12-0 lead on 19 minutes. The signs were positive.

From then on, though, Cov were guilty of a series of handling errors whilst in Bedford's 22, spilling the ball when in decent attacking positions. Bedford began to take a bit of control and put together several periods of possession that saw them score twice before the break. Coventry were addled and at that point the memory of Hartpury back in December loomed large in the minds of the home supporters.

But how it all changed.

Whatever was said in the changing room clearly had the desired effect and a 17-minute period in which Cov scored 4 tries took the game away from the visitors. As a contest it was all but over, the bonus point was in the bag and there was little for Bedford to do but stem the tide as best they could.

Before the game I like to watch the teams warm up, just to get a feel of the mood in the two camps. I know this is in hindsight, but it did look and feel as if Cov were more fired up, more intense, more confident.

Easy to say now but, in my defence, I took photos of the two teams leaving the pitch after their final run out.

And there was a marked difference.

Potos of the two sides leaving the pitch after their warm-ups were completed

The Bedford players walked off slowly, most with their heads down, hardly suggesting a great deal of self-belief. Cov, on the other hand, at home and in front of an appreciative crowd, looked up to the stands and applauded them in return as they jogged off. They exuded confidence. It was a very professional, in the right sense of the word, exit.

The announcer had asked the Bedford fans to make a noise as their team left, which they did to a degree, but there was no acknowledgement from their players. Nothing.

Even then it felt as if they weren't relishing the challenge of playing away from home against a Cov side that are currently in a purple patch. That 16th man makes such a difference at the BPA...

I might be over reading the body language here, but if I were the captain of a visiting side, I'd make sure the players jogged off, heads held high and looking forward. It looked and felt that the pressure was already getting to Bedford even before the game and it was no real surprise that when the game started to get away from them in the second half, they had little to offer.

Bedford's approach to the game has always been admirable. They play an open, attacking brand of rugby which makes them an eminently watchable side. In French and Adamson, they have wide runners who will capitalise on any slight hesitancy in opposition defences - they are the Graham Hick's of the Championship - flat track bullies who will score tries for fun against most sides.

However, in recent meetings between the two clubs Cov have given Bedford's flyers little, if any, room and on the rare occasions that they have found space, Cov's scrambled defence is good enough to negate the threat.

And led by Will Chudley, Cov's kicking game yesterday was far superior to Bedford's with their chasers up on the receiver quickly allowing no time or room to run the ball back.

In Adamson and French, Bedford have two very dangerous runners, but so do Coventry in Martin and Hutler. What Bedford appear to lack from the few times I've seen them of late, are players of the calibre of Wilson, Hitchcock, Wand and Pelligrini around them. Add Chudley and/or Venner into the mix and Cov arguably have the strongest back division in the Championship. And the more pressure you put on Bedford as they try to play their attacking game, the more mistakes they make.

In the second half, Cov were able to negate the threat of Bedford's wide runners in a way that the visitors just couldn't do with ours and the result was that Bedford were left chasing shadows. This was partly down to a number of missed first tackles which allowed Hutler and Martin to accelerate past, or in Martin's case through, the second and third defenders.

At 12-12 going into the third quarter, Cov still needed a spark to ignite them and it came, as it so often does, from Pat Pelligrini. Just a minute into the second half, the Coventry outside half caught the ball in his own half from a clearance that was too long to give the chasers any hope of running him down. PP then proceeded to jink his way past several defenders to dot down for a try which he had no real right to score.

A mixture of dancing feet and an acceleration over the first 25 metres that appears as rapid as anyone's, allowed him to break the initial tackle and from then on, despite support on his outside, there was only ever going to be one scorer.

The champagne moment of what was a champagne half of rugby.

It was Pelligrini who unlocked the gates to allow the avalanche of tries that was to follow. Bedford's heads began to drop and once Martin and Hutler got into the act too, well it was carnage. Cov's flying wingers complement each other well - Martin all power and pace, Hutler less physical but equally as quick.

An out and out sprint between the Cov back line over 30, 60 and 100 metres would be a really interesting spectacle - I'd pay the entrance fee just to see that to be honest

A good way of raising monies for the Cov Foundation at an end-of-season party, perhaps?

Bedford managed a consolation try late on, but in what was a powerhouse of a display by Cov, it was no more than a consolation really; as the score suggests, Bedford were well beaten in the end.

Ryan Hutler understandably received the sponsors' MofM award, but there were other notable contenders, too. Pellegrini's all-round game was immense yesterday. A try, 19 points in all and a defensive shift when it mattered that was huge. Tom Ball, with his disruptive influence in the lineout and his work with and without the ball made him a key player in Cov's success, too.

Whilst only coming on for the final 25 minutes or so, Nairau again caught the eye. He made one huge hit that drew a gasp of appreciation from the main stand and he carried the ball well. He's starting to look a really good signing and with the new mullet, he's clearly fitting in well.

Assistant Coach Jim Henry's post-match interview was a tough one and he did at least acknowledge that 'Coventry have some very dangerous players', although perhaps putting a little too much emphasis on their errors rather than Coventry's overall superiority.

Bedford's report of the game though is a classic -(https://bedfordrugby.co.uk/news/2024/04/report-tough-afternoon-coventry) - with the only mention of the entire events of that memorable second half being 'the try bonus point wasn't forthcoming despite their best efforts in the closing stages'. It's as if the nightmare of Bedford's capitulation has already been expunged from their record books, with the club trying to shine some sort of light on the events, albeit a rather dim and distant one. 

If you've got this far, then do click on the link above and give it a read....

Over 3700 turned up to watch the game, an above average crowd that will have left happy having watched what was, in the end, a dominant Coventry performance. On the back of such a good atmosphere and post-match celebrations, I can't help but feel Cov missed a trick by failing to offer season ticket renewals for next season. Early booking discounts on the back of the win and a couple of beers to boot would have made sense, surely? Perhaps details will be out next week, but with only an evening game remaining, Cov will have to rely on internet sales for those out and out Cov fans who won't be going to either that or the two Anniversary games. It just seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity. Some other Championship clubs seem to be a bit ahead of the game in that respect.

It was good to see a group of Worcester Warrior die-hards at the BPA yesterday. There must have been 20 or so of the former club's fans in the ground to give their support to former Warriors favourites Will Chudley and Matt Kvesic - a nice touch that. For all the arguments for and against a return to the professional game for the erstwhile Premiership side, and there are plenty on both sides of the debate, it's the fans who are the ones suffering most.

To see that kind of loyalty says much for the both them and the family nature of the club too. I hope we see them return to watch Cov before too long...

So, seven wins on the bounce and up next is a rejuvenated London Scottish in a couple of weeks' time. Down at the RAG we very nearly came unstuck and were it not for a missed penalty attempt, the last play of the game, Scottish would have added us to the list of sides they've beaten this season - all four of them. A win over Nottingham on Saturday will have given them plenty of confidence and almost certainly bolstered by a good few Quins youngsters, the threat they pose shouldn't be underestimated, even at the BPA.

Cov still has the relative luxury of having everything to play for with second place (and first place mathematically, at least) very much up for grabs. For Scottish, it's probably not quite the same and travelling up from London for a Friday evening kick off isn't ideal, but even so Cov will need to be very wary of them.

A repeat of yesterday's second half performance, only for the full 80 minutes, would be a bonus, although I guess if that's on offer I'd rather save it for the trip down to Penzance for the final game of the season.

A win against Scottish and what a game that promises to be...

Up the Cov!

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For Bedford Blues, yesterday was very much a case of being born under a bad sign...