Plymouth Albion RFC 47 – 5 Sheffield RUFC

Team Selection for Saturday, 19th September 2026

# Sheffield RUFC
15. George Castledine
14. Harry Chubb
13. Barney Goatley
12. Will Smith
11. Chris Hooper
10. Callum Posa
9. Elliot Fisher ●

1. Ben Whitney ●
2. Will Archer ●
18. George Rogers ●
19. Josh Kent
5. Dom Parsons
6. Alex Fawdry
7. Will Henshaw
8. Zak Poole

16. Rhodri Campbell
17. Alex Reid
25. Alex Keeton
22. Felix Crapper ●
20. Matty Drennan
● Sheffield RUFC Mini/Junior

After our historic victory over Leeds Tykes last weekend, Sheffield travelled to deepest Devon to face top of the league opposition, Plymouth Albion. They have already had their two matches away from home and come away with two very confident wins on the road and topped the table with Sale FC snapping at their heals, a daunting task for the Blue Boys of the Steel City. The team was to remain much as last weekend, but without Cuchulain Livingstone, injured against Leeds, and Aaron Lonsdale. Cuchulain’s place on the wing went to Harry Chubb, making his debut, and to Alex Keeton, on the bench. The team travelled on Friday evening and ploughed on to Plymouth on Saturday morning.

Plymouth kicked the game off, and unfortunately, Sheffield did not successfully hold on to the ball and Plymouth Albion immediately showed the power of their very professional team, with winger, Pita Ratukadreu picking up the loose ball and rushing head long toward the Sheffield Try line before handing on to Plymouth’s man of the match, number 8 Sam Daly to score to the left of the posts. Fullback, Francisco Diaz Dart converted for the hosts to lead by 7 points to nil after less than a minute. Sheffield restarted the match and were awarded a penalty. A second penalty came at the lineout, but this was reversed for a perceived action by the Sheffield forwards, a decision the match official admitted was incorrect, alas too late. Plymouth had a lineout and from if burst through the Sheffield defence with second row. Huw Taylor the eventual touch down, wide out on the left. Francisco Diaz Dart added the conversion and the hosts had increased their advantage to 14 points to nil with six minutes on the clock.

Sheffield went through a somewhat better period and made a few breaks through the Albon defence and a series of penalties and a yellow card for flanker Jarrard Hayler on seven minutes helped. Sheffield found themselves with a lineout just five metres out, won their ball and took to the driving maul. The maul went down, and despite there being several Albion players lying on the ground, the referee gave the scrum to the home team. Albion kicked to touch and then stole Sheffield’s lineout ball, a couple of penalties followed and the home team soon had a lineout on Sheffield’s 5-metre line. Shear power from their pack put Sheffield on the back foot and Sam Daly claimed his second try. Once again, Francisco Diaz Dart converted and the score was out to 21 points to nil after sixteen minutes.

Sheffield held out for a further ten minutes, but the pressure on the visitors remained intense and with twenty-six minutes gone, Sam Daly crossed the line for his hat-trick try, with Diaz Dart converting again to take the lead to 28 points to nil. Sheffield dug deep, very deep and managed to close the half out without the hosts getting on the scoreboard again.

However, after the half time break, Albion burst through the Sheffield defence again with Sam Daly adding Albion’s fifth try and his fourth and with fullback Diaz Dart adding the extras, the lead was out to 35 points to nil after forty-four minutes. The pressure and intensity on the visitors was unrelenting, but Sheffield found an edge and an interplay between Matty Drennan and Chris Hooper looked certain to put Sheffield on the score sheet. However, the final pass back from Matty to Hoops slid into touch. It was not a bad pass, Hoops was down and out, having torn a hamstring with the line at his mercy. Albion took control again, and just five minutes after last try, their sixth was scored by fly-half, Harrison Legg going in under the posts. Needless to say, Diaz Dart converted and the Albion now led by 42 points to nil.

Sheffield battled on and held firm, taking the game into the fourth quarter and some powerful play from the pack created the opportunity for the backs to have a go at the Albion line, resulting in centre, Barney Goatley crossing for a try in the sixty-sixth minute wide out on the right. Callum Posa’s conversion drifted to the left of the posts, but Sheffield had broken their duck. However, the pain was not over for the gallant visitors, with Cameron Doak crossing close to the posts on the right. Diaz Dart’s conversion hit the left upright and bounced safely out, but the lead was now 47 points to 5 after seventy-one minutes. Dom Parson was to receive a yellow card on seventy-four minutes, but the fourteen men of Sheffield continued to battle hard and managed to see out the match without conceding a further score despite the intense pressure from the home team.

Plymouth Albion RFC Team: –
Forwards: – 1: James Kenny 2: Harry Wilkinson; 3 Cameron Doak; 4: Huw Taylor; 5: Morgan Eames; 6: Jake Clemson; 7: Jarrard Hayler; 8: Sam Daly.
Backs: – 15: Francisco Diaz Dart; 14: Pita Ratukadreu; 13 Oscar Stewart; 12: Archie Hill; 11: Noah Fenton; 10 Harrison Legg; 9: Jack Oulton.
Replacements: – 16: Rhys Williams; 17: Angus Hodges; 18: Daniel Pullinger-Ham; 19: Morgan Stone; 20: Henry Sellick.

Match Officials:
Referee: – Adam Wookey
Assistant Referees: – Andrew Green; Rob Lowe.
Referee Assessor: – Peter Farrell