Tuesday 15 November.
U15 XV vs Prince Henry's Grammar School Won
29 - 14
Tries:
Conversions:
Match report:
To follow
Wednesday 16 November
Daily Mail Cup Vase Rnd 5
1st XV vs Rossall Lost
19 – 5
Tries: Frik
Conversions:
Match report:
This was another match which will be remembered as “one that got away”. From the kick off it was evident that Rossall wanted to play a physical game and that they had the personnel to do that with. The early exchanges suggested that by attacking through the three quarters would yield point and it nearly did to begin with. After this Rossall began to win and keep possession, making powerful advances up field which sucked in the Giggleswick defence to bring them down. There was an exchange of penalties which tested both lineouts and showed they were fallible in this area, as we took one of theirs. However they had a powerful and very well organised driving maul which caused near panic and a great deal of physical effort to slow and disrupt. Once we had seen that our challenge on their ball disappeared in the concern for contesting the maul. This seemed to be a mistake as they had a number of penalty lineouts deep inside their half which we could have profited from. Shortly before half time another long probing kick led us to defend inside our 22 from where one of their forwards drove over after repeated rucks to take us in at 5- 0.
At half time Will Collins replaced Michael Horne at prop but the frequently retreating scrum was still under pressure though despite being pushed backwards we controlled our own ball and held steady on theirs. The constant effort to quell their forward drives however sapped energy and frequently lost field position that had been well earned as isolated backs were successfully counter rucked with some ease. Soon after half time they scored through the centre after disorganised defence and some half-hearted tackles as we had not switched back on for the new half, this made it 12 – 0. Frequently our counter attacking play produced good field position but again we were stripped or counter rucked. Their final score came again soon after the second from driving play where an unguarded ruck was left with only 3 in the ruck and others on the other side of the field. This made it 19 – 0. It remained frustratingly clear that we could easily score but as we chased the game more players were isolated and in danger of losing the ball, the boys were not able to adjust how they played against the very dynamic and powerful forwards. We scored after a rare but not untypical period of phase play leading to a well judged cross field kick from Davidson which was tracked and picked up by Frik who stepped the full back’s cover on the bounce and scored near the posts; 19 – 7. Despite several more attacks we were not able to break free of increasingly tenacious and physical tackling.
Overall our warm up lacked dynamism and there was a very flat mood at the pre-match and at half time. We were phased by the opposition’s heavy but very dynamic and powerful running forwards who were their strongest assets. Scrum & lineout worked well under pressure, and Fradgley and Reid can be commended for controlling the ball in adversity. We became obsessed with defending the drive so lost the attacking option of competing for the ball in the air which had been successful. We kicked away possession frequently when it was clear that we were far superior as the handling side. Murphy was moved to centre and Broomby took his place on the flank, this stiffened defence and gave the back line an altogether more offensive edge. Murphy looked good in the centre! The lessons for the repeat fixture are around having to be able to cope with and successfully handle the lineout drive, their very dynamic loose play where we needed to commit more tacklers to get them down. Being turned over and counter rucked when not committing sufficient bodies to the breakdowns.
Friday 18 November
U13 XV vs Cargilfield Lost
38 - 5
Tries: Hancock
Conversions:
Match report:
There are certainly things we can learn from this game. Tactically we need to be a little more astute. We kicked penalties to touch, more in this game than in all our other games this season put together. I have nothing against gaining ground and attacking again further down the field, but we struggled to win our own lineout ball against taller players. We also need to retain ball better, improve our contact skills and support play. We made some good half breaks, only to lose the ball in the tackle. We must be stronger in the contact area, present the ball better and the first supporting player to the breakdown must secure us the ball. These are all skills to be worked on in training.
What we did do superbly well for the majority of this game, was tackle! Time and time again our boys put their bodies on the line against much bigger players. According to the Cargilfield players' stats, their inside centre, probably the fastest player on the pitch, was 6’3”. All supporters and coaches I spoke to were nothing short of impressed with our commitment in defence.
No need to look for excuses after a terrific U13’s game of rugby, but what is worth mentioning is, that we had eight year 7’s in this squad. Next year they will hopefully come back bigger, faster and stronger!
