Sun 21 Nov 2021, 12:00
We went into today’s game knowing it was going to be a challenge as we knew Newark were bringing their A Team. It proved to be a tough match, but we held our own well in the first 2 quarters. In fact, our scrums were very strong, even when Harry had to go off with a leg injury and was replaced by one of our less experienced players. Our counter rucking was also giving the Newark lads a real challenge as we drove them off a number of balls.
Our defence had to be very resilient and although it was often the 2nd or 3rd tackles that brought a player down, we held the attacks back, including plenty of turnovers and countered ourselves a few times through the speed of our backs. We broke and got the ball wide a few times only to be stopped by good covering tackles. On another occasion a good clearing kick and chase almost lead to a break, but the ball didn’t sit up enough for Ben to make the most of.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the first half, one of our counter rucks, near to our own line, led to a ball being loose over our own try line and due to a lack of experience and rugby know how, the ball was touched down by Newark and not one of our own players. A similar try to one we conceded last week too.
Although our discipline at free kicks was very poor as we failed to retreat quickly enough, 1 try down at half time was a good score for us and Newark seemed a little rattled. They expected a much easier game. We hoped that we could use this disquiet to our favour in the second half, however this was not the case as Newark scored almost straight from our kick as one player ran through us, and this galvanised the Newark backs who increasingly found space out wide.
Their big forwards sucked our defence in and left them with overlaps out wide that they exploited with some very quick hands. At this point the players told us that it felt like they had extra men on the pitch and the Paviors girls watching near the coaches could easily spot where the gaps in our defences were opening. I’m sure Roni, who refereed very well, counted the players and it wasn’t them having extra lads on the pitch but probably down to our players running out of steam, especially in the backs where we were slightly depleted due to late drop-outs. The efforts in defence definitely took their toll.
The stand-out moment for us in the second half was a try saving tackle and drive from Monty who managed to hold up one of the tall Newark twins who had run over the line but failed to get the ball down. Somehow Monty managed to hold him up and drive him back several metres over the try line on his own. The time spent in the school gym is obviously working.
We have had a very good start to this season, winning far more than we have lost, but this was a real eye opener for the lads to show the level that rugby can be played at our age. There are a lot of things for us to take from today into training but although the score line was tough to take and slightly flattering after the tight first half, the lads kept working until the end and didn’t let the game spoil their team spirit. It wasn’t a game where we threw the towel in and we made them work until the 50th minute to score their final try.
