S. Anselm's vs Ranby House
The 1st XV produced their finest display of Rugby so far this season to record an emphatic 31-12 away win against a hitherto unbeaten Ranby House.
From the very first whistle this looked like it was going to be a tough challenge as we struggled hard to break down the opposition defence and they exerted a fair amount of their own pressure. Much praise must go to the forwards here who simply grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. They dominated the home side in all aspects and provided ball of the highest quality for the backs to use. After 15 minutes we led by 12 points to 0 (tries from Tom B and John B) and, barring a brief period of Ranby pressure (where they registered a try) we looked a very polished and determined team.
Led by a marauding Tom B we played with both passion and with a degree of organisation that had hitherto been lacking this term; Robert H crashed over the white wash from close range and then James C finished off a fine backs move to see us leading 21-5 at half time.
Ranby came out after the break with much fervour and it took some brave and structured defending to keep them at bay. James C took the wind clean out of their sails with a cheeky interception try and, in spite of a Ranby fight back that saw them claw another try back, the S. Anselm's XV were in complete control for the rest of the match.
This was simply the best performance that they have produced this season and one that saw the players start to believe in themselves and to trust each other.
I have been very tough on the players in training this week and they have received all manner of criticism in the best possible fashion. It is only fair, therefore, that they are praised, not only for their performance on the pitch today but also for the increasingly high standards that they set for themselves.
There is, as ever, still plenty of room for improvement and with only 3 days until the next fixture we will need to be focussed and ready for action during the training session on Monday.
Opponents Result Score Tries Conversions
Ranby House won 31-7 James C 2 Ollie N 3
Tom B
John B
Robert H
Posted on
Sat, October 4, 2008
by admin