On a lovely afternoon S. Anselms trotted out only to find a Denstone side that was large to put it politely! That said we started with real determination and recycled the ball well, forwards and backs handling well and interlinking. The scrum looked secure against a heavier pack and we had ourselves a game!
It was therefore disappointing that we conceded a try halfway through the first half. We just failed to tackle the man monster well, and they scored under the posts. We bounced back well with some great interlinking – keeping the ball out of contact – and a super bounce pass from Charlie H put Will H in a bit of space and he skipped around to score. Having fought our way back into the game it was then disappointing to concede another try through poor tackling. We were playing good rugby but our defence (normally so robust) was not working as individuals bottled out of proper tackling (too much hanging onto them).
14-5 at half time and it was still there to be won. We had the wind and the sun behind us. Charlie H had a great second half, calling the shots and kicking well. In defence too he was immense with some superb covering tackles reminiscent of Rob Andrew at his best. Had we slotted the two penalties which were kickable, we might have snuck it, but in fairness we did well to keep it scoreless in the second half.
A great team performance with the standout player being Charlie H.
If we can build upon this and have a bit more self belief and hunger for the ball, we will be a force to be reckoned with.
Man of the match: Charlie H at fly half.
Posted on
Wed, September 22, 2010
by SCN