U11 Rugby v Smallwood Manor Lost 15-10

U11 A Vs Smallwood Manor
Result: Lost 15 - 10

The second match of the season saw us travel to Denstone College to play Smallwood Manor. This is always a very tough and physical fixture and the match certainly lived up to this. In the opening stages of the match we dominated both possession and territory as we performed very well in the break down, rucking extremely well and passing with confidence. All the basics were being done very well but we lacked incisiveness and although we ran good, direct lines, they lacked the normal intensity and we were unable to break the Smallwood defence down. Smallwood grew in confidence and managed to gain more possession of the ball and a rare missed tackle by ourselves let them in for the first try of the match. This spurred us on somewhat and we rediscovered our early dominance of possession. Ludo L. gathered the ball and with customary power crashed over for our first try to bring us level. With a matter of seconds remaining in the first half, a lack of concentration allowed Smallwood over for their second try meaning the scores were 10-5 at half time.

The second half was very attritional with tough rucking and mauling, well contested scrums and strong tackling, epitomised by our Captain Ludo L. who put in numerous crunching tackles. Excellent pressure by our backs allowed Hamish O. to intercept the ball and score a very well deserved try to bring us level once more. The rest of the match remained extremely tight and well contested but within the final seconds of the match Smallwood managed to score a try to give them a 15-10 victory. There were many positives to be taken from the match. We did many basics very well indeed but forgot what our team does well naturally, such as running with power and pace and the belief that we can score. There is far more to come from this team and I do believe that on our day, with a little more determination we should be a very hard team to beat.

Man of the match: Ludo L.