So there we go boys. Another classic media encounter, last minute changes, some beautiful spells of rugby, certain people (that will remain unnamed) turning up with but minutes to spare and Ed shouting at the ref. Unfortunately this time the result didn’t quite go are way.
After taking over 3 hours to get to the match due to the fine folk who run the London transport system it was goods to see 13 guys on the pitch doing some proper warm ups for once. A rarity I know but it certainly proved worth while as for the first 3-4 minutes the ball was flying around the pitch without a pause for breath. From talking to the ref and the oppo after the match they thought they we’re in for a 50 point drubbing even at that early stage.
We opened up the account with a penalty from Green after a few nice phases and some strong running from the boys in the pack and Big Gay Dave in midfield. Unfortunately we seemed to fall asleep in defence and let in a soft try. I’m not going to explain what happened ‘cause, well I was involved and nobody cares about them anyway.
At this point tom decided to pulled his groin which lead to Nicky Connors to come to the rescue and move up to make his front-row debut. Unfortunately Nick was stupid and decided to play really well there so will no doubt be called on again some time! I should mention the whole front row at this point as Mattys bid to become our new outside centre took another step forward with some rampaging runs and Jo Birri moved from hooker to prop and didn’t take a step backwards all day. It was a fine effort from those boys.
We came back strong with another 3 points form Green but then eased up again and let in a further weak try. At the end of the half we down something like 3 tries to 6 points but had shown some wonderful skills when running with the ball and knew that as long as we had possession we’d easily take the victory.
Come the second half we again started brightly and decided that we didn’t’ need to score off the first phase every time and decided to put some phases together. After some strong running and some great off loads from practically the whole team Ed drove the ball forward leaving us to spin the ball wide and give Will an nice run into the corner. It was a great try and someone with a better memory and the ability to write interesting reports could of conveyed this…. unfortunately you guys just have me.
I’m getting bored now so essentially they scored another try and we didn’t. Enough said. For 30 mins of the second half we didn’t have the ball and without that it kind of makes it hard to score! The last play of the game almost resulted in the try of the season after BGD and Greeny decided to tear through their defence from our own line but unfortunately it fizzled out. End score 29 – 14.
Throughout the afternoon a few players really stood up with the brothers Benedict Richard Carl Buckley and Greeny constantly breaking through their defence. It was great to have Graham finally back, he show some great leadership and kept the team going whilst I was trying not to throw up and together with Randy put in a fine defensive effort in the back row. Half the team were playing out of position and I didn’t here one person btch or moan about this. Ed, Nick, Jo, Pete you all stepped up and it was massively appreciated.
There’s many things to learn from this, not least to actually hold on to the ball, but I don’t think focusing on the negatives at this point will do any good (we’ll do that another time!). A times we showed some flashes of brilliance and some real indication that we are going to be one of the teams to beat this year once we iron out a couple of early season flaws.
Next week
So boys. Squad game this week I think and I’ll send out detail when I find out what the hell they are but if you know you are around anyway then please let me know.
Cheer,
Fagin