MATCH REPORT BY ELLIOT

Introduction:

We played the semi-final in nice sunny conditions on a reasonable pitch apart from some giant bogs which were like quicksand. The match went poorly for us, and it was clear to see from the very start. Within the first fifty-two seconds we were already seven points down and the game ended 4 minutes early because of the points difference exceeding what is allowed. As a team we were absolutely battered by our opposition and in the end we lost 59-7.

Problems to learn from:

The main problems were that too many missed tackles and turned-over rucks led to too many tries from the opposition. They were really good at gaining speed quickly, and because of our lack of commitment in contact they were able to run through, and nobody was able to stop them on the gain line. A similar issue in the rucks happened where we failed to secure balls, because we did not go fully in and just stood there to be taken. Another issue was that we did not use all the width we could have, they did a decent job of sucking us in. It could take four people to tackle one little guy and, I do not think we used one pod either. It is not like we did not have a good squad either, because we had a decent one. It was just the contact area being lost that was the overwhelming issue. Ownership is something the team can learn from in the future. Individually we need to take responsibility for first up tackles and stop ball watching so much.

Our standout moments:

It was not all disappointing, however. We did manage to score one try (Joseph) in the second half through going through phase play; initially the referee was reluctant to award us the try, but after intervention from a couple of coaches the try was given and converted (Freddie). This try also allowed the game to continue, because if Southwell managed to score again the game would have ended there. Later, when we were stuck on the try line, "skin" was called, and Harry kicked the ball for territory gaining ground. As well as that some astonishing tackles were made. At one point our heads were down as Southwell was about to score a try and a tap tackle was made stopping it, and Thomas made a good tackle as well at one point in the first half. For me it was my first game back after a 4-month injury lay-off. I managed to do really well on my return, good tackles were made and at one point I did my typical ruck thing of driving back three or four players, securing the ball. All round we did have a few standout moments, but it was not enough to come even remotely close to winning. We had our good moments, but we did not really have those awesome moments we would want.

Summary:

All together we were not honestly playing rugby at our best and we should not let something like this happen again. As a team we were not competitive today so it’s not very surprising we lost so badly. Next time we need to get our confidence back up, play hard and hit low.

ELLIOT
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