A good win for us this weekend. The final score 37-8 in our favour. This score line should have been a lot bigger, but we did ourselves no favours with the huge penalty count against us. A few positive aspects of the game were that we kept the pressure on in the last 20 minutes, and as a result we scored a number of well worked tries off of a solid platform set by the forward pack. The conditions were not great for the game, but in general our ball handling was good considering the wet field and and slippery conditions. A few dropped balls here and there put us under unnecessary pressure, but for the most part our defence held and we conceded only one try in the match.

The forwards had a superb day in the tight phases. We dominated the scrums and were able to push them off their ball almost at will. Mike Speaks and Andy Merriman led the charge with some great runs up the field, but many times we gave away the possession by not keeping our eyes on the ball coming into the rucks and mauls. The line-out work was good and we poached a few of their throws through the good work of Tony and Adam. The loosies in general did a good job of securing possession at the breakdowns, but all too often we were penalised for the ball carrier not releasing the ball, or for the forwards joining the rucks from the sides. We MUST join the ruck from the back - remember the "Gate" scenario. There's only one way in, and that's from the back, behind the last mans feet. End of story.

A lot of loose ball on the ground was not cleaned up - put your body on it - it's worth the effort.

The backs ran hard all day. We moved the ball wide a few times and were able to find some gaps in their defence. A well worked try from a solid centre scrum in the first half saw the centers break through their line and put Tex away for a simple score in the corner. We crashed it up numerous times which resulted in a couple more scores later in the game. Darren stretched one in off a good centre crash up the middle, quick recycle and the try scored. Defensively the backs were solid. Handling let us down in the wet conditions a bit with some dropped balls (It must be the gloves...). The last pass situation needs work. It's not acceptable to drop simple pass ball when we are in strong attacking positions. Our option taking in the first half could have been better. But in general I think the backline had a solid game.

We still have a lot to work on if we hope to go through our matrix games without loss. Our discipline on the field needs work. I lost count of the penalties after the first 20 minutes. What I can tell you all is that in the first 20 we conceded 8 penalties for hands in the rucks and for not releasing the ball on the deck. This results in us losing possession and field position.

We absolutely MUST learn to play to the referee. It doesn't matter that the ref might not interpret the game the way you see it. He's the man in charge, and no amount of bitching and moaning is going to change the call or the way he blows it the next time. So we need to show some intelligence on the pitch. We need to learn what the ref is going to call, and we MUST play accordingly. We will be working on these aspects this week.

We also need to learn to play the conditions better. Generally our play was good by keeping it tighter in the forwards. We still seems to be throwing loose passes at the wrong times, instead of going to ground and recycling the second phase ball. There were at least 3 occasions when we threw the wild pass and cost us a try scoring opportunity.

The 2nd XV pulled it out the bag in the last minute of the game to secure a 24-18 win against a game "barbarians" side. All the guys who played in that game showed some great resilience in hanging on and pulling it out in the final seconds. Tommy Liddle led the charge from #8 to score 2 good tries. Crazy Joe Shap scored the game winner with a superb charging run up the middle, breaking through 3 tackles before going over next to the sticks. Solid kicking performance by Cliff kept our noses in front and resulted in the win. Good job fellas. Let's keep the 2nd XV rolling.

A great weekend on rugby, and two good wins for us. We play Cape Fear in Wilmington this weekend. This is going to be our toughest game so far and is (as always) a must win game for us. See everyone on Tuesday and Thursday.

PJS.


Greenville Grffins Rugby Club