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| Rugby Colts A XII Team 'Blog' |
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RESULTS Played 8 Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 4 For 174 Against 136
Saturday 12th December v Lambrook (Away) Won 57 -21 Tries: Sven Winkler (2); Hassan Rubbani (2); Harry Rees (2) Brendon Parvess (2); Mark Erridge Conversions: Hassan Rubbani (3); Brendon Parvess (3) An easy and convincing win to end the season. Overall we were better organised, more experienced and for a change had more power, pace and determination. We started slowly and it took two individual efforts by Hassan and Brendon to put us ahead. At this point Lambrook kept battling hard and got a try back after we gave posession away. After a heated team talk behind the posts as the conversion was being taken we at last woke up and played with greater ruthlessness and energy. All players determined to press quickly in defence and impose themselves running hard in attack. It was good to see the forwards, in particular Harry, Hal and Mark looking to drive the ball forwards, indeed Harry and Mark were rewarded with tries the first by forwards all season, well done. With further tries by Sven and Brendon we quickly raced to a 50 - 7 lead mid way through the second half. With the game effectively over we banned Hassan, Sven, Harry and Brendon from scoring again encouraging them to look for support quicker. Lambrook scored 2 consolation tries but the game and our season was over. I have decided to re-award Colts colours to Lucas and award colours to Ben, Hassan, Brendon, Hal, Harry and Mark. Ali and Sven need to impress again next term when we play Sevens and the Year 5 players will need to impress again next year. I have been asked to nominate winners of Best Colt and Most Improved Colt awards and take this opportunity to apologise with all who disagree with my decisions. It is not easy to choose as there have been no stand out performances in what I like to think is a team game. Thanks to Mr. Grafton and Colts B for their support in practice sessions and to all the parents who have come along to watch. I hope you enjoyed watching what on the whole was some entertaining rugby..
Wednesday 9th Dececember v Yateley Manor (Home) Won 35 -7 Tries: Sven Winkler (2), Hassan Rubbani; Ben Barnard; Brendon Parvess Conversions: Ben Barnard (5) At last another well earned and deserved win. In what was a scrappy game we tried hard to play rugby, the forwards again providing a good amount of possession and when the backs decided to move the ball wide quickly we turned pressure into points. Yateley had 2 very good centres who pushed up quickly and tackled fiercely and it took some time to realise that once they had made one tackle they were out of the game and if we could recycle the ball quickly and move it wide again then the opening and space would be there. Once we did Sven had 2 one on one opportunities and used his pace to score in the corner twice. We generally tackled well but on one occasion when we didn't Yateley were able to create pressure and score. 14 - 7 at half time. The second half was easier as Yateley tired and missed tackles. Further tries from Hassan, Ben and Brendon confirmed our overall superiority and we won convincingly by 35 -7. We will need to improve again for the tough game at Lambrook Haileybury on saturday and be more ruthless in the way we take our chances, but we do now have a couple of days to enjoy a good win. Well done.
Saturday 5th December v Highfield (Home) Lost 7 - 14 Try: Lucas Bamber Conversion: Lucas Bamber A close match which could have gone either way. Well done to the forwards who playing against a team of similar size were able to dominate the scrums and rucks providing lots of good posession to the backs. Sadly we were unable to move the ball into wide spaces not helped by runners constantly cutting back inside and some badly timed passing. We had enough of the ball to win but in the key moments we made bad decisions or lost the ball. Highfield started well and scored early running through our absent defensive line. But we did not let our heads go down and battled back well. After squandering opportunities Lucas eventually forced his way over to level the score 7 - 7. Highfield were determined to win and fought back immediately to regain the lead. We needed to match this determination and for the first time this season I felt we really wanted to win too. Although we pressed at the end Highfield kept us out and we lost 7 -14. This was a better team effort and if we can get the backs running as they did at Hall Grove we might win another game yet. Wednesday 2nd December v Aldro Lost 5 - 35 Try: Hassan Rubbani After 5 minutes I thought we would win as we dominated posession and threatened the Aldro line. Aldro kicked badly out of defence, Hassan waited to catch the ball only for Harry to run in to him, the ball broke loose and Aldro raced the length of the field to score 0 - 7. This inspired Aldro who played well with powerful driving forwards and hard running backs. In truth we were not up for the confrontation but when Hassan dodged most of both teams to score just before half-time we were still in the game at 5 -14. We looked tired and with injuries we limped through the second half. Aldro dominated and conceeding tries late in the game we suffered our biggest defeat of the season 5 -35. In tough games like this it is hard when the opposition is bigger but some of us gave up a little too easily. Wednesday 25th November v Papplewick Lost 14 - 21 Tries: Brendon Parvess, Ali Tilmouth Conversions: Hassan Rubbani (2) After conceeding a try in the first minute through lazy tackling we dominated both possession and terratory for much of the first half but were unable to turn pressure into points and were made to pay when Papplewick were more ruthless in attack and scored on a rare visit inside our 22m line. 0 - 14 down in a game we were dominating was not good. The half time talk was about keeping the game simple: move the ball along the line, ruck the ball quickly and move it wide again. Make the tackles and not give posession away easily. We did this and within 6 minutes we were level!! One excellently created try for Hassan and one from Ali, a scrappy finish following some good pressure. 14 - 14 and the game there to be won. We then lost concentration again and at the key moments in the game we drop the ball with a 3 man overlap and then miss tackles to give them the victory. This was a game we could have won but didn't - remember the opposition will not let you win you have to earn it. Wednesday 18th November v Cranleigh Drew 14 - 14 Tries: Hassan Rubbani; Brendon Parvess Conversions: Ben Barnard (2) This was another physical encounter dominated at times by Cranleigh's desire to play a driving game through their forwards. We looked more threatening when the ball was in open space and we had the the players out wide capable of breaking loose to score. The Cranleigh pack were more confident, aggressive and determined in the loose controlling possession better but when we did secure the ball initially we were far to static and timid. As the half went on we got better and I was pleased with the way the forwards kept battling. Cranleigh scored first, a well worked try after sustained pressure. We then had a bit of luck when Cranleigh failed to secure a kick, the ball broke to Hassan who picked it up to race 30m to score. At 7 - 7 we had got back into the game and were having our best spell so far. We then gifted Cranleigh another try reflecting our inexperiance. Cranleigh kicked deep and Ali under no pressure had time to clear the line. Instead he stepped inside the first attacker only then to put up a dreadful kick back towards our posts, with half of the team off-side we conceeded a penalty which was taken quickly, while we were asleep, to score in the corner. All our hard work undone in in 30 seconds! The second half was a dour affair with Cranleigh seemingly reluctant to run the ball either kicking or driving with the forwards. On an occasion when the ball did go open Brendon scored a good try with some elusive running and good footwork, Ben converted to level the score. Cranleigh thought they had won the game but the player was tackled short of the line. We had some good breaks through Harry and always looked capable of sneaking a win but the game ended 14 - 14. On the whole a good result against a strong team. We will need a day or two of rest to recover from our bruises but it will not get any easier against Papplewick next week. It is a tough game and we need to enjoy the physicality as the Cranleigh boys did to impose themselves on the game. We also need to think quicker and keep our concentration, especially when conceeding penalties. Lots to work on if we are to get back to winning ways.
Saturday 14th November v Oratory A/B Lost 0 -19 Losing Hassan through illness made a big difference to our attacking potential as well as our aggressive defence. This was a much more physical game but in general we competed well against a strong and more experienced Oratory team. Last year Oratory scored 6 tries running the ball from their own half but we pushed up quicker today slowing down the attack and it was not until Brendon went for the interception and missed that Oratory managed to break clear to score their first try. I thought we could still have chased down the break with greater determination. Oratory's second try was scrappy and avoidable. Oratory used their big forwards to drive close to the line but we held them up, the ball then broke free to Sven who should have grounded the ball to conceed a 5m scrum but he tried to run, lost the ball and oratory scored. 0 -14 at half time the game was not lost but we needed to improve quickly. We almost got the start we needed when Brendon did intercept but he did not have the pace or support to score a try. After this the Oratory forwards took a grip of the game dominating possession and playing a driving game. We battled well and I was particularly pleased with the hard work of Mark and Daniel. In the end the pressure was too much and Oratory drove over for their final try. Final score 0 - 19 Against an experienced fly-half Ali struggled with the lack of space and time often taking the wrong option and we must address this problem. We need to start thinking for ourselves better and maintain concentration and organisation. Above all we need to be more physical and dynamic in the loose. Overall it was still a decent performance against a strong, determined, experienced and successful Oratory team. Wednesday 11th November v Hall Grove (Away) Won 42 - 5 Tries: Sven Winkler (2); Hassan Rubbani (2); Ben Barnard; Brendon Parvess Conversions: Lucas Bamber (6) A good win and it was good to see the work done in practice being carried out so effectively in the match. We played simple rugby utilising our strengths and experience in the backs to score 6 well worked tries all of which were converted by Lucas. The game was more competitive than the score would indicate, but the tone for the match was set early with our defensive line pushing up quickly to stop Hall Grove moving forward and then good support from the forwards and quick ruck ball provided the platform for our backs to open up the defence with good handling to score simple tries. This can be seen by the scorers, all from the backs, 3 tries by the wings and 3 by the centres one of which was on a loop outside the winger. This was great rugby to watch. There were many good individual performances but overall it was the support and teamwork that won the day and we must build on this in forthcoming matches. It was disappointing to concede the try which was a good individual effort but some sloppy tackling allowed him to run with pace and suddenly defending is not so easy. We must learn from this and tackle lower- you cant run without your legs! We have much we can work on but this was the ideal start to boost our confidence, especially after last years difficult season, and we must look to get much better for the big games ahead. Remember it is the hard work done in practice that gets the results in matches. Well done.
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