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| Rugby Colts B Team 'Blog' |
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Match One Wednesday 9th November v Hall Grove, home at 1430 Hall Grove 36 Eagle House 5 This, in spite of the score, was a good match with which to begin our season. The first half was dominated by Hall Grove with a strong scrum and some fast attacking runs. Unfortunately poor tackling enable Hall Grove to run in a good tries before the half time break. The second half saw a revitalized Eagle House take to the field. Although an early try was conceded, Eagle House gave a much better display in this half. The tackling improved, the rucking was more controlled and the reorganized scrum was now beginning to win the set pieces. Eagle House for most of the half dominated and made numerous in-roads into the opposition’s half. Constant pressure led to a penalty at which a well drilled manoeuvre led to our only try. This was a very encouraging performance and perhaps had we begun and played in the first half as we did in the second half, the final score I am sure would have been different. Now we know what it is like to play an opposition, let’s see if we can improve our good performance of today. Team:Stephan Giannikas, Joseph Belcher, Christian Gale, Christopher Myers, Alexander Gladen, Luke Baker, Max Hindley, James Erridge, Edward, Atkins, Jack Borthwick, Christopher Thomas, Conrad Orleans-Linds Harrison King. Match Two Saturday 12th November v Feltonfleet, away at 1400 Feltonfleet 50 Eagle House 0 After the success of the second half of the previous match, I had hoped that we would be able to build upon that performance. Yet this second match was disappointing not because our boys did not try, but because we were playing in a mis-match of a game. Our opponents were the under 10 A team. This meant that we had to play nine a side though in this game we played with ten and use the under 10 rules which seriously limited our game plan. We were not allowed to kick which made it very difficult to gain territorial advantage and when in our 22 we could not kick for touch. With several players unavailable for selection, with illness and injury, this was a very difficult game and I am pleased by the overall commitment of our players. It was good to see a great commitment in difficult circumstances. The reason for the victory for Feltonfleet laid in their backs who were very fast and determined with their handling skills being first class. However our forwards gave as good as they got and were able to make their presence felt and won quite a few scrums. I was also very pleased by our tackling. One lesson that we can learn from this match is that we must get our back line better organised, re-aligning quicker and support the player with the ball by being on his shoulder. Hopefully with a full side and playing under 11 rules in our next game we should be able to give a good performance. We have the ability and the potential to do that. Team:Stephan Giannikas, Joseph Belcher, Christopher Myers, Alexander Gladen, Luke Baker, James Erridge, Edward, Atkins, Jack Borthwick, Christopher Thomas and Carlos Rivas De Anta Match Three Wednesday 16th November v Cranleigh, away at 1430 Cranleigh 61 Eagle House 5
Had I been watching a DVD of this match which only had the first five minutes and the last ten, I would have concluded that the final score must have been about 12 -7 in Cranleigh’s favour with the home team pushing for that try that would clinch victory and Eagle House defending hard, with their backs to the wall hopefully waiting for a break out or a mistake which would have led them to break out. But unfortunately we cannot ignore the other 25 minutes of this match. Eagle House began this match in a confident fashion and spent the first five minutes encamped between Cranleigh’s 10 and 22 lines. The initial pressure was good and it looked as though it would only be a matter of time before we broke though. Yet good and strong defending by Cranleigh and a swifter and more organised back line broke that deadlock. Time and time again we pushed forward only to lose the ball which the Cranleigh forwards quickly shipped out to their back line and thereby scored try after try. It is very difficult to tackle such fast and determined runners. Nevertheless Eagle House won some great scrums with some hard and determined drives from the forwards. We won the ball on numerous occasions only to lose it as the Cranleigh Backs were quickly up in defence making it impossible for our back line to break out or pass the ball down to the wingers. We do have some great players and the basic skill level is not bad. Unfortunately at the moment we are a group of good individuals who have not quite congealed in our units within the team. Too often I have seen a good strong run by either a forward or a back that quickly becomes isolated as he has no support. Better support and positional player will improve our overall performance. Team: Stephan Giannikas Christian Gale, Christopher Myers, Alexander Gladen, Luke Baker, Max Hindley, James Erridge, Edward, Atkins, Jack Borthwick, Christopher Thomas, Harrison King and Carlos Rivas De Anta
Match Four Wednesday 23rd November v Papplewick, away at 1430 Papplewick 36 Eagle House 10 Yet again we had to play an under 10 side whose skill level and ability surpassed our own. Nevertheless after a discussion between the two coaches, they came up with a compromise on the rules. There would be no kicking which certainly hit our game plan but there would be twelve players on the field and therefore a five man scrum which helped us. The first half was certainly a one sided affair as the superior skills of the Papplewick under 10 side came to afore. Faster and more determined runners easily broke the Eagle House defensive line. It was very difficult for our boys to defend against such a side. Though Eagle House won many of the scrums, they were unable to capitalise upon that advantage as the Papplewick backs were quickly up. At half time with the score being 31 to nil it looked that yet another huge whitewash was on the cards. I do not know what was in the water given to the boys at the break but it certainly did the trick. A revitalised Eagle House took to the field and before we knew it, Eagle House had secured dominance of the half. Attack after attack was mounted. Most if not all the scrums were now won by EH and some strong running both forwards and backs opened the opposition up. Though they tried to block the attacks, constant pressure would lead to a try being scored. And so it happened, a try scored by Edward and then another opportunistic one by James. He put immense pressure on the opposition by chasing the ball as it went down their back line. He was just waiting for one small mistake and it happened. There was some great runs by Max and Conrad who was a little upset that he did got the ball in the first half. When Christopher realised that you go forward with the ball, he also made some good ground. Alex did his usual strong man charge at their forwards setting up many a ruck for Christopher and Caspar to join. It was nice to see Jack have a few good runs as well as Harry. The second half was a much better performance and as Edward said at the end of the match, “ if only we played in the first half as we had done in the second”. We only conceded one try in that half. So we won the second half but lost the match in the first. There is a lesson to be learnt here but well done to the team for an excellent second half performance.
Match Five Wednesday 30th November v Aldro, home ar 1430 Eagle House 0 Aldro 55 This was yet another tough day in the office against a team that was physically stronger and quicker than own. Lack of creativity and poor tackling ensured that Aldro were able to score at will in the first half. Too many basic mistakes were made and our reluctance to get involved in the game fully allowed the opposition to dominate the game. Our usual second half revival was not as good as it has been in other matches. Yet our scrummaging actually improved and we gradually began to put a few moves together. It seemed that most of the team did not wish to be on the field. One thing that we must get right is to keep our spirits up and hit the opposition even harder after the first try is conceded. Also from the first whistle we must attack fully and make the first tackles hurt the opposition. This team has so much potential with a couple of powerful centres in Edward and James; a quick scrum half in Luke, a young back line strong and good in the tackle with Jack, Harry and Conrad; a scrum that is itself fairly powerful and often wins the set piece (Christopher, Alex, Stephen, Caspar and Chris). We all need to pull together and support each other. To be honest, I am not too worried about the final score line as long as the team as a whole has performed well. At least it did not rain on us. Match Six Saturday 3rd December v Highfield, home at 1430 Eagle House 7 Highfield 52 This match to be honest was quite interesting and, if the first 10 or so minutes are ignored, this was an equal contest. The only two differences between the sides were the size of the opposition which dwarfed many of our year five players and our lack of tackling in the first quarter of the match. Time after time in the first quarter Highfield ran at speed and strength at our line that offered no real defence. If only the team would put into practise what happens in the training sessions and play will real guts and determination as we see on those afternoons. And then the team suddenly came alive. As consequence from a bit of pressure a penalty resulted from which Max was able to run at pace into the corner to score our only try. Though now the game was already lost, we finally started to play with multiple defenders throwing themselves at the attackers and when we arrived at the break we were on the up. The second half was a great contest as finally we competed in the rucks and mauls. As always the scrum played their part in winning the ball. Now the Highfield defensive line was being stretched as our backs finally got their hands on the ball and were running at the opposition. We had a few opportunities to score but the size and strength of Highfield ensured that another try was not conceded. Unfortunately Eagle House did concede three more tries in the second half but we made the opposition work for their tries. Also it was three less than we had conceded in the first. There was not really much between the two team except the two facts mention above. We showed the ability to win the ball, attack and support each other. Unfortunately you do not get your hand on the ball unless you tackle and that was certainly missing from the first 10 or so minutes of the game. I was quite impressed with the final 30 minutes of the game. We can play good rugby. We just need to find a comparable team to play against. Match Seven Wednesday 7th December v Yateley Manor, away at 1430 Eagle House 20 Yateley Manor 45 The final score line should in no way diminish the successful performance that this team put on this afternoon. On another day, in different circumstances it may have been a different result. Eagle House began with all guns blazing and kept Yateley Manor pinned back into their own half for at least the first five minutes when the constant pressure forced the opposition to concede their first try. That in itself was an achievement for this team. From then on it was constant attack and counterattack by both sides as each tried to assume dominance of this match. I envisaged that the whole match would be like this until one side or the other just collapsed due to shear exhaustion in their attempt to attack and/or defend. It was good to see some strong and forward runs by several players. With a bit more support these may all have ended up in tries scored. It was also nice to see Evan score his first try. At the half time break it was Eagle House who finished on top with four tries to three. The boys really could not believe this and were all euphoric as they were playing so well and at last enjoying their rugby. Everything was going to plan. All those afternoons in the warm autumn warmth were beginning to pay off. The talk at the break was about building upon this fantastic performance and sorting out the problems that we had with the forwards. Unfortunately the second half seems to have come from a different match. Yateley Manor brought on the cavalry in strong numbers who were fresher and a little faster. Some key decisions went against the team which may it very difficult to get into our swing again. Nevertheless the team tried their best to cope but their energy was well and truly spent as the match progressed. Mistakes began to be made and the frustration was beginning to tell. Overall this has been an interesting match and when we play against a comparable team, we show that we can play good and constructive rugby scoring some good tries. Match Eight Saturday 10th December v Lambrook, home at 1430 Eagle House 5 Lambrook 63 Because half the pitch was frozen, this match was reduced to a nine a side fixture played across the field. In theory this should have meant more players getting their hands on the ball and quite a high scoring game. This match certainly was but not in the sense that I meant. After such a successful performance in the previous match, I had hoped for a better result in this our final fixture. Unfortunately this was not to be, once Lambrook had opened the scoring heads went down straight away and too many just looked as though they wished to be elsewhere rather than playing rugby. The tackling in the first half was poor and we played as a team with no drive and commitment. Several individuals tried their best to break through the well organised and better motivated opposition but with the whole team not behind them, this was an impossible task. Too many players just stood, watched and waited at the rucks which meant that the opposition gained the ball and attacked. Nevertheless we showed in the last quarter before the break that we could play rugby and a very determined run by Max concluded in our only score of a disappointing match. The second half actually started quite well with some good off loading and more determined runs at the opposition. With more support and a straighter course taken, some of these may have ended up as a try being scored. Overall this has been quite a tough and disappointing season. The team has not really congealed together working in the units and I feel that we should have made more progress. On the other hand in most if not all of the matches the opposition was not really comparable to them, except perhaps the Yateley Manor match. We seemed either to be playing a team of all year six boys or a under 10A team whose skills would surpass our own. Both facts would immediately put us at a disadvantage as we have a mixture of year 5 and 6 B team players in our side. Edward led the team, as captain, by his good example, supported by James Erridge. The forwards (Christian, Caspar, Christopher T and Christopher M, Stephen and Alex) by the end of term had finally learnt to scrummage and even in some of the big defeats were able to win against the head. Luke and Max, as half backs, were under a lot of pressure and tried their best to cope with that. We had some strong and good runners in the backs (Harry, Jack, Evan and Conrad). Perhaps had the forwards gained the ball more we would have seen the backs in full flow more often than we saw them back tracking trying to tackle a fast attacker. Hopefully lessons have been learnt from this season. I would like to thank all the boys and especially Edward, as captain, for playing for this team.
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