Sun shines on a great MRC performance

A glorious sunny day greeted at Grove Park and following on from an excellent Senior rugby performance the day before the U11s where looking to build again from the previous week’s performance.

12 players warmed up and our current focus is continuing to improve commitment to the ruck and offloading early. A good hour’s session was put in before the game kicked off.

AOM brought 7 players so MRC loaned 2 over to AOM, rotating these around for the 4 qtrs.

The first qtr kicked off and MRC had intensity from the start. From the kick off Manchester ran the ball back through a number of hands and Harry scored with the first possession. In defence, tackles were being made across the whole field, everyone got involved in rucking players out and looking to regain possession. With the ball MRC started very brightly and quickly built an early three try lead, through excellent passing, keeping a good shape and moving the ball into space. After such a great start the boys switched off a little, as AOM started to get back in the game. The boys conceded a couple of tries (two from Ben W an MRC convert) and the boys lost their composure. Charlie grabbed another try before the end of the quarter, AOM responded with a third, but MRC held out finishing the first qtr 4-3.

The second qtr was a far more even contest with both sides slugging it out with scrappy ball and defences getting through to spoil. The MRC boys needed to play to their strengths and move the ball away from contact, but they got dragged into an arm wrestle and the flowing rugby didn’t come. Fozzy grabbed a try for MRC, his first of the season and getting his reward for staying out and receiving the ball in space. AOM scored as well and the Qtr closed out 1-1. Overall 5-4.

At the half time the boys worked out they were getting pulled in. “We need to stay out and pass the ball into space, keep it moving and take less contact”. Out they went to put their plan into practice. They also had an extra sub in the form of Frank Chatterton from the Under 10s who joined to get a bit of game time. The boys were off again like the first 5mins of the day. They closed down the opposition, lots of pressure leading to turn overs and panic. When they had the ball it moved through hands, with Sam, Ben H and Ben W all swapping half back roles and calling the shots from 9 and 10. The team and found space and in 10mins MRC scored 5 tries with 5 different scorers. Harry, Billy, Sam, Ewan and Ben W all crossed showing how the team all know to find space. Billy’s try came from a fast ruck with Sam digging out the ball, feeding Ben H, who in turn fed the ball to Frank, who had the composure to spot that the 2-1 had been created and he sent the perfect pass to Billy who dotted the ball over the line. Great team try and great decision from Frank. AOM did pick up one try through MRC boy Jacob who drove strongly to the line from close range to give AOM some conciliation. Qtr score 5-1, Overall 10-5.

The final qtr saw Cam and Charlie move over to play for AOM and this gave our visitors some stronger defence. Charlie being the usual terrier disrupted the MRC play and AOM kept us honest for the final 10mins. The MRC defence held strong this quarter, not conceding a single score even playing up the hill. In attack Frank found space to go over and Harry finished a good day running a great line coming round the corner off a ruck and taking a little pop pass from Ben W playing at scrummy. Qtr score 2-0, Overall 12-5

This was a great day of team rugby for the MRC boys. 9 of the 13 players scored tries. Of the four that didn’t Henry ran strongly throughout the day and built more confidence, Big James ran hard and controlled the ball much better this week, Cam tackled everything that came at him and ran with more purpose and Ben H distributed well and tackled hard. We kept up the intensity we had at Broughton Park and the team really got behind each other and worked hard. Frank’s cameo showed added a nice touch to the day giving one of the boys younger mates a runout. Also big thanks to 8 MRC lads who played for AOM. Great Rugby tradition sharing players so more get a game.

We need to keep working on the earlier offload but the overall style of play was fast and flowing with the boys making better decisions every week. Keep going lads.