Rugby in the sunshine, now there’s a novelty!

Rugby in the sunshine, now there’s a novelty! Great attendance, too – 14 players, Stockport always bring a big squad so we needed everybody! Local rivalry here, as well – we welcomed back an old boy – James, though Will Hutch was absent this time. Stockport always provides a stern test for our guys, but each time we play them we get better and closer – so here’s hoping!!
First game – Ciaran, Matt B, Patrick, Elliot, Ben, Tom, Max, Luke, Will M played the full game and, effectively, 2 missed tackles decided the outcome – unfortunately both were ours, and they both resulted in tries. It was largely a forwards dominated affair, but we lacked the ‘will’ to drive over and claim the ball. For all that, though we were never under that much pressure and played most of the game in the Stockport half. Stockport moved the ball out twice to the wings were they had the physical presence and basic speed to touch down – but we could have stopped them both! Patrick finished off a great Manchester move to pull one back, but we had left it too late. 1-3 was the result, and although probably not a true reflection of the possession and territory – Stockport applied the killer touches when required.
Second game – Ciaran, Matt B, Will C, Patrick, Charlie, Josh D, Josh F, Luke and Daniel upped the tempo in the first half and pinned Stockport back ...... bit of a mystery how we allowed them to score a try, then! We all thought Ciaran had gone over to score – after great forward team work, but it was ‘short of the line’ (I asked the ref). Max (as usual!!) decided to take matters into his own hands and did his ‘one man take em all on and go over solo’ effort! Josh F applied the killer touch shortly after – almost losing his head (literally) in the process! No more scoring and Manchester ran out deserved 2-1 winners.
Third game – in Richard’s words ‘a game too far’. Ciaran, Matt B, Will C, Patrick, Charlie, Josh D, Josh F, Ben, Tom, Max, Luke, Will M and Daniel rotated through the game, but we were clearly knackered. The highlights in this game were Ciarans 2 tries, both of which showed a tactical nouse that England could have done with in Paris the previous evening. 2-5 this result.
Overall, very satisfying, but we need to rediscover ‘rucking over’, and ‘tackling the big guy’. We play a lot of teams who have 1 or 2 dominant players. We need to identify these guys early on and make sure we don’t allow them the freedom to score – Sale next week, let’s hope the weather holds – 5 weeks to Scarborough ..... Bring it on!! Last thought – Mark was very quiet today, do you think he has been doing some transcendental meditation whilst in India!!

Thanks to Frank for the report