Is it all worth it ?

Sometimes I do wonder “Is it all worth it?”. Occasionally it seems to take an exhausting amount of effort to get organised for the weekend – this was one of those weeks. 12 phone conversations and over 70 text messages in 48 hours saw me manage to scramble together a measly dozen misfits to make the early morning journey south to what is traditionally one of the toughest games on the calendar.

A concussion from the previous week, a few injuries, a couple half term holidays, illness and some family commitments meant we were short, very short. I panic texted old players and possible new players in the hope I could rally together just one or two extra bodies – unfortunately no one was able to help out and so a decision had to be made. Are 12 players enough to take to Wellington and get a positive experience? It’s funny how just one player can make a difference, I genuinely think if we’d had 11 I’d have taken the sad decision to cancel, but 12 is just about on the cusp of ok, and 13 is fine – these are small margins on paper but massive in the scheme of things. A bit of chat with one of the coaches at Wellington found they were almost in the same boat with their usually plentiful squad decimated to 16 for similar reasons to ourselves. After further ping-pong texts, late on Saturday night we decided we could hash something together between us and keep the fixture ON.

We arrived early and the dozen Blue & Gold went about getting the heart rates up and the blood pumping to combat the unusually cold morning. The self-guided warm-up went pretty well, but I did sense a bit of lethargy and feared the excuses would stack up against us – not enough players, playing away, cold weather, long journey, difficult opposition etc, etc. Wellington kindly offered the services of two very capable front row players making the sides 14 each and the pre-chat once again revolved around defence and how everyone needed to contribute if we were to compete. Due to the numbers and “type” of player both teams had available, there were a multitude of boys trying out new positions and this amped up the worry of how we’d stand up to the task ahead. As it happened I really needn’t have worried as every single player and ESPECIALLY those trying new positions were nothing short of absolutely fantastic.

Wellington chose to play up the slope and against the elements for the first period, which added pressure for a good start from the visitors. The boys delivered – the kick off for some reason directed straight to our biggest player! Jake happily fielded the ball and went on a rampage which saw him evade and wade through a good number of tackles in his “unique” style – setting the tone for the day and letting Wellington know they had a game on their hands. Despite some early minor “wake-up” mistakes Clevedon were rampant. Mac (swapping number 8 for fly-half) was imperious with his tactical and territorial kicking, making sure we played in the right areas of the pitch and the early pressure paid off with Dan pouncing on an opportune stray ball, Mac adding the extras. Welly came back stronger, but once again their hard work up the hill was in vein as Mac drilled 50yd kicks in behind making them play out of their own 22 each time. The catalyst for the next try once again came from the boot of our makeshift No10. A creative crossfield kick ended in a lineout to Clevedon 5 meters out. The resulting catch and drive was pulled down agonisingly short but the resulting quick recycle saw it spun back into the hands of Macenzzie a couple of meters out and there’s only one outcome from that scenario, Clevedon taking a 12-0 lead in less than 10 minutes! With some further playing juggling, due to a couple of injuries (at this point we somehow managed to have more players than Wellington) we restarted with 13 a side. Wellington now began to put some phases together and were beginning to show their class and dominate the loose ball. However, huge credit to the Clevedon line who were seriously good in defence and equal to the barracking runs off the rucks by some of bigger Welly boys. Time after time they looked to have smashed through only to be driven backwards by some of the most heroic Clevedon defence I’ve ever witnessed. Luke, Rudy, McCauly and Tyler Scott were standout contributors to this. Eventually however if they just keep coming you may eventually run out of shoulders and after about 5 mins of sustained pressure that’s exactly what happened with a Welly lad finding the elusive gap near the posts for a well-deserved converted try. The remainder of the half was evenly matched and passed without further score. Half time 7-12.

The half time chat was rightly full of worthy praise, after all you’d have to have a decent memory to remember the last time we travelled to Wellington and were leading at halftime. A bit of reshuffling saw McCauly asked to join the pack in the hope of balancing our success in the loose. And for the second week in a row Josh self-appointed himself to join the front row in the hope his contribution could negate the advantage of the slope. There was a real “buzz” around the boys but they all knew it would require even more effort to keep Wellington out over the following 25 mins, up the slope and against the breeze. Were they up to it?

As it happens every single one of them was more than up to it!!!! “Run it from anywhere” seemed to be the team’s tactic of choice and it served them well, with only excellent last ditch covering tackles from Wellington stopping 2 or 3 “50m try of the season” attempts. Wellington enjoyed greater territory and possession but once again it was the boot of the new No.10 that broke the 2nd half deadlock, this time with a deft grubber opening up the Welly defence which once again was well recycled via a quick penalty and ended up back in his hands two meters out and another try. An unbelievable conversion followed against the wind providing the extra two points. The final 20 minutes was a great game of rugby with Wellington attacking with vigour and Clevedon defending bravely. Spriggsy marshalled the bottom touchline with an amazing authority and aggression previously unseen – our normally well-mannered quietly spoken gent was tackling anything that even dare look in his direction, and even gave the referee a jolly good telling off at one point!!!!! Not to be outdone Chaz shut up shop on the top line, although I’m sure we’d all agree if he actually ran forward to make the tackle rather than glide backwards, have a cup of tea and wait until they’ve almost scored before committing, we’d all breathe a little easier. Ewan stepped up and put in some telling stops especially at the lineout, snubbing out a couple of clever front peel attempts by the home team. Dan and Mac were the brains and made some excellent decisions, brilliant in their unpredictable nature almost everything they tried came off.

Finally, we have to appreciate the brilliance of one other player. Whenever Wellington kicked for territory – he was there, cleverly placed, and returned with his outrageous but effective step. Tyler is fast becoming a very, very, good fullback. Sundays game is an excellent example of how much of an influence he had on the match. In the first half, we enjoyed territorial advantage via Macs boot. Wellington weren’t able to replicate that through kicking because each time they did Tyler was there to thwart them – if only he could step out of trouble rather than into it, he’d be deadly!!!!

As in the first half, and despite all the heroics described, Wellington eventually broke through after huge pressure. However, to their dismay the successful conversion proved to be the final play, bringing an end to a thoroughly enjoyable mornings rugby and with the score tilting ever so slightly in favour of the visitors. More importantly, both teams had put on a good show of committed play and considering the unprecedented absences between them huge positives all round. I was especially pleased with those players trying out new positions – as always we will continue to rotate you around the park but you’ve given me even more to think about with your flexibility!!! For example, I really never expected a “nailed on” prop and a flanker to make such an awesome centre partnership.

A pleasant surprise on the road against the might of Wellington. Regardless of score this was a massive performance for our team – one in which we I think we really “came of age”. It would have been easy to look at the numerous excuses available and underperform. But I’m seeing signs of a real underlying steel to our team, if we can continue to harness this “togetherness” there’s no end to what’s possible to achieve – it’s what successful rugby’s all about. Well done lads. Thanks once again to Wellington for lending us 3 top guys throughout the morning making it a viable contest, and for providing a referee who really kept the game flowing as a junior match should. We can now look forward to early 2017 when Wellington will visit us, no doubt fully armed and ready for some revenge.