“Let’s get it on”

It never ceases to amaze me every year how quickly pre-season disappears and the genuine panic of being ill prepared sets in!!! This year was exasperated by the fact that our first-up opponents were none other than Cleve who sit very much towards the top of the tree when it comes to quality opposition in the South West!

And whilst this was very much agreed to be a “training” game, it felt a little bit like sending lambs to the slaughter with a last minute scraped together front row, players trying out new positions and a debut outing for a nervous ex-footballer. However, I should have given the boys a bit more credit as their admirable tenacity and effort plastered over the cracks of disorganisation and chaos and provided everything a preseason game should. Plenty of mistakes but no lack of commitment from both sides served up a very entertaining and competitive mornings rugby.

Defence was excellent from both sides, and perhaps outlines the blueprint of the way this season may pan out, with better defences, less opportunities and tighter score lines. There was plenty of turnover ball and some beautiful running rugby at times with both sides providing a good mix of direct and running rugby. The “uncontested” lineout was something of a head scratcher and neither side really nailed down the best way to approach this – I look forward to the coming weeks and how different coaches approach this new law tweak to best effect.

Early exchanges were fairly even although Cleve were noticeably dominant in the scrum. It was from a scrappy set piece that poor ball shipped on through 3 or 4 sets of static hands when someone should have used some brains and taken responsibility to take the ball forward and tidy up the mess, however a “hospital” pass was eventually presented to poor old Finn in the centre who was duly flattened by his opposite number and the resulting gift of a spilt ball was pounced upon by the Cleve backline and some tidy footwork saw the opening touchdown under the posts. The rest of the opening 20 saw Cleve in the ascendancy working well through some surging runs from their pack and although the Blue and Gold put in a good fight when the time came to step up and Dan was left stranded and needed assistance to deal with some rampaging Cleve muscle unfortunately those closest to hand conveniently stepped aside!!!! Dan was politely put on his backside and another score under the sticks saw a 14 point deficit at the first break.

The second session saw the introduction of uncontested scrums which undoubtedly evened up things in our favour however it was some slick handling by the home boys that saw a well worked overlap and further touchdown in the corner to the delight of the home crowd which was further heightened by a superb conversion from the touchline. 21-0 down away from home, halfway through the day, and anyone would have forgiven the Clevedon boys to have accepted a bad day at the office, put a line under it and regroup for next week……however surprisingly, thankfully, quite the opposite occurred. Whether Cleve sensed their mornings work was done and took their foot off the gas or not is open to debate but the last 30mins of the day very much saw a change in fortunes and a resurgent Clevedon really scrap their way back into the match. Some excellent retention and at times wonderful hands saw us claw back a try through the silky step of Tyler Munn after some excellent multi-phase play by the seasiders. He jinked under the posts and Mac added the extras to see the score line a vaguely more respectable 21-7 at the end of the second session.

The final 20 saw more of the same with both sides acquitting themselves well considering we were only 40 mins into the season. “Big Mac” was now at his rampant best and Cleve dealt with him well with some very brave defence. Mac’s momentum became the basis of some excellent “go-forward” forays deep into Cleve territory. He was duly rewarded for his relentless efforts with a try in the corner from a 10m scrum and expertly converted from the touchline himself!

Game on…….5 mins to go!!!!!

Clevedon sensed a draw maybe on the cards and threw everything they had at final 5 culminating in a held up maul just short of the line in the final play of the game!!!!! A very exciting finish and if I’m honest the correct result in every sense. Both teams will have gained a lot from this encounter - plenty to work on but some very pleasing elements as well.

From our point of view it was excellent to see that “comeback” attitude. Mac was unplayable at times and if he stopped kicking the damn thing away may have been even more effective!!! Danny was magnificent in defence putting in at least a third of the teams tackle count alone!!! Other notables included Rudy who after a quiet season last year seems to have re-discovered his “mojo”. McCauly was an ever-present thorn in Cleves side and excelled experimenting at openside. Our wingers “shut up shop” very effectively on a number of occasions. Tyler Munn slipping in at full-back to help out was very solid – if only he could smile, be a bit more positive and enjoy playing a game of rugby instead of only being interested in the score!!!!!.....he could become quite a player.

I must stop there as I’ve already rambled my way through 2 pages of A4. A final thanks to Cleve and their hospitality as well as Ivor who refereed in the theme of the day and did an excellent job to keep the game flowing and enjoyable for all.

Looking forward to next week which doesn’t get any easier as we travel to Clifton.