Worth the journey.

Our longest annual away trip to the mighty Wellington had all the traits of becoming a bad day at the office! It was a long traffic coned journey south, under a cold dark sky. A long muddy walk to the pitch, to see the opposition already training as rain threatened overhead. No wonder really that our pre match drills were untidy and lacklustre. Credit to the lads though as I tried to put aside my self-inflicted headache and add a bit of tempo to the warm up they responded really well and a superb 10 mins followed. We really felt like a team ready for battle, and as we took to the pitch I asked the boys to give me 3 things. Tackle, Positivity and Teamwork.

The tackling was good, pretty much everyone contributed, none more so than The Tornado who was back to somewhere near his best. Without his contribution on the tackle count we would have leaked at least two more trys I guarantee it. Thus proving tackling is more important than scoring. But also it was great to see Rudy at last discovering he has knees that can bend!!!!! what a difference and what a contribution from the Capitano, justly rewarded with a try after some fantastic team driving. Other big notables were Tyler and Tyler and Reuben and………I really could go on mentioning names because it is great to see so many players finally trusting that defence is a really cool, enjoyable part of the game and that they really aren’t going to lose limbs through tackling. Saying all that, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Their first try was all down to poor tackling technique. Whilst it was no one’s fault there were at least 4 players that could have made the tackle. We were there; we just went in too high. Their second try was pretty much unstoppable. Any good scrum half would score from that set of circumstances. It would have taken a proper “worldie” tackle or foul play to stop that try (Dan is being taught some number 9 nuances now)!!!!!

Being positive is about play as well as attitude when playing. Don’t kick the ball away – we want to run around with it, why let them have the fun. Don’t kick for touch from a pen unless we are deep in our half under pressure, run it. It’s great to pass the ball around and attack, so do it at all opportunities, it’s more exciting for players and supporters. We scored a top try yesterday by running it from deep. It was a great finish from Mac but there was a perfectly timed pass from Chaz and a series of correct decisions and play leading up to that from lots of players beforehand. However on the downside, I was disappointed to hear we were complaining to the referee about decisions and even though we were warned we continued to do so. This led to a penalty in our favour being overturned and awarded to them. We continued to moan and lost a further 10meters!!!!! This directly contributed to them gaining ground and scoring. Although we know we shouldn’t, and yes we should know better, supporters/parents/coaches complain to referees. Referees almost expect it and tolerate it, it’s wrong but it happens. We (on the sideline) can’t really be penalised. Backchat and complaining from players isn’t, hasn’t and will never ever be tolerated. All you do by moaning at a ref is lose possession, make him dislike you and your team and ensure any 50-50 decisions go the other way. I don’t know who was at fault yesterday and I don’t wish to, however I will not stand for it. It’s not part of rugby and shows a lack of class from the individual as well as a lack of respect for everyone else involved. There are ways to talk to officials that enhance your rapport with them whilst still questioning their decisions, it’s not easy but it is necessary as no referee ever changed his decision because some sour faced, angry little tween threw his toys out the pram!!!!! Start by calling him Sir, speak calmly and politely with a smile and just ask for clarification on how he saw the play - you never know, he might be right! It’s very acceptable to have a difference of opinion but its how you go about expressing that difference that’s important. It’s a really good habit to get into and you will find this gets you places, the attitude yesterday will not. Sorry to go on, but respect is the cornerstone of everything that is great about rugby and as you may have guessed something I’m quite passionate about.

Teamwork – at times astonishing, but still in dribs and drabs. However Rome wasn’t built in a day and nor will we become world beaters overnight. There was however enough on display yesterday to suggest we are looking pretty sharp. A “rough diamond”, and with some selective polishing here and there I predict 2014 will be most enjoyable. So all in all we leave Wellington with the walk back a little less muddy, the sky a little brighter, headache disappearing and a well thrown away draw! But considering last time out they turned us over 8-3 we can all give ourselves a big pat on the back and look forward to continuing our recent rapid progress in to next year.

A quick review of the year at the half way stage shows we are one of the strongest teams locally with good results against neighbours Yatton, Gordano and Weston. Positives to add to this are the good win against Bridgewater and yesterdays hard fought draw with Welly. But we did come unstuck against Avonmouth, Old B’s, Keynsham and Taunton, which aside from Avonmouth are all heavily linked with some private schooling – which as discussed before aren’t necessarily better, they’ve just played loads more rugby than you guys. The scores against these sides show (as I promised), we are slowly but surely closing the gap. So, no shame there guys, a tough fixture list and on reflection scores that are something to be proud of. Results are a product of how you play as a team, and we are really starting to look like a proper rugby team, this is also reflected amongst the support as well, there was a real buzz yesterday. However the fixtures don’t get any easier so let’s really go at it next term, not too much Christmas feasting for the fowards please!!!!! . Thanks all, it’s been awesome lately.