Bish, Bash, Bosh….

It’s difficult to substantiate that yesterday’s performance on a tricky Chew Valley surface was a great defensive feat having conceded no less than 7 trys! And it’s even more difficult to explain that it wasn’t the 12 try’s we scored that secured the games against a very classy Chew Valley outfit, these were just a consequence of some excellent ball retention, some dynamic aggressive running and some good decision making during in earlier passages of play.

We have never quite managed to nick a win against Chew in the past. From memory we’ve never really played that badly but they have always been very slick at moving the ball around away from trouble and our “lumps” haven’t quite had the artillery to match them. Yesterday it could be said everything went our way. The conditions and pitch probably suited our pack of “Beasts” more than them, and whilst we have been lucky enough to have played every week through the recent poor weather Chew have missed out on a lot of game time, and were perhaps a bit rusty. On top of all that Captain Mac always plays better on a pitch where he can actually see and smell where his next meal is coming from!!!

Firstly I’d like to thank everyone for a much improved attitude, not perfect, but much improved. However the acid test will be how we behave when things aren’t going our way. We need to work hard on this as when we have a good attitude we play more as a team, we all enjoy our Sunday mornings a lot more and in turn you will find a happy positive team has more success than not.

In past reports I may have waxed lyrical about a great passing performance (Broad Plain,) a great team togetherness and passion (Taunton) or a fantastic defensive performance (Cleve). Not often, if ever before, do we get all these ingredients in the same pot at the same time. Yesterday the planets must have been aligned because we did get all that and more! Defence wasn’t perfect but it was very good. It’s always difficult to defend against the momentum of a slope and we missed one or two here and there but the commitment, intensity and pressure was miles better than last week and absolutely everyone contributed – I can’t tell you how important it is that everyone brings at least a tackle or two to the party. The passion and togetherness wasn’t perfect but it was very good. Sadly there was still a very small amount of arguing and finger pointing, as soon as we learn that rugby is totally about teamwork, trusting each other and backing one another, the better – Magic Johnson (a pretty good basketball player back in the day) said “Ask not what your teammates can do for you, but what you can do for your teammates”. The sooner we all get this the better and even more fun it will all become. Passing wasn’t perfect but it was very good. Passing doesn’t always mean passing aimlessly along the line, it means making the right pass to the right man at the right time. I can try to teach this but it comes down to experience and making right and wrong decisions on the park but having the intelligence to learn from it– yesterday we really got it right on a few occasions. However we could always pass a bit more during/before contact but I’m confident this is slowly coming.

So looking back at some of the good and bad stuff. Our scrummage was again very, very strong, especially up the hill !!! Our two hatrick heros in Mac and Rudsta performed to their very best like a pair of unstoppable T-Rex’s. It was sad to see Rich leave us due to an unfortunate knee injury, he’s not one to complain and we all wish him a quick return to action. With our fly half gone Danny had an eye opening ride at No10 showing a little glimpse of samba and a brilliant revenge charge down! The Tornado lived on the edge of off side and stopped most of Chews attacks before they even got started, an amazing disruptive performance from the scrum half. At last Reuben broke his duck with a fantastically timed run and unstoppable line akin to Danny Care last week, I hope this was planned and not just luck because you just can’t coach that instinct. Woody “the Ram” is now coming to the fore and starting to realise his potential. Maccauly was yet again an outstanding last man with some top defensive last ditch tackles and a cheeky blind side try to finish off. Charlie continued to progress at a rapid rate with another solid outing in the centre. It was also very pleasing to note our wingers all seeing plenty of action – a sign that although I felt we were perhaps a little one dimensional at times we obviously got it out as well.

As you know I could go on and on and on. But yet again I’ve dribbled on way past my “quick match report” allocation. So thank you boys, well done, big smiles all round, it wasn’t perfect but it was very good – can we do it all again?