11 Boys Rugby v Sidcot

Having tried to get this game played for nearly 2 years, I for one was delighted to be able to take this group of young men to Sidcot School for a rugby fixture. The boys were due to play a fixture under floodlights on the first team pitch at Winscombe Rugby Club followed by some hot food in the clubhouse afterwards. With exam pressures mounting, the evening was a welcome distraction for a lot of the boys.

On arrival the boys spent a lot longer than usual getting changed and you couldn’t really blame then as the temperature was bitterly cold. In fact it was so cold that the boys were delighted to only have 15 available to play meaning they could all play the full 60 minutes! The warm up was brutally intense so that they could keep warm and there was sheer delight when the referee blew his whistle ready to start the match.

SK were playing down the slope for the first half and started brightly using the gradient to their advantage. Sidcot were impressive in the contact and won a lot of the collisions despite gravity being against them. What the St Kath’s ball carriers were doing really well was staying on their feet for as long as possible in the contact which gave their support players time to arrive. The support was about 5 yards off of the pace so it was good job that the ball carrier was working hard! SK played with good field position in the first five minutes and played the majority of this period in the Sidcot 22, albeit without the ball. Eventually Sidcot were forced to clear their lines under the Sidcot pressure. The high ball was fielded with typical ease by full back Dunford-Hennessy who ran the ball back well. The first phase ball was moved out to Leon Paul in the centre who kicked over the top spotting the full back out of position. Leon’s kick came to rest on the Sidcot 5 metre line and with Leon chasing hard and right in the contest the covering Sidcot player was forced to carry over the line. It would have been interesting to see a TMO review as Leon was fairly confident he had touched the ball down. Nonetheless the SK boys were awarded a scrum 5 metres out with an attractive blind side! A solid platform allowed scrum half Conway a free pass away to winger Smith who occupied the blind side. Finley burrowed low and missile-like between two drifting Sidcot defenders to cross the whitewash after just 8 minutes.

The pressure continued as the SK ball carriers continued their dominance in the contact. Unfortunately the arriving support was getting further and further away and this resulted in a couple of unnecessary turnovers. Fortunately for St Kath’s the Sidcot boys weren’t able to capitalise on their turnover ball and on more than one occasion handed the ball back within the first couple of phases. St Kath’s couldn’t continue to rely on opposition errors if they wanted to win this game. There were a few boys in maroon out in the backline who were looking dangerous with ball in hand. Mason Smart had already made a few mini breaks, Leon Paul was carrying in his typical, strong & direct fashion and Ed Powell found himself out in the ¾ line several times carrying with real venom. The boys out in the running line were being fed well by half back Ryley Murtagh who was starting to stamp his pattern on the game. Boys know that if they run off of Ryley they will get the ball as he has a super pass off of both hands. Sure enough when Ethan Ando held his run and Ryley shipped the ball out to him Ethan made ground. In fact Ethan crashed over near the posts after almost cleanly breaking the line with an impressive jinking run – a perfect example of the versatility needed by a modern day front row player.

SK were coping well defensively with the exception of 1 or 2 threats which were causing them problems. Sidcot had a couple of boys with some real pace and one ball carrier in particular whose physicality and athleticism was really testing their defensive resolve. After conceding 1 early try following a ferocious carry the boys spoke under the posts about how they were going to nullify the threats. They agreed on an inside centre netball style press in attempt to stop the ball getting to the carrying centre. The boys acknowledged that they would need to cover the dog leg that the press would leave and so knuckled down to set about their business.

With defensive strategy in the forefront of their minds, the spell of possession that came after conceding their early try was a welcome contrast. This facet of the game is where their strength lies and the boys really enjoy experimenting with different plays. There are lots of fantastic leaders in this team and they communicate really well through the spine of the team. Perched on the Sidcot 22, Leon found himself stood at first receiver. He collected the pass and the call came for a kick through after the boys had spotted a positional discrepancy. Leon dinked the ball over and once again found himself bearing down hard on his own kick. This time Leon clearly won the footrace and dived on the ball to finish right under the posts allowing Jay Spicer to convert.

It was then back to defensive duties as SK took their turn to defend their 22. The centre press was called well and executed to perfection a couple of times preventing the ball falling into the hands of the Sidcot strike runner. Some smart play from Sidcot saw other boys carry while their primary carrier made his way out onto the wing unnoticed. Good quality Sidcot retention gave them access to quick ball which they moved wide leaving a 1v1 attacking situation. No guesses needed for working out how that contest turned out and SK were left under the posts disappointed that they hadn’t recognised the threat sooner. At half time the score was 17-10 in favour of the away team.

At half time the group identified some key points before they went out to play up the slope in the second half. Number 1 was that the ball carrier was not going to stay on their feet as long with fatigue & gravity against them, therefore to retain the ball the presentation had to be better & the arriving support had to be closer. Number 2 was that someone needed to take defensive responsibility for communicating & making sure that individuals knew their jobs.

They took to the field in the second half and really started to play some sensible rugby. In fact, such was their ability to listen and adapt their style of play that they scored the first 3 tries of the second half. Inside the first 2 minutes the boys had built phase after phase, taking advantage of the ball if it became available quickly and setting it up again if it was slower. Lewis Mason has built somewhat of a reputation over the years for just popping up in the right place at the right time to score a try, usually from a handful of yards out. This time Lewis quite rightly pointed out to me that he had made at least 15 metres to score this time stepping the first man and then driving on over the line through heavy traffic. Leon converted the try to take the score to 24-10. It wasn’t long again before SK found themselves back in Sidcot territory. The pack had really started rumbling and the front five of Ando, Spicer, Powell, Paines, Crutchley and Stiley were securing the ball well. Some quick thinking at the base of a ruck from scrum half Danny Conway saw him make a good break inside the 22. Danny continued to plough on and really showed a lot of his attributes in this single passage of play. The presence of mind to spot the gap and pick up the ball, the pace to go through the gap before it closed and then the strength and power to drive his way over the try line once the cover tackles came in. SK received the kick off and once again retained the ball. This started as the boys moved the ball left out to winger Stratton. Louis realised that the opposition had him covered and so he stepped back inside in a smart move to keep the ball alive. The ball was then moved wide on the other side and taken up at speed by captain Mott who made a fantastic break. The boys busted a gut to reach Lowell and recycle before the ball was stolen and carried the ball well again to move inside the Sidcot 22 once more. Lewis Mason was keen to carry again and who could blame him having already score one try? Unfortunately for Lewis he was stopped just 5 metres short of the try line on this occasion having made an impressive break but fortunately for him he had been followed by just a single support player. Danny Conway has a knack of following the ball as all good scrum halves should and popped up gratefully to receive the offload from Mason to score his second try of the game which was converted by Ryley.

The lead now stood at 26 points, the score at 36-10 with just 15 minutes left on the clock. It looked as though it was just going to be a case of playing sensible rugby for the last quarter of an hour to see out the win but best laid plans often go awry! Having sustained a shoulder injury during a scrummage, captain Lowell Mott was forced to leave the field leaving his team down to 14. In a great show of sportsmanship Sidcot sacrificed a player to even up the contest. Not only did they even up the contest they really brought the contest to the St Kath’s boys for the last part of the game. In a whirlwind of momentum SK were left powerless in their attempt to stop Sidcot during this period. They scored a total of 4 tries at the end of the game as the away side simply couldn’t get any ball at all. The defensive work was admittedly slack but Sidcot really put their foot down at the same time. There was utter panic amongst the group and a real need for some calm & collected thinking under serious pressure. As it turned out the only difference between the two teams on the scoreboard at the final whistle was the kicking accuracy. SK had kicked 3 of their 6 conversion attempts and Sidcot had been unable to convert one of their 6 tries – final score of 36-30.

Sidcot School always host sporting fixtures to the highest standard and once again their hospitality was fantastic. The local rugby club not only provided a referee for the fixture but also hot food for the boys at the end of the game. This really added to the occasion and it was a fitting end to a brilliant evening. My thanks to all of the volunteers from the rugby club who gave up their time on the evening.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this group of young men over the last five years. For many of these boys this was the last time they would represent the school in the 15-a-side version of the game and they really made the most of the opportunity. A special mention to Macie King who missed the fixture as he was on a Spanish exchange trip – a good reason for being unavailable! I am really looking forward to the 7s tournaments later this year.

Huge congratulations on 5 years of excellent 15-a-side rugby gentlemen.

Mr Cook