Big Improvements for the Bs (and some great individual performances)

Fullerians B’s played some of the best rugby so far this season when they came up against the OAs C’s. The major difference between the two teams was the huge and very quick monster of a centre who was playing for the OAs (he didn’t quite have a beard, but he wasn’t far off it) who ran havoc through our backs. Had it not been for him, the games would have been much closer. As it was, we lost the first game by six tries to one, and the second game 5-2. However, like the A’s report that Ash has posted here, these games were drastically different in the way we played them.

In the first game we were not hitting the rucks in any meaningful way, and got pushed back off many breakdown contests. Tackling was also weak or non-existent by many members of the team.

Pete and I explained the importance of body position and how the forwards could be much more effective by getting lower and driving up through the contact area. We also reminded the boys about line speed AND making tackles. I think as coaches, we know that not every tackle will be perfect, but we DO expect every player to TRY to tackle.
We went up by two tries early in the second game, and thanks to some very brave tackling (see above) we managed to nullify the OAs attacks for the first ten minutes or so. Unfortunately, we were not able to cope with the opposition’s power, and they came back to win the game.

Players worthy of a special mention:

Oliver Forrest – played at fullback and was superb in attack and defence. His bravery in the second game was a lesson to his team mates. Also made some great runs, and importantly for this team, passed well to supporting runners. Player Of The Week.

Harry Scully – Now to be christened Harry the Tank Engine. Harry still needs to work on his understanding of the game, but when he has the ball in hand and a sniff of space, he is incredibly difficult to bring down. If he can use this natural talent and remember to pass after he has made these runs, he will go from strength to strength.

Owen Rackham – is better used in the scrum half role than playing on the wing as he previously was. Scored a classic SH sniping try when the opposition defence left a gap behind the scrum. Also tackled hard and didn’t stop running. A good example of a smaller player tackling way above his weight, and someone the more reluctant tacklers should take a lesson from.

Thomas Lake and James Evans need a nod for their bravery. Both players took some big knocks (because they were putting themselves on the line and making tackles) and got up to play on. Thomas scored a good individual try at the start of the second game.

Simeon Francis – good solid performance from the hooker. Needs to work out when to hook and when to push in the scrum, but Sim never stopped running throughout both games and made a nuisance of himself for the opposition (as every good hooker should!).

Things to work on:

Rucking – Not enough to simply get to the ruck. We need to be much more aware of what to do ONCE we get there. Too many players adopting bad body positions and getting easily pushed out of the contact area. If in doubt, use your feet to bring the ball back to your side!

Passing – There are too many greedy players in this team that do not use the support runners around them. DRAW AND PASS. Simple.

Tackling – Some players were superb, but had to make lots of cover tackles for players who were unwilling to tackle for themselves.