Coaches View - Yatton II Home

Reflecting on the game on Saturday it was evident that we played a new look Yatton side who had been bolstered by some new players and were not a patch on the side we played in the early part of the season. First half opportunities were squandered and at least four tries were missed by poor execution of the final pass , this could so of easily been our down fall.

However all though in control for much of the first half 8 nil at half time was below par and not to our normal standard. We had sparks of rugby that were good and some sterling runs from Ben Beecham were a second half highlight.

We again played well in patches but defensively gave away soft tries through not being switched on and poor tackling. We managed to get our noses in front after going behind 17-16 , so you can say we had the strength of character to come back and secure the the win.

Where we clearly lacked was having an 18 man squad, losing Jabbo was a blow in the first 5 mins, a re shuffle in the back row meant Chris had to drop to the wing from open side, this lost us a line out option plus a tenacious forward upfront.

In summary I can't question the effort put in by all those on Saturday, what is in question for me and clearly for the committed members of the playing members is other players and their overall ambition to finish on a high with success either in the league or by winning a cup, I understand that everyone wants game time but not wanting to play for the first team or be part of the squad is the path to the dark side as they would say, not good for the club and will do nothing for growing the club and building on its player base.

Due to availability issues this week , strength of character will be tested to the full,and with a pending mid week cup game tested even further.

A win is a win whether by a point or 50 , and the sign of a good side is that it wins even when the performance is below par, this is the time to remain strong and perform even better the following week we have not lost since our trip to Bridgwater which again was the last time 17 men stood in the trenches and were left high and dry by others.

I understand that rugby is not the be all and end all for everyone but it is my role to direct rugby for the club by coaching / improving players to realise their potential and get the most out of their rugby, now I'm old school in my thinking, and I have no issues in saying as it is because I will challenge all over all things rugby, holidays happen in June !July and August, the bloody six nations is what you watch on TV until you retire, otherwise unless your ill, working or dead you play rugby.

When opportunity presents its self it must be taken, you may never get a chance again for a long time, in our sights is a promotion and cup winning season???, it can never be taken away from you once it's achieved.

On another note I hope Will Beacon recovers well from his injury and is on the road to recovery soon, I'm sure anything we can do as a club to help Will can be sorted.