Dunbar had to win this local derby to have a chance of being in the top 3 so there was a lot at stake. Reaching this target was not helped by the usual ubiquitous half a dozen call offs, down to work, holidays and an ever expanding injury list. Still the coaches have had always had faith in this squad, who have never let us down and had often impressed us to such an extent, that when everybody is fit picking a starting fifteen will be very difficult.
The squad was further bolstered by some new additions that had everyone talking, that's right Fraser Henderson and Nuggets were back, the relief was palpable. There was also a couple of fairly ordinary acquisitions, who had been on the squad list for ages, but had not had the chance to turn out for us until this week. Step forward Hendrik Visagie and Lukas Van Niekerk.
The rest of the squad first met these 2 lads on Thursday, which normally is a non-contact night, we do a lot of passing drills 3v2s etc run through, but Cal decided it would be a good idea to see if the 2 new lads could handle contact. So we went ahead, and we were pleasantly surprised, to see Henrik and Lukas didn't mind steam rolling our players into the ground, so what they would do to the opposition didn't bear thinking about, it was a blood fest ask Nuggets. They took the physical side of the game to a whole new level, and this was after we held a really hard session on Tuesday. The South Africans just showed us where the bar should be set. It was lucky we still had enough fit players for Saturday.
We got some good news on match day Jamie Crichton was able to play but unfortunately Connal McLeod couldn't. The starting team was:
1. Denham Blair 2. David Brunton 3. Chris Baikie 4. Connor O'Donnell 5. Gregor Leys 6. Jamie Crichton 7. dylan moffat 8. Ewan Patrizio (Vice Captain) 9. Robbie Cockburn 10. Arthur Sinclair 11. Kyle Laing 12. josh atkin 13. Dom Mayo (Captain) 14. Fraser Henderson 15 Andrew Laing - Replacements Cameron Sinclair, rory brown, Hendrik Visagie, Lukas Van Niekerk.
The home side got off to a flying start and Denham Blair made a break after good build up play and although he had support on his outside, he managed to secure the early try. Then for some reason Dunbar seemed to lose to grip of the game as the more physical PL forwards started to dominate and push forward using. The home side started to switch off, under pressure Ewan Patrizio picked up from a turnover ball and unusually for him seemed hesitant in which direction to take and ran back to the blind side of the ruck, into trouble and although we again managed to get the ball out Robbie Cockburn scrum half seemed to have caught the indecisive disease, from Ewan and took too long to get the ball back, and under pressure from PL, the ball was dropped behind the try line and the away side scored converting their kick to go into the lead. The back line was not its fluent self and there were too many dropped passes and shifting the ball too quickly without making any ground or drawing the defence. Ewan Patrizio went some way to making amends with a trademark break through the PL defence. josh atkin converted the kick. Still the backs were not functioning to the high level they had performed to against Livingston, but the forwards rucking was very solid and achieving a high degree of turnovers. Gregor Leys who has been one of our most consistent performers this season popped over after good work by the backs and forwards. It was no more his performance deserved. josh atkin again completed the kick.
Although Dunbar were scoring the tries, PL were never really out of the game and had a fast winger who was causing problems. They also had a big number 1 who was doing a lot of ball carrying. Dom Mayo had hinted to us before kick-off that he was still carrying a knee injury he had suffered at training a couple of weeks ago. As we still had another game to go in the league, the coaches were wary, as to if he should start or not. We decided to give him a chance as he was the team captain. Dom played in the style he normally does, which is top class, but we could see he was playing through the pain. So the decision was made to withdraw him and introduce one of the new boys Lukas Van Niekert, and he made an instant impression barging his way through the PL lines. Andrew Lang providing good support emerged from a heap of bodies to claim the score. Andrew has proved excellent cover at full back in Matt’s absence. Lukas provided a spark and lifted the team, as they tried to reach the standard he was setting. If Lukas was guilty of anything and this is a minor point, he was having so much fun he forgot to pass on occasion. He was offered those wise words of advice from the head coach. He then went on to score a further 2 tries, with great support from his team mates. Dunbar were starting to play good open attacking rugby. Every time PL did have Dunbar under pressure the defence held firm. Dunbar introduced our other new “boy” Henrik Visagie for Connor O’Donnell at half time. Cod had been a revelation in the first half, and had made a couple of very good breaks with ball in hand keeping possession and setting it up. Cod also had a couple of good hits on their biggest player. Cameron Sinclair and rory brown also came on as replacements and made noticeable contributions.
The match went to uncontested scrums, as one of the PL front row had to go off and they had no replacement. But credit to him he came back on later and we could see how dominant the Dunbar forwards were. The forwards had played well all game, but one concern we have is ,when they have ball at the breakdown, they are still bridging over unnecessarily, when someone should do a pick and go. Take a chance guys even if we only get 10yards it’s worth it.
Henrik and Lukas were proving to be crowd pleasers with their big hits and ball carrying, but they couldn’t do it all by themselves and the rest of team were gaining in confidence and playing with style. There were to be further scores from Kyle Laing the flying winger, 1 more each from Ewan Patrizio, Lukas Van Niekart and Denham Blair, one from josh atkin Jamie Crichton and then the man himself Chris Baikie, the jaffa cake thief, got the final try. PL never gave in and we were hemmed back in our own 22 on a few occasions. The defending was stoic, and we kept them out.
Final Score
Dunbar U18 72 V PL U18 7
Congratulations to all the players and the Head Coach on another victory. Also many thanks to Henrik and Lukas, you are great players and really good lads. I feel the team has benefitted from both of you being here. I hope you enjoyed your time with Dunbar RFC U18s and 2nd XV. You are welcome back anytime.
The final score doesn’t tell the whole story, what looks like a totally convincing victory, wasn’t. We all have to be honest here, we played a lot better against Livingston. The backs were guilty of drifting and not sticking to the channels, the handling was a bit sloppy too. The forwards performed on the whole, admirably, but they were guilty of putting too many men into the ruck, and not taking the opportunity to pick and go. The players must be thinking, is Scott mental, did we just win by 65 points or get beat by 65 points. But what you have to remember is, if we get in the top 3 and we will by beating Portobello this Saturday, at home 2.30 kick off. That would mean we are in the top 6 league. Then the standard of opposition starting from the following week, 3 November, will be much higher and tougher, and we have to work on the areas where we are not strongest.
Also well done to all the players who went to play for the 2nds after our match and won again, the Jaffa cakes must have helped. We are hearing good things about your performances. See you all at training on Tuesday and Thursday please be at Hallhill for 5.10.