007 - Golden Whistle

This week was our first league week and the team were pumped to be getting on with it, after a rollercoaster pre-season, filled with some hard sessions, a thumping and another thumping in our favour. I think the warm weather still has some of our lads looking to offshore holidays and for the third week running we fielded a completely different 1st XV. Nonetheless, we turned up to play and knew this week was going to be a tough assignment.
This week, I’m going to move away from the usual discussion around how the game went and do some plater ratings, as this was a unique stop/start game where it was difficult describe the ‘vibe’ out there on the pitch. (For clarity, 5 is average, 7 is a well-played solid performance and above 9 is the Wilkinson-esque drop goal in double over-time to beat the Aussies in 2003. (Those who know the author will know how it pained me to write the description like that)

1. Chris Hodder – Solid performance and second 1st XV start in a row. Played loose head and could have quite easily been monstered by a much bigger pack, however provided a solid all-round performance with good defensive structure. Performance rating: 6

2. Patrick Tingay – Confided in the author that his first few lineout throws sailed over the top due to too much adrenaline, and that is exactly how he played, with full on adrenaline. Great clearing out of rucks and took more than his fair share of lumbering Brockleians down. Once the lineout clicks, the scores will climb, Perfomance rating: 7

3. Rich Thebridge – Shrek is a Manimal. Having not trained due to his work commitments, Shrek withstood an onslaught of beasty scrums (did we pack at least 30 scrums???) and to came out the end of the game still smiling like Sean Connery after banging all those Bond girls. Once the work load lightens up and we can set about getting the lineout sorted Shrek will come into his own. Performance Rating: 7

4. Glen Boevink – Still has fitness issues, but didn’t miss a tackle, scored a dis-allowed try and held another up resulting in Brocks being awarded a penalty try ‘for trying to stop the ball being grounded’. Room to improve. Performance rating: 5

5. Michael ‘Beautiful Moment’ Wilkinson – Continues to impress and put in a very good shift. Is agile and mobile and was able to swap from second row to number 8 with ease. Struggled a little with jumping at 2 but his defence and rucking capacity make him invaluable. Performance rating: 8

6. Tim Norwood – Reliable, steady and a calming influence in an otherwise turgid match. Tim tackled, got up and tackled again. It’s a shame that he found himself continually on the wrong side of the whistle for Jackaling, but after the first half found rhythm and played an excellent match. Performance rating 6.5

7. Israel Sotonwa – Izzy’s conversion from winger to open side has taken yet again another step up and his performance in the loose play is exactly what the Lancers need and want. Once the technical knowledge becomes inherent to him in the scrums and lineout, Izzy will be a force to be reckoned with when moving through 3rd and 4th phases. Let himself down a bit with punctuality, but was man enough to put his hand up to the team and this makes him a true Lancer. Player performance rating reflects lateness: 5

8. Liam Collins Mark Welling – ‘I expect you to die, Mr. Welling’, said the referee before the game, as he strapped Mark to the bench in the Sin Bin area and started the death ray on a course between his legs and on the way to his Goolies. Mark was truly Public Enemy, number 1. Hard to award a player rating to a guy whose heart was huge but wore a sometimes not un-deserved bullseye on his back. 10 minutes in the Sin Bin earns Mark a performance rating of: 5

9. Matt ‘handbags’ Evans – Matty electrified the backline with some fast hands and accurate passing, but wasn’t able to get into the game, namely due to being comprehensively smacked in the face by a right hooking Brock, then being was sent off for a ten minute rest and the penalty going Brocks way. On further reflection we shouldn’t have let that stand and it’ll be good to see the Brocks on Old Kent Road later in the year. Performance rating: 6

10. Jamie Burman – Tough day at the office for Jamie, with the wind blowing hard lengthways down the pitch, but his kicking game was superb and he masterfully kept us exactly on game plan by hoofing it down field and letting the wingers exert pressure on the Brocks, often forcing a turnover. Performance Rating: 7

11. Mark Welling Rory ‘Zorro’ Gardner – Called into the starting line up with only minutes notice, Rory earned his Zorro status quickly, with adept runs and bullet speed. Would of, could of, should of finished a few back line moves by dotting the ball down under the posts but the ball was wet and it’s hard to catch when you moving faster than the speed of light itself. Performance rating: 6

12. Josh ‘Cuddles’ Walker – Solid, aggressive, defensively sound. Also the only centre who willingly requested to play second row during a game. Lost a point for wearing another team’s kit to the game but did complete his naming bare chested at another team’s clubhouse, so point re-awarded. Performance rating: 8

13. Jock Hopper – Very hard day for the centres, a few dropped balls and missed opportunities were present, but Hoops was his usual strong self. As captain, I really appreciate his leadership and ability to keep the guys on point when he needs to. Cementing his spot looks likely: Performance rating: 7

14. Ruairi Hourihane: Not a lot to say about Ruairi, he brought oodles of enthusiasm and vigour to the match. Went looking for the ball and was strong in his running game, as always. It wasn’t much of a day to be a winger, but still shone brightly. Performance rating: 8

15. Tom McFarland – Strong, hard hitting, defensively sound. These are all words to describe Tom. Spent ten minutes in the bin for ‘something’ and decided to take the entire Brocks team on in his in-goal area, Performance rating: 6

16. Sanjeeva Camillus – Our super prop/hooker sub, San gave everything as always. Under serious pressure in the Brocks scrum, the significantly smaller San battled it out amazingly well. Gave the team some much needed enthusiasm. Was very late and apologetic, hence the Performance rating: 5

17. Rory Gardner Mark ‘Christian Aid’ Canadian fella whose last name escapes me sorry – Aidsy’s first game in a Lancers jersey was a tough one. Moving into second row, allowing ‘Beautiful Moment’ to go back to 8 gave the Lancers scrum some much needed weight and really solidified the scrum. Definitely a player for the future. Performance Rating: 8

18. Henry Robinson Ross McGowan – Ross is a pest, in the best possible way. He came on at 6 and immediately upset the opposition ball at the breakdown and had four or five excellent ball carries. One of his black balls (rugby terms, not shower related) resulted in the author going over for a disallowed try, but it was all the momentum he gave when coming on that made the difference. Performance rating: 8

As you can tell, this was a challenging and at times frustrating game. The boys all stood up well and it’s only a matter of time before the new-look team finds the cohesion we need to put some real points on the opposition. Another point of real note was that we spent 30 minutes of the game with a person in the sin bin and yet held our own defensively and that despite the conditions, we never once back-chatted or mouthed off, which says loads about the character of the team we are building this year. That is an achievement worth celebrating (despite the whole 3 sin bin thingy). I know I’m certainly proud of this team and proud to be a Lancer. Bring on Kings next week!