Twelve Good Men

We lost by 8 tries to nil (7 of which were converted, as they were under the posts). But the game was down to the one extra man that Tarleton were allowed throughout the game. We only travelled with 12, and that meant that Tarleton could play with 13, on a heavy pitch. They also had many substitutes which meant they could bring on fresh legs. This was not a game we were going to win.
However, there is a saying that says sport doesn’t create character; it reveals character. The twelve ‘Burn men at Tarleton can look in the mirror with pride. The effort and commitment can be shown from the fact that Tarleton only scored one try from primary possession. All the others came from counter attacks where the extra man in open field made the difference.
When Burn had the ball, the extra man forced the backs to keep it tight, but time and again Liam P, Tom and Liam R made yards. One sidestep from Tom left the defence for dead, followed by a clever kick, only to be stopped by a trip. Liam Rain must have run miles in that game - but over the 60 minutes he ran at least 100 metres with a minimum of three Tarleton players hanging onto him. What can you say about Faz? He came into the game carrying a hamstring injury, which worsened after a minute. He played the next 60+minutes without complaining. Callum and Jack tackled ferociously. Rob added good aggression and quick taps to put pressure on Tarleton – their scrum half did not have an easy ride. One tackle from Callum dumped Tarleton’s biggest forward on the ground with a thump. Joe and Harry got to the ball first to get numerous turnovers. Liam Phillips is probably the best tackling centre in the division, and he probably made 20 more today. But the tackle of the day was a full length flying tackle from Max that saved a certain try. Fabulous. Charlie didn’t see much of the ball, but tackled brilliantly and the couple of runs he did have, made 30 yards each. Ramzy personified much of what was brilliant about Burn today. He was everywhere and into everything.
Lastly, anyone can win if they surround themselves with good players; it takes something special to keep going when you are losing. These 12 men did.