Chichester U-13 15-10 Brighton U-13

And breathe!

I’m not really sure where to start so excuse me if I ramble a bit!

Firstly it is important to thank all the squad who came and supported the team playing today. It was a very difficult task to pick a team out of what is a talented squad. A few weeks ago Dylan Hartley, Captain of England and Northampton, was water boy against Quins at Franklin Gardens. Being humble enough to look after and water your team mates during the heat of battle is a very valuable lesson to learn. No one is bigger or more important than the team. Thank you and well done boys for helping out.

Also a big thank you to Andrew and to Pete for organising and refereeing the game. Without them things wouldn’t run as smoothly.

So........we always knew that Brighton were out to get a first scalp in the league and that scalp was going to be Chichester in their eyes. Initially It looked like that they were going to overrun us as we were two tries down with only ten minutes gone. Some great runs from their centres and missed tackles resulted in break-away tries for Brighton.

Again we started to get sucked into playing the opposition way and not the Chichester way. A little bit of bickering started and it looked like we were going to let all our hard work go to waste.

Thankfully we soon bucked up and started to play our way. Some great shows of determination and leadership were evident and the boys came together as one. When this happened we stemmed the tide and managed to pin Brighton in their half. Unity is key when the chips are down!

We managed to pull one try back and were pushing very hard for the equaliser when the half time whistle went.

The call for a really hard push for the first five minutes of the second half was made by the coaches. We wanted a shock and awe start, something that would knock Brighton back and sap their energy. I think it is fair to say that all the boys managed this. We had Brighton on the back foot and we were in their half.

One try in the first five minutes of the half came with forwards and backs working well together. We created overlaps and looked strong both in the ruck and when spreading the ball. Communication started again and we spent most of the half pushing Brighton back. A third try saw us in front with 5minutes left to play.

Could we get another and keep Brighton out? I don’t know about the other coaches but by this time I was emotionaly exhausted. By the look of it, the boys too almost had nothing left to give.

And so we held our breath. I think it’s best to describe the last minutes as “ defensive”. All the fitness training paid off as Chichester again and again defended against a determined Brighton attack. One minute left and we retained the ball and managed to keep it until the ref blew the whistle.

Determination, passion, resilience are words that come to mind.

Clearly there are improvements to be made which we as coaches must address cohesively before our next training session. This will enable us all to get as much out of training as possible ahead of the next league fixture.

We asked that the boys come off the pitch knowing that they had given their all and were able to keep their heads up win, lose or draw. I think it’s fair to say that they did give their all and the last five minutes prove how far they have come as a squad.

Their ability to come back from two nil down and win against a very determined and motivated opposition speaks volumes about our boys ability to dog it out when necessary.

I totally agree with Head Coach Steve, and I’m sure you all do as well.......I was very proud of the boys.

See you all next week for training. I’m going for a large glass of wine and a lie down!

Gavin.