Under 13's
Matches
Sun 23 Mar 2014
St Brendans
35
35
Clevedon Rugby Club
Under 13's
Tries: M Duncan (2), R Thomas (2), T Wills (3)
Unbeaten!!!!

Unbeaten!!!!

Matt Harris26 Mar 2014 - 09:22
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A Real Measure Of Where We Are

For me this fixture is always one of the most eagerly awaited of the year because it’s a real measure of where we are against some quality clubs. We were perhaps the least glamorous of this year’s line-up with the other participants all having strong links with private schooling, sexy playing styles and quality in strength and depth.

Clifton had won at their own tournament, SBOB’s were the Landrover cup winners at Bath, Thornbury are current champions of the Dursley Festival and Old Bristolians completed the line up, a side that we’ve never really come close to even giving a run for their money. So I hope you can forgive me for being a little sceptical of our chances of coming away with anything more than a pat on the back for some gutsy performances, but ultimately being taught some serious rugby lessons!

Game 1 Vs Old Bristolians. I can’t quite believe it but somehow we managed to overdo things on the passing front, leading to over complicated runs and ultimately general confusion. Having got ourselves into a commanding position – being 1 try up courtesy of some lightning gas and quick steps from the Tornado, we leaked a really weak try when we allowed one player to skip through at least 6 unconvincing tackles and levelling late in the second half. Our scrum had now lost its first half superiority and the final minutes saw Old B’s camped on our line whilst some outstanding defence thwarted attack, after attack, after attack. And so in hindsight we have to rue the lapse of concentration which saw them level but also be very proud of coming so tantalisingly close to overthrowing such an excellent team.

Game 2 Vs Clifton. This followed the same blueprint as the first game, with us twice getting into winning positions thanks to some great tight play and with Rich running in two top try’s. However we then seemed to fall asleep and let a couple of real soft scores past us. Mcauly almost sealed the deal with an amazing run from deep only to have the ball cruelly spill forward at the death as he was tackled by 3 last ditch Clifton tackles. And so another Draw at the whistle, which seemed more difficult to stomach as we had done all the hard work and then thrown it away through lack of attention……again. The disappointment was that we hadn’t learnt from our previous experience.

Game 3 Vs St Brendans Old Boys. Unfortunately as the day matured the attitude amongst the players was changing (not everyone, but most) and it seemed far more important to ridicule each other and mess around than get ready for rugby. Although we managed to score 3 trys through a brace from Mac and a swan diving TT, the “teamwork” gel had very much eroded and we looked nothing like the team that started the day with everyone playing for themselves and making some awful basic errors. The game ended with a last minute leveller from SBOBS who were good value for their effort in coming back into the game which looked difficult not to win! However if someone had offered me 3-3 against St Brendans at 9.00am I’d have snapped their hand off but unfortunately in reality it wasn’t our proudest moment as we turned on one another, and the finger of blame was banded around and eventually in the direction of the referee. Nothing upsets me more, please puff your chest out and take your medicine. We didn’t win because we didn’t play as a team and our defence and ball retention was incredibly poor – no other reason. Luckily I had to referee the next game otherwise I fear I may have had some home truths to dish out which I may have regretted later in the day! Please don’t lose sight of why we play rugby…..to have fun. A draw against St Brendans is awesome; don’t set the bar too high.

Game 4 Vs Thornbury. And so having given up trying to get the guys ready due to even more poor behaviour and respect for one another, we actually managed to get 1 min of attention from the boys which allowed me to talk some sense into them and some resemblance of team togetherness. Both us and our classy competitors took to the field in the knowledge a win may well get them second place and something shiny to take home, and so developed a really great contest. We went behind for the first time on the day, but to our credit managed to claw our way back with yet another score from Mr Wills. Both sides could have nicked it in the closing stages but in the end the fair result was another Draw!!!!! The final standings saw Old Bristolians take the bragging rights with Clifton 1 point below them and ourselves and Thornbury 1 point below again. SBOBS were unusually placed with a solitary point (against us) and were in fact far better than the table would suggest. So a very close affair, and had we hung on in just a couple of those games we would have been popping the bubbly stuff all the way back to the seaside!!!!

So in conclusion it seems there are some lessons to be learnt. I underestimated our potential but overestimated our solidarity. I hate to admit it but I thought we would be valiant and courageous but ultimately come away with a single draw or a single cheeky win (last year we won 1 and lost 4 but were very much a team, and played like it). In reality we really, really, really could have won every game let alone the tournament! The funny thing is we were beaten by ourselves – by our lack of concentration on the pitch and our lack of team spirit off it. I really thought we were past blaming everyone but ourselves, come on guys, players and parents, when’s the penny going to drop? Lets enjoy it and realise we are in charge of us and what we can do, everything else is out of our control and down to luck…..or bad luck, as the case may be.

So behind the scenes a little disappointing but on paper we should be very proud of ourselves. To come away from that tournament unbeaten is a really excellent return and despite the little bit of bad stuff it was a very enjoyable day out. Once we are in a position to iron out the rough spots we could have a really enjoyable and bright future. I absolutely love the boys we have and I can’t begin to tell you how much potential there is just waiting to come to the fore, but sometimes I just feel I’m banging my head against a brick wall. If it takes me 5 or 6 attempts to ask them to just listen, how can I move on to the intricacies of the rolling maul, for example? Anyway we were last beaten 10 games ago narrowly by a massive Cleeve side which only goes to show how tough we are to overcome, but it really is time to take the next step. I have the answers but do you have the attitude and aptitude to ask the questions?

Match details

Match date

Sun 23 Mar 2014

Kickoff

09:00
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - Pace