Keighley start with a bang

Keighley Under 15s v Navan Under 16s

After arriving at Navan in plenty of time the first fixture of the tour saw an evening kick off on the1st XV pitch directly in front of the pavilion creating a fantastic tour atmosphere.
The lads warmed up on a wet and soggy training area, but you could see the focus and concentration in their eyes; they were definitely up for the game.
Keighley kicked to Navan who hesitated under the high ball and let it bounce once before bouncing into touch. The tone was set for Keighley to hold the home side in their own half for long periods of the first half. Both defences worked very hard to prevent the opposition from gaining any ground; there was certainly no quarter given. Keighley’s back row of Jack McHugh, Oliver Brown and Adam Kemp were a dominant force for the full sixty minutes, hardly missing a tackle and turning over several balls at the breakdown. We rotated our second row throughout the game; Scott Thornton particularly making heavy tackles and counter rucking all over the park. Ed Stewart and Lucas Ryan followed the standard set by Scott and Joss McArthur, making an impact on the game when their opportunity arose. Lucas attracted the attention of the Navan pack by his shear presence on the pitch, he introduced himself to the opposition at his first ruck ably supported by Nico and Ethan.
Navan were denied any chance of a clean line break by the tenacious Keighley defence; every time the Navan forwards ran the ball forwards they were repelled by the first tackler. Navan’s scrum half had an excellent game at the back of the scrum and breakdown, he cleared the ball each time before our defence could get anywhere near him creating clean ball to his stand-off. Although the Navan stand-off and centres received plenty of ball they didn’t get chance to use it because Keighley were up in their faces before they had chance to think, let alone execute a move. Leon Hobson-Sheriff and Keir Welch working effectively as a defensive pair and dangerous as an attacking weapon. Several knock-ons were forced upon them, ensuring that Keighley retained possession through their strong scrum. Navan often resorted to kicking from their own half giving Keighley chance to counter attack, from one of which Aaron Wilson had a fantastic run beating several players before being brought down 50 meteres from where he collected the ball. The defined moment of the half and the game came after 18 minutes. Keighley had several phases of play in Navan’s half; their scrambled defence loaded on the open side. Jack Rodbourne scanned the field, picked up from the ruck, run to the blind side where there was no guard or cover. His quick decision caught Navan completely by surprise; his determined run meant he only had the cover defence to beat, which he did, completing the try on the left hand side. Keighley – 5; Navan – 0, the conversion missed. Space was at a premium for the whole game, most of the time being played in Navan’s half. Keighley missed a golden opportunity shortly after the try. A three man overlap on the right was ignored, instead the ball was shipped left into heavy traffic and the opportunity was lost. Half time; Navan – 0; Keighley – 5.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first. Possession was exchanged too readily by both teams; challenging the breakdown and scrummaging skills of both packs. With a change of formation at half time, Lennon Curr replacing Zac Scott at scrum half and Ethan Lawrie playing slightly deeper at stand-off creating a more time for the Keighley backs to exploit any space available. Nico Mori, continuing his hard work made a clean break after clearing the ruck, picking up the ball and making fifteen metres before being brought down. The attack eventually falling down before a clear scoring opportunity was made.
A few mentions should be made to Conan Balzan who was very strong clearing out any break down in his wing channel; and Josh Slingsby who collected the ball every time Navan resorted to a kicking game, running the ball back up at pace meaning that Navan making no real ground. Luis Spragg worked hard in open play and perhaps having his strongest game of the season.
A few of the Navan and Keighley players had a bit of a re-introduction just before the final whistle after a couple of particularly heavy tackles and clear outs; re-emphasising the robust nature of this fantastic game.

The players shared a hand shake and social hour after the game proving that the fundamental ethos of Rugby Union, Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship was shared.

Steve & The Coaching Team