Commanding Performance

The Rebels put in a commanding display both in the scrum and backs to what proved a high scoring afternoon of rugby. The pack dominated strongly winning every scrum and pushing Old Alleynians back at every opportunity. The first try came about by way of excellent combination of both backs and forwards in attack, which formed the template for the rest of the afternoon.

John Hughes was man of the match, with four trys to his name, and what a performance it was from the number 8. Corbyn had a good game and caused much trepidation in defence as he shrugged off tackles easily; unfortunately his enthusisiam also got the better of him as he earned a yellow card. His absence wasn’t a deterrent as TK, captain for the day received a pass in open play from a ruck to rush past the fly half and centre, only to be tackled a meter short of the line but stretched over just enough to get a try awarded. Aaron was handy with the boot and only missed three of his kicks, one of which was as a result of a try scored by Bryan Mahon in the corner, many had doubted his ability to complete ten minutes let alone score a try.

Rebels managed three unanswered trys before the Old Aleynians proved the ever-resilient old foe they were, scoring a few trys in return. However what was clear was that we tend to switch off in defence and lose concentration. There is a need to focus on our defensive skills in training.

Lineouts were topsy-turvy as we struggled to win any lineout’s including our own. In the end, it was a high scoring game, which in hindsight we could have controlled a lot more had we kept our composure at key components of the game.

According to Chris Hodder, this is the first win for the Rebels over Old Alleynians and what a win it was.