Pods & Mauls

Great car sharing effort to get out to the boonies of Bishop's Stortford, thanks to TMs and parents for pulling it all together. Really appreciate the support as always. As last year, Bishops is a great place to visit, all very organised and friendly, which makes up somewhat for the length of the journey. Pity the result didn't go the same way as last year.

Game started really well. Both teams looked competitive, and it had all the potential for a good close game.

First half went well and was close, with forwards trying out some pod work but never quite getting latched on. What did happen really well though was all forwards were running onto the ball, gaining some good yards and making space for the backs - holding out the old adage 'forwards win the game, backs decide by how much'. With the space created the backs opened up and scored a brace of excellent tries running both in from just inside Bishops half with good passing, footwork finding space and support runners always there to provide backup.

Second half was more of a struggle, started well with pod work again and we did score a great forwards try through some phases on their 5m line. Also the team executed their first line out maul in a game gaining 30m and just being steered to touch. Unfortunately though with a couple of injuries early on in the half and the lads struggling a little with the pace, the team could not keep up with the fresh substitutes from Bishops and they played well to take control of the game. Also heard that Bishops A team may have joined in a little, as well as one of theirs managing to bag himself a yellow for a shoulder charge at the ruck.

• Pods work! - not many teams are doing this yet and we gained great yards when the forwards and backs were running onto the ball
• The line out itself was great, lifting and throws were excellent. We need work on exiting our line outs better, taking advantage of the possession
• Our backs are very difficult to stop when they are firing though simple skills still need work, catch-pass let us down a little
• Our discipline was good relatively speaking, so if we work on set piece it will help us make decisions as to what to do when we get penalties, line outs and scrums
• Finally, great team show out (although one man struggled to get out of bed for his lift on time). We are tight on numbers at the start of the season, so the fact that we put a full team together was in itself a fantastic effort by all.

Numbers - take advantage of the bounty scheme and bring someone down to play rugby. If they join the club and pay membership then you get £20
Keep showing up at training. If we train as a team we will play well as a team. I was really happy to see Alex P and Nahuel showing up and helping at training last Saturday even though they couldn't take part. That is great team support.
Fitness. We keep harping on about it at training, but 2 hours a week is not enough to be fit to play a full hour of competitive rugby, especially with short numbers. There is a fitness and skills session that the club lays on Thursdays between 18:00 & 19:00. Currently there are only 2 planned sessions left though more may be laid on if there is a need - Oct 10th and Oct 17th. These are non contact sessions so all should make the effort to attend these. All the lads need to do a lot more basic fitness during the week.
Contact in Rugby. It is the responsibility of all 15 players on the pitch to effectively tackle, ruck and maul. If only one person in a team does NOT do this then the rest of the team has to cover for them, risking injuries. We are working (and will continue to focus on) contact skills this year so that everyone can have the confidence needed to make sure they are an effective part of the team.