Magnificent struggle

The lads with lots of training have figured out that running wont kill you - you’ll pass out first. After non stop 65mins of touch on a muddy pitch on Tues night they showed that winter training can be fun and still develop stamina – the ball was like soap and the bathrooms around the Wirral will have taken a hell of battering on Tuesday night. The ability to run and run without giving in came in very useful today....

On Sunday we had a cold and damp day to contend with. C&N were a bit short of numbers with injuries etc but had 18 lads. We had another great turnout in the late 20’s which meant we basically fielded 2 teams over the 3 x 20min sessions. Our strength in depth linked to a strong team performance made us all proud today.

From the kick off it was obvious this was going to be a tough and physical encounter. Both sets of forwards worked hard to dominate at the breakdown. Both sets of backs worked the ball wide to the wings. It was proper junior rugby – and long may it continue.

The first 10mins saw C&N camped in Saints red zone. We were lucky to repel strong attacks by fwds and backs, and released ourselves with some clever interplay that took us to the half way line. The pitch was littered with players who had taken knocks on both teams, the clinging cold meant every knock felt like a hammer blow.
Against the run of play but with some great backs play, Chuck was off. He obviously didn’t know Sean had a new kicking T and rather than go in the corner , he went for the posts. C&N warrior spirit showed. They had 3 lads tracking back, one caught our battering ram, he set the ball back and Alex Y was on hand but we couldn’t get the ball down. If anyone wants to see why doing interval runs in training is important, take a look at the C&N defenders, you can run a whole season tracking back to make that one hit that saves the game. Today was that day... respect guys.

"Refuse to lose." Is one of the things we talk about at training and in warm up for matches. If you stop the opposition scoring the worst that can happen is you draw. Some of the defence work we do in training is about not panicking, keeping shape and forcing the opposition to do something that turns the ball over, which we turned into practice today. In possession however our error count was prob higher in this one game than all season put together...atleast we got it out of our system b4 the Cheshire QF next Sunday - I hope!

With 8 changes at the break and three more during the next session we were to see if our squad was up for it. C&N were as strong as ever; scrum was impressive, line out orderly and efficient, rucking strong, but with Dylan in ripping mood we took most of the mauls. Like last week with essentially a new team on the pitch we didn’t know what to expect. They didn’t disappoint. C&N were as direct as in the first session, moving the ball out wide with some skill. Alex Y was immense in the centres and Adam B played his best game ever – strong and direct - good man. C&N were unlucky to be held up a couple of times, one where their No8 hit a great line off a 5m scrum – to be denied when a few Saints put body on the line and got under him.

Often we score or give away points when one person rushes up – today both sets of defences held lines that their clubs senior colleagues aspire to. Defence was the theme of the day.

Third period and more changes - six I think, but Stato was taking a day off so not sure. The game flowed backwards and forward. Saints took a 7 point lead with great running from forwards and backs. A few mins later we went over again. The last 10mins saw C&N throw everything at Saints but good defence and some unlucky balls going to ground saw the lads grasp a narrow win. Id say that C&N and us are about the same std, we could play each other 10 times and I bet it would come up 6 to 4 either way... however the spectacle of today was worth paying to watch and the lads left blood, sweat and a few tears on the pitch.

What counts in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle. Today was just such a day. C&N could easily have won, Saints played well and both teams turned out a game that kept the spectators on edge until the final whistle.

Thanks to Chris, Steve and Phil who have prepared and coached a strong and well drilled team. To both sets of supporters and most importantly Damian who refereed a physical and emotion filled game with diplomacy and skill. A few questioned the odd decision, which is easy to do from the touchline, lets all remember what differentiates us from that ”other ball game” is an unquestioning respect of the official both from players and the touchline – period. If anyone would like to take up refereeing the various societies around the North West are always happy to see new members joining – just check out the refs section at rfu.com and get on an ELRA course.

Having lost the quotes battle to Ian at Northwich last week, I’ll sign off with a thought for all ex-players – “You spend your life gripping a rugby ball, then when you stop playing you realize it's been the other way around the whole time.”

Thx to Damian for supplying the following score breakdown

1st 20
19 minutes. Unconverted try to Anselms

2nd 20
25 minutes. Unconverted try to C&N

3rd 20
44 minutes. Converted try to Anselms

51 minutes. Unconverted try to Anselms

54 minutes. Converted try to C&N

Final Score
Anselms 17-12 C&N

Luego