Saints play great against a superb Chester outfit

Saints don't claim to be the best rugby team in the world, but so far this season we have been damn hard to beat. When we saw the Cheshire Cup draw we knew that Chester would be a hard team to play – they lost narrowly to Mac in last years final and have put a number of good Wirral teams to the sword so far this season. With many of the Saints jaded and bruised from hard victories against Calday GS on Saturday we had to juggle our team. All season we have got the boys used to different combinations – the main reason is to give people every opportunity to grow and learn , however its also useful when sickness and injury hit home!
The Cheshire Cup format jars with our “game for everyone” ethos, Chester in fairness worked with us in the weeks running up to the game to make sure we made as much of a match for everyone as we could. We thank them for their open minded approach, great hospitality and for hosting us on a sunny and clear day at Hare Lane – they play the game for the right reasons and we are always happy to have them on the pitch with and against us.
Big thanks to the parents for getting the boys to the ground at 10:15. We took them into the changing rooms and got our game heads on. We want to start doing this prior to all games after Xmas. In the prep we talked about working as a team, playing for the team, our mates and giving the very best as individuals. The lads talked about playing their game and having fun...perfect prep...
When we arrived the pitch was in good condition and Chester were running through their drills. We made one decision early. Win the toss and play uphill. Matty promptly did this. From a deep kick off, Saints showed the attacking verve that Anselms is know for, we ran the ball from everywhere. Against most teams this season we have moved up the pitch and then camped out in their red zone. Today Chester were the red zone, the kept us pinned back with great defensive shape. We didn’t adapt to this and prob should have kicked up field. With Sainst having most of the possession but in the wrong part of the pitch Chester scored a neat try on the right. You get the feeling they know how to play the slope on that pitch!
From another long kick Saints again tried to move the ball around, but not running from deep (stop passing the ball to people stood still) and with Chester hitting 1 on 1 tackles this saw us put ourselves under pressure. Chester turned pressure into points again. Now 12:0 down what would the lads do?
We had a chat under the posts about keeping possession and working on the rucking. The boys knew what they had to do. They came out like scalded cats, won most of the rucks/mauls and set pieces for about 10mins. So far this season with decent 50:50 ball we have scored tries at will, Chester however are as good without the ball as they are with it. A few passes went astray at important times, but the Chester line refused to be broken. Saints were unlucky with a couple of counter attacks but in fairness the first half was all about Red. 24:0
We made a few changes at half time and brought on a couple of people in the second half. Apologies to a couple of the lads who came down and didn’t get a game – Connal, Mike and Tom E (who filled in as super sub as a last minute request) – full game time for you next week.
We’d opted to play downhill in the second period. In honesty we knew it would help but linked to the boys never say die attitude it made for a brilliant second half.
From the kick off Saints were punching holes and making yards. In the 1st half they hadn’t really hit the gain line enough, this all changed. Our backrow (SamO, Alex, Rory, Pete – not all on the pitch at the same time!?) were first to the breakdown. Chesters technique was good on the gainline but not when they were having to track back 15-20m . Scholes started to feed more and more short/long balls that make space and time for our attackers. Sean shipped the ball wide, and the likes of George and Alex Y took the ball up. Adam who had defended hard in the first half was desperate to get back on the pitch! Mike K, St John and Tom O covered the yards well and kept Chester at bay.
Good pressure from Sainst saw a scrum 25m out. Sam S went blind and with a great clear out from Alex the Saints were in ideal attacking position. Recycling the ball fast, Scholes slipped a couple of tackles and carried the Chester back rower over the line for a great team score. The lads were delighted – they were beginning to believe.
We hit back straight from the kickoff. Moving the ball wide for Alex Y to get over the line. Porter was immense in the tight and loose. Capt Matty broke tackles for fun and Matt G was never far from the action. Floyd – best game hes ever played, no doubt...every week now fella... Gio did the hard and often unseen work clearing out rucks and keeping momentum in the mauls. Good shift fella. Tom S got a cameo at the end, thx for coming down fella.
Chester were stung into action. They kept their heads and stayed true to the total rugby they want to play. They hit back with the next 2 scores but the game was wide open. A brilliant bit of individual skills from Alex with his kick and collection and another team try saw us 28:12 up in the second half.
Red left winger was the difference as he showed a great mix of pace and lines of running. Im sure many a team have seen the back of him this season. Alex Y kept him under raps for most of the 2nd half but class always gets out of the bottle. He was our MotM – good game Stan. So we won the 2nd period 24:28.
In the post match huddle we revisited what wed wanted to do. Give our best, play for and with our mates, leave no one behind and play our game no matter what the opposition brought to the match – wed delivered and were so proud. Chester will go along way and could easily win the Cup this season – Saints playing like they did today will move into the Plate comp with a degree of quiet confidence in themselves. That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it. What we take away from today is an experience to apply to other games. 3 weeks ago we lost to Sandbach by not rucking they made the boys wake up to this skill – last week and this week we have rucked at least as well as our opponents, in phases better. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.

Chesters report is worth a read the summary is below

"On reflection this was an excellent game with Old Anselmians, a massively improved team from last season, bringing their A game to Chester and playing well. They out rucked us, ran with purpose and have some good players. Chester responded very well with our tackling very sharp in the first half and our attacking play very good at times. A very good game and a tribute to both teams." Cheers Noel, sums up the morning very well.

Many thanks to todays ref Twiggy (and Noel for finding him - rare as hens teeth are decent refs of Cheshire Cup Sundays!) who worked with both teams to ensure a balanced and appropriate way to control the game and contributed in a positive way on the few occasions he had to stop play. The support and encouragement by both sets of parents and supporters showed that rugby is still the best game for boys to learn mutual respect in the white heat of combat, its hard and at time uncompromising but most of all a game which is intended to see our children grow and develop into decent adults.

Anyhow I will sign off by quoting The Big Labowski - "Sometimes, you get the bear. Sometimes, the bear gets you."

Stockport next week at home – we will contact them this week to agree a 3x20min game format so everyone gets game time to gets us back onto our “game for everyone” ethos.
Tuesday night training is on 18.00hrs at Anselmians RUFC – everyone welcome, bring along your mates and school friends with a few more faces along we can start playing games against ourselves....