First XV regain some confidence
Along with a good travelling crowd, we made the journey over to Water Orton for our first league game (Midlands 2 West / North) against Old Salts, the team that came second in this league last season and also the team that turned us over in the North Mids Shield very recently.
The weather and the pitch were ideal for playing running rugby and a very good game took place.
Our set piece scrummage was impressive with the front row making life awkward for the Salts which was quite a surprise as at a rough guess we conceded two stones per player. We also edged the line outs
One time second row,and more recently a rugby analyst, John Lonie, who in his own words pointed out that we were able to perform with five back row forwards due to the power shown by the front row. This resulted in a far better display of tackling than we have seen for a long time.
Although we lost the game 9 - 5 we did score the only try of the game and to be truthful we should have scored more but for suspect handling by our backs. Jake at stand off had a good performance all round except for two attempts at goal, a penalty and a drop goal from right in front of the posts. As a number 10 myself in the olden days (ask Lonie), no matter how well you might play, if you miss the target with your kicking and it costs your team the game, you become a sort of social leper for the rest of the week, such is life.
The Salts played well but the game was there for us to win. The fitness of our team was much better than we used to see. A big well done to our coaches and fitness specialist.
This coming Saturday sees us on the road again against a Wolverhampton side which won at Camp Hill last Saturday. It would be good for morale if we could put in a strong performance.