I will start the analysis by saying well done to you all guys. We started the league well with a very promising win away to Oakham 32-7. We could not start any better in terms of result.
As I said at the end of the game, this game is full of promises for the rest of the season. We were organised in attack, strong in defence, our scrum was dominant and our lineouts were very good as well. Lots of positive to take from that game and that shows you that when we play at our pace and control the game, we score tries and put the opposition on the back foot.
The warm up did not go as plan at all. I asked you to be on the pitch ready to start at 2.00pm but you were 10+ minutes late. I know it’s not ideal to be on the pitch early and especially with the weather conditions we had but, it is to give us a chance to go through a few things that we don’t have time to practise at training. Last year, we were doing long game warm up but this season, I reduced it to 25 minutes. 30 minutes of low intensity drills and 25 minutes to actual warm up isn’t too much I think, but please speak up if you think the contrary. As we progress into the season, we will be more organised and won’t need as much time but right now, we need those extra 30 minutes so please make everything you can to be there on time.
Rucks.
Offensively, we made a massive progress from one week to another. When forming the pods, the leader was paying more attention at his inside and outside support and was taking the ball at pace. We are still setting the pod a bit too close to the rucks though. It is important to target the 3rd/4th man to stop making it easy for the defence and also to give more space/chance to your supports to take the gaps. We are still a bit too soft when going into contact as well but it is down to you individually to make it right. The more intensity you put on your contact, the more chance you give yourself to beat you direct opponent and the less chance you give him to smash you as well.
We also had too many 1 ball played with players going on their own. Always make sure you have a support with you guys. We did lose 2-3 balls due to that.
Our support players were not quick enough to come and were too soft to take them away. When you go to clear a ruck, think that you want to make your opponent wishing he didn’t join the ruck.
Defensively, we were organised but still too quiet and not meeting them quickly enough. They had 2-3 good runners that were going forward because we were giving them the time to come at pace. As soon as the ball is out, go away from the advantage line as quick as possible.
Something that was really good is that we did leave any defenders against 0 attackers. We had a bad habit to leave 3-4 players on the side of the ruck when they were nobody in front of them, creating space outside. It was nice to see that this was rectified.
We still contest too many rucks. Don’t get me wrong, you can contest rucks but do it only if you make an offensive tackle otherwise we get 2-3 involved in the rucks where we could have them defending around or outside. Be patient. If you focus on reorganising the defensive line and making your tackles, then they will lose/give us the ball after a few phases.
On an overall, it was really good, especially in the 1st half. We were doing 3-4 phases which created many space for the backs to finish off the great work.
Defence.
Our defence was ok. We did the job but we will have to be better in the future. We let them score an easy try due to missed tackles and we missed a few other easy ones during the game. We did not meet them enough, we are still going too much for the top and we are not aggressive enough. A few times, we had the opportunity to put a big tackle but we go for the gentle option. If you have an opportunity to put on a massive hit, do it. It is very satisfying and it puts the doubt in the opponent’s head. If he comes into contact and gets smashed, the next ball he will have, he will pass it.
Occupation/kicking.
In the 1st half, the kicking was well used to keep them in their own half. In the 2nd half, some of the kicks were not efficient enough. The kicker wanted to play more into the corners but failed to do so a few times. We tried to put the ball more behind their defensive line, trying to put our wingers in good position to score. They changed their backs line at half time, which was a bit tougher to go through.
And what about that missed conversion in front of the posts??? Shocking!!!
Lineouts/scrums.
Our lineout was well drilled. We improved a lot and it gives us the possibility to have good balls to play. Let’s keep up the good work. Wednesday 21st of September, we will have a lineouts session to work on the defensive part of it as well as we are not efficient enough on this. We could annoy a lot more our opposition if we were more drilled so let’s make it possible by having a good attendance at training.
Our scrum was dominant all game long. Top work forwards. (Apart from 1 or 2 due to a problem of timing in the 1st half) We have a scrum session with our scrum coach Martin this coming Wednesday. Get involved. Even if you are injured but available, come down and help your mates by giving feedbacks, listen to Martin’s tips etc…
Handling.
We tried a lot of offloads where we should have kept the ball and do another phase. It is a good sign as it shows that we want to keep the ball living and going from hands to hands but we have to adapt to the weather conditions and also depending on whether we play inside their defence or not.
We have to make sure that we break their line first before keeping the ball alive.
On an overall, the handling part was good. A few times, the back 3 showed some great handling between them and managed to pass the ball fast.
Communication.
We are not loud enough. Whether it is in attack or in defence, we have to be louder and communicate more. When we are organising our 2 ball, the inside and outside support have to shout for the ball. They may not get it but at least, it will attract the defenders’ attention.
It is the same defensively wise. If we shout the LG, RG, BG and keep the “ready ready UP”, it is 50% of the job done. Show that we are organised and ready for it.
There is also one thing that annoys me a lot and that I hope will stop right now, how we talk to each other on the pitch. For the past 3 weeks, I heard people shouting at each other on the pitch and I even heard a “you bunch of cunts” this Saturday and that was not directed to our opposition. We all play for the same shirt guys so let’s stop this right now and show more positivity. If someone does a mistake, guide him and give him a positive feedback rather than shouting at him. We all make mistakes.
Well done again for the win guys but remember that we haven’t won anything. It was only our 1st game so let’s remain focused and sure of our potential but do not under estimate any teams.
We have a massive game against Leicester Forest 2s this coming Saturday and we need all of you.
Come down to training so we can keep up the good work that we are doing right now and let’s keep progress.
HZB !