Stillorgan 5 - Wanderers 16
J3 League - Jan 21, 2007
On a pitch that resembled more a Paddy field then a rugby pitch, we got stuck in the Mud yesterday against a very good Wanderers side. Wanderers lined up with some insider knowledge in the form of Byran Hartnett (prop from last year) lining out for the Chaps. We played with the wind in the first half trying to play it down in their half for most of the game. It was not a day for the backs and Wanderers played a very smart game into the wind. They kept the ball tight and secured it very well, they had a very good number 8 and hooker in the loose. They scuppered a few of our lineouts so we were struggling to get our hands on the ball in the first half. I believe they had 30 rucks in the first half and we only got 3 of them.
We did have our chances and unfortunately we missed a few kicks at goal. We had a few lineouts close to their line and nearly mauled them over the line but they managed to hold us out. During one of the few times they got near our line they scored up in the corner after good work between forwards and backs. They missed the conversion to leave the score 5-0.
Second Half we were playing against a Strong wind and we brought on some Fresh legs. Have to praise the forwards here as they were immense in the Second half this was the best half of the year from the Pack. Wanderers put us under pressure which led to a penalty which they converted to go 8-0 up. This led to a brillant 10 minutes of controlled rugby from the Forwards taking it a total of 50ms with Bull, Polish Gregory (hooker), Shane and Johnny being very prominent and keeping the ball. Eventually the ball got knocked on close to their line which gave Wanderers a scrum 5ms from their own line. Great pressure on the scrum half by Marcin and the backrow blocked his clearance kick and from the resultant Mellee we scored - not sure who got the final touchdown. Mark narrowly missed the conversion to leave the score 8-5.
After that we could not really get out of our Half despite some excellent work from the pack, they got another penalty to bring the score to 11-5. Mark went off soon after this leaving the backs in a bit of disarray with players all out of position. With a few mins to go we called a Red 1 ball came back to garrett who ran into the waiting pack but got the ball ripped off him they got the ball wide to score in the corner. Leaving the final score 16-5 unfortunately no bonus point.
Overall- we gave it all, pack were excellent, we just got beaten by a better team on the day everyone should be proud of the effort they put in.
Positives- Discipline was an awful lot better this week, we gave very few penalties which is a great credit to the team. Rucking and intensity were also up a few notches on last week.
Areas for work on: Lineouts with constant changes in the hooking position we need all our players down training during the week so they can familarise themselves with the calls. Backs- we are down to the bare bones in the backline with new players having to slot in each week in positions they are not used to. It means our combinations are not settled which can unbalance us in Defence and attack. Can everyone try and make themselves available for the last few matches.
Match report by Garrett Fanning