Stillorgan 14 - Clontarf 40
J4 Friendly - Feb 10, 2007
Before the match kicked off there were some questions for the pack. First, who will play hooker? Second, to contest the scrums or not?
Issel stepped up to the plate and volunteered to throw into the lineout. The second question was negated when Clontarf opted out of contested scrums.
The day itself was perfect for rugby, no wind to speak of, bright sunshine and ( for the first game in a while) a fairly firm pitch.
Stillorgan started well, putting in an early try after Liam Fahy dodged two tackles on the Clontarf 22 and found space to cross the line. He then added the conversion.
From here it was all downhill. Clontarf capitalised on a lack of concentration to bring the score level again within minutes. A second try from Clontarf was to follow after some disastrous defending. Simple errors and a lack of communication were to blame. Too many watching the ruck and not enough looking around to see what else was going on along the line meant that they had a 6 to 2 overlap which was spotted by the scrum half. A skip pass and a side step later, the center went over between the posts. Another couple of converted trys later and the score was 28 - 7 in favour of the visitors. The pack worked hard around the pitch, but the simple fact of the matter is, with no experienced hooker to throw in, and a gobby (but capable) Kiwi jumping at two for Clontarf gave them a sound base to build pressure. For the entire game we won three or four lineouts.
The second half was started with some changes made. Ronan went out to the back line having marshalled the pack in a fine manner in the first half, Ross stepped into the 9 slot. The game carried on in much the same fashion as the first half, Stillorgan unable to build a foundation to attack as we couldn't win lineouts and Clontarf being well organised getting the ball out to the backline. Stillorgan's defence was better in the second half, rucking was much improved and we even got some turnover ball. Clontarf put over a couple of trys, although in the second half they had to work harder for them. Stillorgan worked hard to get up the field and some good pressure paid off when there was a penalty awarded. A quick tap from Ross, the ball went to Dave Keegan who took the ball to within inches of the line. An efficient clean out by Mick meant that Ross had plenty of space to pick up the ball and get the ball over. No doubt we'll never hear the end of it, and certainly his celebration would make players and spectators alike wonder who was actually winning the game! This sparked the Brotherhood for a last gasp attempt to get some pride back and we did a great job of getting back up the pitch, only to be denied from some good defending by Clontarf. They worked their way back down the pitch and then kicked behind our line, chased by the kicker and some defenders. The ball appeared to beat everyone over the dead ball line only for the ref to award what was to be the last try of the match.
There are lots of lessons to be learned from the game. First off... Rucking. More agression please! Too often backs stayed out despite the fact the pack was otherwise engaged, and in general those who did ruck didn't really clean out the opposition. No point leading with hands or arms. We need to get our shoulders into our opponents ribs, get them to think twice about being there.
Second. Defence. We commited too many to the ruck and left gaping holes outside. Once the ruck is called, we're unlikely to get the ball, so it is better just to leave a couple of bodies there and get everyone back along the defensive line. Only two people should be concerned with what happens at the ruck, namely the pillar and post. It seemed yesterday that everyone was looking at the ruck and we were caught with that several times.
Lastly, Scrummaging. Lads, we need to be able to contest scrums for the Cup matches. Sooner or later we have to play a game where we get a shove on. Otherwise we'll be dead in the water come cup time. Hopefully on Thursday we will have two full packs at training and we can practice against the J3s. Otherwise, we need to get to work on the machine.
Well done to Issel for keeping his head up despite the thankless task of throwing into the lineout. It's never easy to try new stuff, but to do so in a game is especially tough. Luckily he didn't let it affect the rest of his game, which has improved immensely since he first donned a Stillorgan shirt.
Dave Keegan also had a great game and it was great to see him taking the ball on and taking on the Clontarf defence.
Other notable performances were from Keavan who's blistering pace and fearless ball carrying are a sight to behold. Once he develops a side-step he'll be really unstoppable. Ronan is still learning to play scrum half, but he's getting there and had a good first half before moving out to the backline, where he also had a good game (and a good right boot too).
Thanks to Clontarf for coming out to play the friendly and special thanks to Fergus Cahill for turning out to referee the game. Well done!
Match report by Garrett Fanning