Under 14 rugby report – July 25

U/14 SPC v Melbourne Grammar

The performance of the Under 14 boys was exceptional today, I will comment on our offensive effort a little further on in the report but the defensive side of our game really deserves to lead.

There was some really determined and dogged players at the breakdown today, who used their brains as well as their brawn.- Mitch Hammond, Jake Dalton and Tarquin Schreenan were very good in securing breakdowns as well as putting pressure on MGS phases which lead to hurried play from the home team which lead to mistakes.- The other forwards also contributed to this defensive by supporting our three big boys and not leaving all of the grunt work up to them.

Hugh Macdonald was fantastic in the lineout role and Riley Williams also deserves a mention for his communication and gritty efforts in close.- These acts don’t make highlight reels but they win games of rugby.

In the Backs Ambrose was almost psychotic in his determination to strip the ball and had MGS ball carriers worried with his covering tackle and ability to get his feet and get the ball back.- Our halves pairing of Antrobus and in particular Craig -“ Peters were fantastic in making tackles and pilfering the ball back, CCP must have done this 5 or 6 times on his own.- This makes me so proud as a coach because it highlights not only how much our skills have improved but how much we have learnt, you can’t win games of rugby without the ball!- “Offense sells tickets; Defence wins championships” – (Paul Bryant)

Having lost to St Pats once already this year MGS came out breathing fire and were really aggressive, St Pats kept their cool and were withstanding the home team’s effort with poise, skill and teamwork, the first try took about 7 minutes but Sean Antrobus got on the end of a ball that was turned over by the forwards and took advantage of the MGS not transitioning to a defensive structure, his speed and agility allowed him to canter home and dot down beside the posts.

Antrobus was at it again a short time later, this time after some good SPC phase play gave the number 10 space out wide and he was able to dance around the defence and score underneath the posts.- Cooper Craig -“ Peters was next to score and it was his fine tackle and pilfer that led to SPC getting the ball back, he managed to get the ball back in his hands a few possessions later and went on a fine solo run to score a really classy try.

After really strong play from MGS they ended up behind the St Pats 5m line and looked certain to grab a try on the half time whistle, however the desperation in the SPC defence was outstanding and it was enough to cause some hesitation in the attack, Sean Antrobus stripped the ball and then ran the length of the field to score again beneath the posts.

Half time SPC 26 -“ MGS 0

The halftime message was to be proud of that half of rugby and to then forget about it.- Be proud of the 26 points we’d scored but be prouder of the 0 beside their name.- Pat each other on the back and move on.

Our next try came from a guy who doesn’t get on the scoresheet a lot and you could really tell the whole team was happy for him.- Max Warren is a really improved player this year, he is much more mature and focussed and his rugby has flourished as a result.- Henry Squires called a -pod- move and Max stuck his hand up to take it, he ran hard at the defence and burst through and drove toward the line from about 20 metres out to score his first ever try.- MGS managed to string together some nice back line moves and then push over for a really nice try shortly after.

The final score was a ripper, St Pats worked the ball forward with smart, disciplined play to move within 5 metres of the line, Henry Squire took the ball from half back and spotted a gap close to the breakdown on the blind side, he squirted through the gap and did his best superman impersonation to score the try just before being tackled into touch.

Full Time SPC 36 def MGS 5