Outstanding win for ‘B’s whilst ‘A’s fail to score against top-class Cobham

Whilst these match reports are unlikely to be in existence 112 year from now; what can be guaranteed in this fine country of ours is the freedom of the press and for this writer to express his views without being imprisoned in the Siberian Gulags. I am pretty sure that not all will agree with the sentiment contained within this week’s musings; but Sunday will have given a number of our players a reminder that this is a squad game and that no-one has a right to a place in any team if their attitude and form is not as it should be. The outstanding progress of a number of players over the last year is putting pressure on selection; and the fixtures we are playing at the moment allow the coaches to experiment with line-ups and positions ahead of league matches. We last played Cobham in 2008 and the ‘A’ team narrowly lost by one try to nil on tour in Burnham – the only try conceded the whole weekend. Our ‘B’ team drew 0-0 with them in the final of the Newbury Festival a few weeks later. It is interesting to reflect on the progress made by both Clubs over the intervening two years, and note that we are staying true to our mission of having ‘all’ of our boys develop and play to the best of their ability at whatever level. With everything still very much to play for this season, we should be looking to the lads to continue to enjoy their rugby and, for some, to put last week’s set-back exactly where it belongs – another entry in life’s school of hard knocks.
First match:
Referees: First Half - Richard ‘Night Fever’ George – Redingensians
Second Half - Pete Kitto – Cobham
Line-up
15 George 10 Espley 4 Knobben
14 Duncan 9 Crocker 5 Bailey
13 Canham 1 McGillivray 6 Hood
12 Wilks 2 Strasburger 7 Rawsthorn
11 Marriott 3 Boyd 8 Boden
With the rain streaming down, Ensians kicked off and Cobham immediately set about the job in hand. A superb break by the pacy Cobham right wing was stopped by a solid covering tackle from George. The recycled ball was moved along their back-line at speed and with a try beckoning the ball was knocked-on. With Cobham having set out their stall, it looked like it was an Ensians rearguard action that was going to be required. George missed touch from a penalty awarded to Ensians which meant that the pressure was back on. A flowing move along their backs resulted in the first try of the game. A well struck conversion hit the post and failed to go over. The pattern of an Ensians restart followed by Cobham pressure looked like it might well be repeated. Another run down the left wing saw us miss a couple of tackles and a converted try saw the boys 0-12 down. The following period of play saw Ensians contain Cobham with the pack doing their job and our forwards getting to the breakdown earlier. This seemed to give the lads heart and some effective carrying of the ball by the increasingly stand out Boden put Cobham on the back foot for a while. An accidental knee to the back put the No.8 out of the match and he was replaced by Espley with Adams coming on in the back-line. Some excellent throwing at the line-out by McGillivray and good takes by Hood and Knobben saw progress from previous matches in this aspect of the game, but we repeatedly lost possession immediately afterwards having done all the hard work. Once such incident saw Duncan have to ground the ball behind his own line to prevent what seemed like a certain Cobham score. It was only a matter of time before Cobham would breach our defence again. A poorly executed kick saw pressure back on us and another missed tackle down our flanks saw the opposition ground again and score an excellent set of converted points to put them 0-19 in front. The final plays of the first half saw the pattern continue and another series of missed tackles lead to an unconverted try and Ensians being 0-24 down at halftime. With the spectator’s necks a bit stiff from having had to look repeatedly to the left in the first half, it looked like there would be plenty of opportunity to rectify that in the second. The opening exchanges saw some better tackling, particularly from Adams and Wilks, but they couldn't contain the attack and the lead was extended to 0-29. The conversion was well struck but the extra points didn't materialise. Barber came on for Marriott and immediately made his presence felt with a couple of trademark tackles. Cobham's back line continued to get good ball from their marauding forwards and another try was to materialise after their winger dealt with the missed covering tackle. With the conversion putting them 0-36 ahead, Palmer came on for Bailey; but even the freshening up of the pack couldn't deal with the pace and effective movement of the opposition and the inevitable score. The missed conversion attempt kept the lead at 0-41. Some beautiful support play from Cobham was giving us a real lesson in terms of how to build and maintain momentum. Their use of the hand-off was also very effective and by no-one better than their pacy winger who rounded our wingers yet again to score. With the extra points secured it was now 0-48 and a rout. With a few minutes remaining, George floated a nice kick into the danger zone and Crocker gamely tackled the defender only to be pulled up due to the kicker playing him offside. Some dissent from our players cost us ten yards. Having regained possession, a lovely move found Stratsburger in space and an excellent floated pass to Duncan saw the winger unable to hand-off due to the ball being carried in the wrong hand and the move break down. McGillivray was unlucky moments later to not break through and score on the blind-side, but stout defending kept Cobham’s defence intact. A final move from Cobham saw our defence lose another try on the flanks. The missed final conversion brought the game to and end.
Final score: Redingensians 0 v Cobham 53

Second match:
Referee: First Half - Giles Perry – Redingensians
Second Half - Simon Ashwell – Cobham
Line-up
15 Catlin 10 Russell 4 Large
14 Spong 9 Clark 5 Palmer
13 Coles 1 House 6 Godward
12 Ross (Maiden Erlegh) 2 Perry 7 Stewart
11 Burnhope 3 Temple 8 Hutterli
The ‘B’ team took to the pitch and made a very positive start to the match. With the forwards gaining valuable possession, Spong set off on an excellent run well backed-up by good support play from Barber. The early jousts were going Ensians way and they were certainly taking the game to Cobham. Some excellent tackling by Spong and Coles in defence ensured that the visitors were not going to be afforded the same respect as in the earlier match. Mowlem on the left wing was playing with both his head and his heart. An incisive run, following a glorious pick-up, was unlucky not to go all the way. With play raging from side to side, Barber collected the ball from Coles and burst through the Cobham defence to open the scoring and settle the team. A clean conversion from Russell put Ensians 7-0 to the good. With the bit between the teeth, the forwards were continuing to secure good ball. Temple made a good impact when he came on bolstering the pack in the scrum and with Perry providing some real grit to the front row; the backs were getting more than their fair share of the ball. Stewart and Coles were proving a real handful for Cobham’s defence with fine running and handling by both. Clark was having a particularly effective game with his kicking both accurate and long. It is good to see this stalwart playing with confidence as his abilities certainly merit it. A beautiful move saw new player Ross (from Maiden Erlegh) breach the defence and secure the second try of the match. George was unlucky not to secure the extra points. With the tails up, the forwards yet again presented secure ball for the backs and Coles ran home his try to take the score to 17-0 at half-time – Clark missing the drop-kick conversion. Godward was a welcome addition at half-time and it was great to see this stalwart of Ensians make his first start of the season. With Cobham making some tactical substitutions, it was clear that some of their more experienced players were going to take the game to Ensians. A quick score and missed conversion by the opposition brought the score back to 17-5. Cobham were trying to take the game down the flanks as they had to good effect in the first game. Time and time again, outstanding defence from the back three of Barber, Burnhope and Catlin (who is looking more and more assured at Full-back) kept Cobham at bay. Burnhope particularly gave probably his best display in an Ensians shirt and made a telling contribution to his team in difficult conditions. With Cobham applying more and more pressure on the defence, it continued to be a test of resolve for the boys. Coles made a couple of excellent tackles near his try line, but it was only a matter of time before an additional score would come. Sure enough Cobham breached the defence for the final time and the conversion came off the post for the extra points. The final whistle finally came from the Cobham ref to bring the fixture to a close and secure a fine win for the ‘B’ team.
Cumulative score (session 2): Redingensians 17 v Cobham RFC 12
Reflections:
After the highs of last week’s preparation and performances against Beaconsfield, Sunday was a reality check for the ‘A’ team and another checkmark on the path of progress for the ‘B’s.
Starting with the ‘A’s, there would appear to be a few players in that team who believe they are better than they actually are, and need to waken up to the fact that rugby is a team sport rather than an individual one. Whilst Cobham are clearly a great side and a class apart from us at the moment; there are simply too many established ‘A’-team players on Sunday who lacked real commitment and chose to hide when the going got tough. This may sound a bit harsh and probably is bearing in mind that at the end of the day this is junior rugby. Many of our boys are now teenagers and they are learning, that in life, reward and success comes from effort and attitude. Rugby is a great way for them to apply this in a conditioned environment. The home truths and lessons from what happened on Sunday will need to be applied both at training and in matches for our players are to bounce back and become the players and fine young men they are more than capable of becoming.
For the ‘B’ team, taking a scalp as big as Cobham’s was an outstanding achievement; and all the more notable for the fact that it was a large number of their ‘A’ team players who left the field at the end. There were some outstanding performance in our ‘B’ team on Sunday and whilst Ryan Spong was deservedly selected by the opposition as their Player of the Day; I suspect that the likes of Daniel Barber, Ben House, Aaron Stewart, Barnaby Coles and Samuel Burnhope ran him close. It is tremendous to see the squad develop the way they are and I would anticipate that further ‘B’ team players will get their reward for the progress they are making and attitude they are showing; as Jason McGillivray and Aaron Bailey have been.
A lot of lessons can be taken from Sunday and it will be interesting to see how the boys respond over the coming weeks. My sense is that we need to see real leadership emerge on the pitch, both individually and collectively. The ingredients that many organisations look for when identifying future leaders are: ability, attitude and ambition. There was a great example of that in the second match, when during a break in play, Ben House, called his team-mates into a huddle and gave instruction and inspiration to his fellow players whilst they were under relentless pressure. This small act made a huge difference to the outcome of their game and made a huge impression on the writer. We need to see more of this leadership throughout the entire squad and I look forward to observing the responses – from the Gulags of Siberia or at the Old Bath Road. Feedback welcomed as always!
Graeme Cook