Reading Festival

The scorching heat of Windsor seemed a whole season away as the players gathered on a cold, damp, misty morning at Reading Rugby club. However, having had the first taster of contact rugby the teams were keen to be playing again so soon, especially with the chance to lock horns with some local rivals for the first time without tags.

We thought the Reading idea of starting the games with a fog horn a good one. Even if we couldn’t see the ball at least we would know the game had started.

Luckily by our first games it had warmed up and the fog had lifted.

The Titans.

With a near same line up as the Windsor festival two weeks ago and with one more training session under their belt, the Titans were ready to put in their first team performance. First up was Bracknell. The team started well but once again team tactics broke down after a few minutes which allowed Bracknell the space to get the ball out to the wings to score. 3-0 to Bracknell.

After a few words and pointing out how the game had broken down it was time for the second game against Wallingford. We had lost to a very well drilled Wallingford last year at the Abbey Festival. This time the team held their positions and worked well at clearing rucks and holding up the mauls. They were now all working as a team. Final score 2-2

Our third game of the day was against a very strong Henley team. Once again the team work came into play with the wingers and centres staying out of the rucks and mauls. It was more of a defensive game for the Titans although we did make a few brakes and we were unlucky to lose 1-0

The final game for the Titans was against Maidenhead who we had lost to two weeks ago at Windsor. The Titans were now playing well and were on the offensive, keeping Maidenhead in their half for most of the game, the strong Maidenhead defence had to work hard to keep the Titans at bay, but finally their broke the defence to score. We were lucky not to add more to the score sheet. Final score 1-0 Titans first win.

It was great to see the Titans working as a team, it’s been a bit fraught over the last few weeks trying to work out the best positions for the Titans squad but they’re now starting to fit into place. We will build on this over the coming weeks at training and start to work on a few more game plans. The forwards worked so hard and with a bit more work we’ll be able to bring the backs more into play. All of the team played well but for me Ryan Adams has come on leaps and bounds. He worked so hard in clearing the rucks, and was a constant threat to the opposition by tackling anything that came his way. Also well done to Josh Oughton and Josh Lewis, new members to the squad this season. Overall we came 6th out of 8, but would say we were in the hardest pool. I’m really looking forward over the coming weeks to working with the Titans and am happy for them to take on all comers.

The Rams.

The day started with a game against Wallingford - our previous encounter had been a disappointing loss to a physical U8 side at Abbey last year. The team picked up on where they had left off at Windsor showing some strong defensive skills and an eagerness to turn the ball over in the rucks and mauls. This was a hard fought game with few attacking chances - however the Rams were able to take advantage when one chance appeared - allowing them to open with a 1-0 win.

Next up Bracknell, for what I am sure will be the first of several fixtures this season. The team played fantastically well and dominated the match with their now typical hard tackling and strong rucking / mauling. They opened up an early lead, and held the majority of the territory and possession, until late in when a Bracknell breakaway saw them equalize with a try in the corner, despite brave last ditch tackling.

In the next match against Farnborough the team seemed to have put the disappointment of the Bracknell match behind them as they continued to dominate and opened up an 2-0 lead. However, the last minutes of the match saw Farnborough score 2 tries against the run of play - the 2nd with the last play of the game.

Putting this behind them, the Rams went on to face a strong Henley side - in this game the sides were evenly matched - and much of the game saw a good display of tackling, rucking and mauling from both sides, unfortunately Henley had one elusive runner who managed to breakaway for the only 2 tries of the match. This was a good performance by the Rams who were by no means outplayed by Henley - the eventual winners.

Last game of the day was against Reading. Most of the game saw the Rams camped near the Reading try line before Luke Orpwood managed to wrestle the ball out a maul and twist over the line for a first try for the club. After much confusion about the timings of the sirens, the game ended early with the Rams winning 1-0.

2 wins, 2 draws (just) and 1 loss - left us joint with Bracknell on 8 points - this time the try count counted in our favour - leaving us as Runners-up. This was a great achievement in a hard fought tournament. What makes this achievement all the more satisfying is that 5 of the Rams squad only started playing with us this season (Brandon Gee only started last week!) - But they all looked at home in the games and played brilliantly.

At Windsor and Reading the team have shown that they have quickly taken to the contact side of rugby - they are showing no fear in tackling, and great technique and commitment in the more technical areas of rucking and mauling. This provides a solid platform for the foundations of rugby, over the coming weeks we will be working on opening the game up by concentrating on passing and moving the ball away from the contact to space where the quickies can run. We know from our Tag days we have a very quick team that runs and supports well - by combining this with the new skills - we will develop into a very strong squad.

David & Neil