Fixture

The team travelled west to Llantwit Major today, seeking to build on last week’s victory. More availability headaches meant we again struggled to get a full 15 out with Lewis Bedford again stepping up from the U15s and Dan Pocock showing fantastic commitment to travel down from North Wales to step into the engine room at 2^nd row and take us to just 14 players.

The boys certainly looked battle hardened from 3 consecutive games and they soon got into their stride. From the first whistle, playing against the wind, Chepstow went on the attack. The forwards were particularly physical with Spencer Hanlon leading the way as Captain by putting in a number of big hits along with Dan Williams who continues to impress this season. Jake Summers, Dan Pocock and Joe Beard worked hard at the breakdown, counter rucking on several occasions to turnover possession, Lewis was the cornerstone of an effective scrum and Rhys produced good ball at the lineout.

The solid platform allowed Edwin and Joe Truckel to dictate play really effectively. Callum and Keegan made inroads in the centre and Jake made several surges. Llantwit Major got no respite with relieving kicks as Morgan scooped them up and took Chepstow straight back onto the attack. After 20 minutes the score was 17-0 with Callum bursting in for the opener, Morgan crossing the whitewash and Jake finishing a flowing move by maintaining the width of the attack and scoring a good poachers try in the corner. Each try had been hard earned against a physical and determined defence, ball retention was excellent.

With the breeze at their backs, the home side managed to get a foothold in the Chepstow half and apply some pressure of their own. The Chepstow defence held firm, turning over possession to neutralise a number of attacks. Clearing our line was more difficult against the wind, meaning no easy outlet. Eventually the defence, that held so firm in set piece and tight areas, was breached as the game broke up and the home team’s speedsters could cut free.

Half-time 17-12 but, importantly, the wind was now at our backs – no problem then? Not quite. Momentum had swung in the latter part of the 1^sthalf and so it continued into the 2^nd half. Keegan and Joe put some booming kicks downfield to release the pressure but our chase was not up to the mark. As the game broke up even further, so the Llantwit Major flyers had more and more of an impact. We also started to tire in some areas, leaving gaps in defence for the opposition to exploit. Deservedly, the home team scored to take the lead 19-17 – cue the coach’s sense of humour evaporating……

Going behind for the first time in the game, well into the 2^nd half was the jolt the team needed to re-set themselves. Joe started to kick to touch and we started to exert more territorial control. A number of our players stepped up to the mark to drive the team over the finishing line, most notably:

• Morgan at full back, then moved to outside centre and showing fantastic game awareness to shut down attacks and even calling a forwards move at one point
• Jake Summers hit everything that moved, his energy levels and work rate increased as others fell away
• Rhys Swain put some bone crunching hits in to disrupt further attacks and was also absolutely everywhere and was shattered at the end having emptied the tank completely

Morgan’s game awareness and skill saw him cleverly kick, chase, gather calmly and score to get us back infront. Jake Summers was in the right time, right place to pick-up, drive and score to put us 2 scores ahead. Somehow, there was still over 5 minutes to play and Llantwit Major weren’t done yet, as we tired so they upped their game. Scoring under the posts with 3 minutes to play was not the end we needed, from the restart back the home team came, determined to spoil our day. They breached the defence again with desperate tackling from Edwin, Callum and Keegan to save the day. A calm exit from Joe and a decent chase took us back to halfway and strong counter rucking forced a knock-on to signal the end of the game, phew………

Things to be pleased about:

• Very physical tackling
• Counter rucking and defensive maul created huge problems as we committed ourselves
• Several leaders stepping up to show us the way home

Things to work on:

• Work rate of a number of the boys fell away, there is no rest on a rugby field
• Defensive organisation was an issue again, without doubt linked to the tiredness
• First up tackles, each person needs to take responsibility to stop their opposite number

On we go ……