Fixture

After a disappointing result last week, the boys were keen to get back to winning ways against a well organised Abercynon team.

The boys were asked to show greater urgency at the contact and breakdown areas. This would allow our half backs more time to execute attacking and exit strategies. After a brief but good warm up, the captain for the day, Lloyd led the team in the final huddle before the game started.

Abercynon kicked off and Chepstow gained control of possession and went several phases without threatening to make serious line breaks. This was because we perhaps over committed to the ruck and left Ben isolated at outside half without ball carriers as an option. This allowed the organised defence to close down space and make their tackles.

Abercynon threatened our defence through some very well executed kicks from their halfbacks. They placed the ball behind our aggressive line speed and exposed our back three. We needed to adjust our defensive line to deal with this. Our blindside wing would go in field to allow Josh to take a more central field position and our open side wing needed to drop about 15 to 20 metres to cover the backfield.

After 10mins we were able to commit sufficient numbers to the breakdown whilst allowing ball carriers to position themselves in the backline. With the ball being well distributed at halfback we were able to make several line breaks and gain territory. After several phases of direct attack, the ball was well distributed to allow Sam space in the outside channel. His pace allowed him to beat the cover defence and score wide out. Josh kicked an excellent conversion to make the score 7-0.

Our next possession direct from the kick off resulted in the try of the game. It was finished by Taylor who was involved in the play on several occasions and ran an excellent support line to collect the try scoring pass to go over near the posts. The try highlighted our use of direct ball carriers running into space but also contained many excellent offloads to continue the move instead of going to ground and allowing the opposition an opportunity to compete at the breakdown. A great team try involving backs and forwards all offering themselves in support.

Abercynon started to gain possession and threatened our line for a period of time. A lack of discipline allowed Abercynon to have several penalties close to our line. On occasions they kicked into the corner. Our defensive system of not competing for the ball but bringing the ball carrier to ground early worked very well and the opposition could not get their driving maul going. Silly offsides and hands in the ruck gave away more penalties that Abercynon chose to run. Excellent first up tackling kept the attack out and we forced a handling error that gave us a scrum on the 22m line.

From a very secure scrum the ball arrived at Nathans feet. ‘Rasberry’ ball was called which would bring Josh into the line to attack the opposition blind side. Nathan picked up and looked to feed Will who was running an excellent supporting line. The opposition had to defend the supporting runs of Will and Josh. Nathan intelligently held on to the ball and through a deft dummy which the defenders bought. He burst through the first line of defence and only had the full back to beat. He stepped and went around the fullback but still had the cover defence to deal with. Nathan showed great pace and strength to finish an excellent individual try.

A further try was added by Owen through a combination of hard running lines and good distribution to get the ball out wide.

The half time score was 26-0. At half time the boys were complemented for their play. The set piece remained strong. The scrum was dominant and our lineout secured our own ball and threatened the opposition ball.

We talked about being more aggressive in defence. While the tacking remained strong with all players being committed to contact, the coaches felt we were a little passive pre-engagement. This meant that we needed to number up with more speed, be vocally dominant and come off the line quicker to be able to dominate the contact area. This needed to be led by the players who formed the guard positions at the edge of the rucks.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first half. We created some excellent flowing rugby but were unable to find the final pass to break the opposition down. Players started to look to receive the ball rather than support the ball carrier and contest the breakdown. This meant that Abercynon’s competitive forwards gained several turnovers or we conceded penalties for holding on.

With accurate kicking, Abercynon gained a strong foothold in our half and after several phases of play close to the line, managed to cross our line for a well-deserved try.

This was met with an immediate response from the team and we managed to score 3 more tries in the game. Sam was released in space and he worked hard to beat several defenders to score. With the forwards now running hard lines and breaking the gain line, we worked our way towards the try line. Good interplay and offloads before contact, enabled Briden to get his hands on the ball within sight of the try line. Acceleration off the mark and a low centre of gravity enabled him to break through tackles and score a couple of good tries.

Abercynon’s kicking game was again rewarded with the final try of the game. A kick that Chepstow moved to cover well bounced the only way a rugby ball can and Abercynon were first to dive on the ball making the final score 45-12.

The team were pleased with the win and have targeted a successful second half of the season. This means full attendance at training to prepare for our next match at home to Clifton RFC.

Things to be pleased about.

Very secure set piece. Both scrum and lineout worked effectively.

Some great interplay between forwards and backs. All players looking to offer support to both sides of the ball carrier. Players looking to offload before contact to maintain the pace of the attack instead of going to ground. This is high risk, high reward rugby but is very difficult to defend and some of the tries that we scored today were a pleasure to watch.

The back 3 working together to deal with an effective kicking game from the opposition. All players would have learned a great deal from today.

Things to work on.

Commitment to support the ball carrier to enable us to win the breakdown. A couple of times today we allowed the ball carrier to become isolated and conceded turnovers as a result.

Lateral lines of running when in attack.

We have to learn to run different angles to offer the ball carrier an option and also commit the defenders to holding their space. Too many times today we drifted across the pitch and one defender was able to cover 4 or 5 attackers because no one straightened the line to create width outside.

Depth in attack and accuracy of passing.

Despite spending a lot of time in training on this, our support running was too flat. Attacking options are limited and defence of this type of attack very straightforward. This meant that passes were received on the shoulder and this limits the ability of the ball carrier to offload quickly. With greater depth in todays game, I believe we could have scored more tries.