Fixture

A very late notice cancellation saw Cinderford show great flexibility to step in and visit us with only a few hours’ notice. The visiting team’s reputation goes before them and so as the players arrived and heard who they were now playing there were several pauses and nervous gulps! This was going to be a real test, against a team at the top of their game and a match for anyone. The senior players found their voices and helped to pull the team together in the changing room and throughout the warm-up, the boys were very focused and ready to give their all.

From the kick-off Chepstow charged up and made several good hits. Cinderford’s class was there to see  as they went through the phases. The hungry Chepstow defence made them fight for every inch of territory but, bit by bit, the visitors made ground. It was impressive stuff and almost looked like an American Football drive upfield. Eventually the defensive line was broken and the first try was scored and converted. From the restart it was a similar story, the battle looked well set and even but given half a metre of space their wings were lightening and a 2^nd try was soon scored. We were less than 10 minutes in but had probably made 20 tackles and defended 20 phases already. However, under the posts the boys’ attitudes was great with Will, Angus and Harry leading the way.

For the rest of the half Chepstow pressed hard, within 5 minutes we had battered our way through the heart of their defence for Harry Taylor to score and Keegan convert to make it 7-14. More Chepstow pressure followed, testing the excellent Cinderford defence. The level of rugby was excellent, lots of quick ball and high intensity collisions. Between them, Jake Summers, Fred Conridge and Callum Arnott rotated in the 2^nd row berths and there must have been at least one of them in every single breakdown during the game! Dan Williams, Rhys Swain and Jayden Davies were also working hard and even got some ball in hand time, whilst Angus, Will, Harry & Spencer took the abrasive side of the battle to the opposition. With Morgan & Lloyd Voaden eventually finding us they were soon introduced and had a great impact on the game, instantly stepping up to the physicality required.

Cinderford would have been happy to hear the half-time whistle go as another Chepstow score seemed imminent. At 7-14 down the boys realised they had the physicality and skill to match their opposition, they just needed to keep the intensity up for the rest of the game.

There was more of the same in the 2^nd half, great commitment and skill levels from both teams in slippery and windy conditions. The Chepstow backs were also on song with Ieuan stepping at scrum-half and proving very busy and effective at bringing our runners into the game, Thomas took everything on the move and held the Cinderford backrow honest with a number of his trademark ‘show and go’ dummies and Morgan and Keegan worked well at centre against big, physical opposition. Our wings: Joe, Harry & Jake and fullbacks Tom & James had the most difficult task of the day as they had to try to control some of the quickest players I have ever seen at U15 level and they did fantastically well.

Cinderford could find no soft spot in the Chepstow defence and so resorted to long raking kicks for their lightening wings to chase. In windy conditions this was effective and acted as their escape route on a number of occasions. There were a number of passages where their wings were set free but our boys weren’t about to let them walk through, Joe collared his man several times or did enough to put him off his stride as the cover came to the rescue, likewise Harry and Jake who worked hard to cut the ball off before it got to the dangermen. On the odd occasions where they broke through, our last line of defence, Tom Wacey, was excellent. He held his shape and made the attackers hesitate and somehow kept bringing them down, making 3 try saving tackles with the wings in full flight!

In broken play the Cinderford runners finally got the better of us and scored 3 tries to put some distance on the scoreboard if not on balance of play and possession. With 10 minutes left our fitness showed and we got a foothold in their half, Harry Taylor scored his 2^nd try which probably goes down as team try of the year as the forwards barged through the middle and runners off 9 & 10 stretched the defence before Harry was deftly put into space by Thomas. From the restart the boys pressed again and another try looked likely but Cinderford somehow clung on. At the final whistle the Cinderford players and coaches were extremely complimentary and couldn’t believe how strong we had become, they had been in a battle and both sides had earned each other’s respect.

Final score Chepstow 12 – 35 Cinderford

Things to be pleased about:

• Commitment
• Growing leadership from a number of the boys
• Never giving up

Things to work on:

• A few basic mistakes at the lineout cost valuable field position in the 1^st half on at least 3 occasions
• Defensive line drift getting cut a little too easy, the cover tackling was great but we shouldn’t need it

On we go………..