After a disappointing defeat in our previous Quins Cup match, we had a chance to put things right against another strong team, welcoming Grasshoppers from Isleworth in West London.
Another good warm up meant we were at it from the off with a much stronger performance than the previous week. Grasshoppers were a really useful outfit with some really big lads but we went toe to toe and it was nip and tuck for much of the first half. The difference was really that they had a really slick set of backs and from a well rehearsed move, their excellent full back went in untouched under the posts. We had our chances but from another attack, the left winger ran across the pitch pretty much unopposed before setting up his twin brother for a second try in the corner. Given we were playing up the slope 12-0 was an ok score but we did better than that with Emmerich crashing over from the last play of the half converted by Harvey for a 12-7 half time deficit.
We were optimistic we could eat into the lead playing with the slope but a disastrous start to the second half saw Grasshoppers convert a couple of errors into two converted tries to stretch out the lead to 26-7. Even though the rest of the half was pretty even this proved too big a gap to bridge even if we did score an excellent second try following a break from Alfie and some excellent passing which left Callum to go over for a well deserved try. A bit of nonsense ended the game early after a surplus of testosterone but to both teams’ credit, tempers evened out for the tunnel and after match food.
Positives
• Our back play was much improved this week. By and large we moved the ball more quickly although decision making meant we missed a few try scoring opportunities.
• Rucking and mauling was very good against a bigger pack – we stopped most of their set plays and defence of our own line was on occasions heroic
• Penalty plays were more effective and we were better supporting the ball carrier today.
Work ons
• Tackling was still very mixed – missed tackles led directly to the first two tries even if they had a good back line. We did not cope well with their full back joining the line
• Decision making still needs to improve – this was a pretty even game but too often the runner took the wrong decision going inside when there was space outside. We passed up on at least two tries because of this.
• Execution of moves is still too patchy – we missed a 3 on 1 because of a forward pass under little pressure.
This was a much better performance with more fluidity than the previous week. But the teams were pretty well matched and we should really have been closer in scores. That we were not was due mainly to decision making and missed tackles – they missed fewer and made better decisions under pressure including clearing their lines and going wide when they had the ball. It’s a little frustrating as we are so close to being a really strong team but the boys need to engage rugby brains. A special thanks to Carl for refereeing – all part of his rugby education. And to Emmerich who was singled out for his role in calming tempers.