After a couple of disappointing defeats in our last two Quins Cup matches, we made the trip to Farnham for our final group match. Farnham are a strong club who produce lots of professional rugby players including Jonny Wilkinson, who’s first England Rugby shirt was hung up in the bar. A couple of injuries meant we went with 17 players and had a bit of reshuffling especially in the back line.
This proved to be another tight and even contest – the play ebbed and flowed with our slightly stronger individual powerful players being balanced by their well organised defence and pass rush. Unusually Farnham kicked 2 penalties from inside our 22 before we went up the other end and Emmerich went over from close range to reduce the deficit. We kept going offside despite a number of warnings which lost us field position and then tried to run it from deep in our own 22. When the ball squirted loose they touched it down to stretch out their lead to 11-5. This was a little frustrating given we were playing pretty well but making poor decisions at crucial stages. But from a penalty awarded to us in the last minute of the half Harvey kicked into their 22 and Alfie went over under the post which was converted by Sam for a 12-11 halftime lead.
The second half was also really close but we had much better field position for much of it. From one period of pressure Josh M scored to stretch our lead to 17-11. We then had a long period of time in their 22 and a couple of opportunities where we just failed to ground the ball. We were worried this might prove costly and from another offside penalty compounded by a bit of back chat we were suddenly defending in our own 22. We did this heroically but pressure told and Farnham scored a try on the last play of the match to reduce the deficit to 1 point with the conversion to come. It was not straightforward and fortunately for us it went just wide so we ended up with a 17-16 win.
Positives
• Tackling was excellent throughout the entire match and backs in particular were lining up their opposites meaning we were not outflanked. And our defence of our line when they were close was outstanding
• Support play was much improved. Alfie, Emmerich and Josh M in particular were making metres on their carries and support was almost always there to keep the play going with Ellis picking up and getting the ball out to the backs..
• By and large the boys kept their composure in the face of a high penalty count and just concentrated on their game .
Work ons
• Decision making still needs to improve – we lost a lot of possession early on because we were too hasty in looking for breaks. Rugby is a game of possession and territory. Keep the ball rather than throw it away and kick for territory when you have the chance. We did this much better in the second half and had much more of the play.
• Despite a clear warning from the referee we were offside far too much. He was absolutely clear that he would penalise any one who ran after a kick who was in front of the kicker but we did it anyway! Useful if they all read the laws.
• Need to work on presenting the ball – on a few occasions we presented on the wrong side or left it too close to the body and were turned over.
This was an excellent game between two well matched teams. Their coach said that we probably shaded the match which was true but some dodgy decision making kept this closer than it should have been. We do need to stay calmer and play the percentages – we have the players to make the most of territory but we have to make sure we are playing in the right areas. But the boys stuck at it today and should be proud of how they have performed in the higher division – we deserve to be there.