Rochford U14s continue their development

On a quite mild Autumn day our U-14 managed to put in an inconsistent performance that showed some quality stepping up (the last 12 minutes of the first half) some marvellous tackles, carries, support play and quality work under pressure a well as a 15 minute flash back to our darkest moments of last season two of there tries were unchallenged and to a not very fast player who ran through our defence, nevertheless there was some some solid teamwork. However the painful truth is that most of the play(90%) was conducted in our own half with a heavy % on the 22 yard line.

Bearing in mind we conceded a further 20pts six months ago and coupled with some excellent tackles today rather than a conceding on every 4-6 phases there are some positives to take from this game. Finishing of on the negatives our biggest set back was lack of width at times and failure to press, specifically at kick off but also from set play.

The one statistic that beams out however was our ability to dominate the scrum retaining possession even when pushed back. One of the sights of rugby is when the pack shows the collective ability to think and player of the month Ethan has certainly showed his ability to read his teams scrum, with great footwork getting it out , whilst walking backwards by the pack. Lovely show of team discipline against some impressive hostile rucking from Thurrock Leon had a positive debut and with teammates showed what can be achieved,

Some very very good defending at times when it counted, Nick, Louis Conor and George( who impressed on his debut ) all putting in great last ditch tackles and all four again showing mature signs under pressure and thinking correctly, again we held up when they went over and the last ten 12 minutes of the first half we actually disoriented Thurrock achieving carries and in five sessions of play made some impressive ground winning turn overs.

Dalton gave an impressive captains performance in a tough match and it was again a tough tough choice for man of the match, with Luke getting a final nod with another all round performance. In connecting our training performances and theory with our match day display and practice we are undoubtably getting closer with the two, and with the ability of two very fast wing men I have no doubt that it won't be long before pass movement comes to fruition.

I quite enjoyed listening to each of our boys contribution at the end, there was reflection , honesty and disappointment mixed with technical ,tactical and collective responsibility in all there comments which I though shows how far we have come, defeat should hurt but performance will always be the deciding factor and hopefully today will be another stepping stone or perhaps bridge on that journey.

Rochford 0 - 63 Thurrock
(half time 0-25)
tries 0-9

scrums R100 8(1 on opponents)

Thurrock 3(2)

penalties R100 3-0