Rugby: TWGSB U15 47 Bennet 0

Cumming’s brace seals fine victory

Jack Cummings was the pick of the relative newcomers to the squad – Jack Hedger, Connor Fitzgerald, Ben Duncan, Brad Nichols all having good matches too – but his speed and elusive finishing were a joy to behold. Other memorable highlights were crunching tackles – CJ Brown in midfield, George O’Reilly and Mat Saunders to the fore and Mat Hillier pole-axing a speeding winger several metres into touch. Charlie Beale led the line well and attempted to straighten and put his outside runner into gaps, combining well with Harry Salter who took good options throughout, kicking sensibly and distributing well from the base of the scrum.

Brad lets-get-ready-to-rumble-Nichol’s bullocking run and FrazierMackenzie’s quick step inside and devastating finish were equally impressive. On a day that was set for pick and drive Jack Hedger, David Bennet the powerful Reilly, “Mad dog” Lewis and the impressive Olly Spoor all made the hard yards forward, loving every minute of a fiercely contested match that somewhat belies the final scoreline. I admired the shut-out defending and the worthy opponents never stopped trying to score and made initial breaks but could not quite breech fine covering by all. Pride was evident in defence and everyone committed to the tackle. Breaks from Connor Skillen, Connor Fitzgerald and Harry Salter broke the gain line around the fringes and ball retention was due to good support play, nevertheless this is an area of play we need to develop. David Bennet secured possession well at the line-out.

One pick up and go blind from Jack Hedger involved a crunching collision, real power and a good offload. He made a fine debut impression and with such raw talent, I predict there is much to come from this young man. Dom Coleman showed no shortage of spirit and loves the fight as much as anyone on the paddock. Having softened up the opposition up front we instinctively knew when to go wide and one movement involved many pairs of hands before Olly Spoor hacked on with boot, where he might have been better to attempt a pick up or at last a drop on the ball in muddy conditions. Mat Saunders went in and then took the outside line pleasingly well too. Changing direction was a feature of play from many players.

A good half-time talk by captain Beale emphasised a need for driving further forward at rucks as a better side might smash stationary forwards back. Counter-rucking needs coaching, as do team positioning and what to do at re-starts. Danny Vigar nearly released Jack for his hat-trick but the ball was judged forward after a nice switch and go-blind set piece move. Another fly half switch and go blind was dropped by the rapidly advancing Hillier – so a reason for more handling drills in warm-up perhaps? We are by no means the finished article yet, but this was as promising a rugby team performance as I have seen in many a year at TWGSB. Well done.

Mr P