On Thursday afternoon, the mixed team of Year 10 and 11 boys travelled to Corbet School in Baschurch for their first fixture of the season. We were made up of a selection of both club and non-club players, so, what we lacked in experience, we more than made up for in enthusiasm and heart. We had trained for the match for several weeks and we knew that Corbet, who were made up of solely Year 11 players, would be well drilled. So not wanting to be on the back foot, we knew we had to go in hard and make an impact from the start. We played four fifteen minute quarters, allowing some coaching and words of advice during the short three minute breaks.
From the outset, the boys listened to advice and committed to the rucks, mauls and tackles. Its fair to say, Corbet were taken aback by the ferocity from the boys. Every ruck had at least two boys in and the scrums were powerful, controlled and always went in our favour. We must of turned over at least 50% of the rucks and won every scrum, a phenomenal feat for any team, but more so for us. We kept it nil-nil for the first quarter and then scored in the second with a quick ‘tap and go’ from Ted. Harrison converted easily for a 7-0 advantage. In the third quarter, Sam broke through and pegged it down the field for a try under the posts and Ollie converted. Within the same quarter Corbet pulled one back, but did not convert, leaving the score at 14-5.
Within the last quarter, we were getting tired and were bunched allowing Corbet to put a try in the far corner, but once again with a failure to convert, the game ended 14-10. An outstanding result for a fledgling team.
Man of the match is shared between Ollie (Captain), Ted, Harry (Scrum Half) and Jonty. Jonty put in a try saving tackle and sent one Corbet player off the pitch and almost half way across the playground. But also it would be unfair not to mention the rest of the team, who all did a superb job. Harry, Sam, Finlay, Adam, Russell, Tom, James, George, Zach, Emmanuel, Daniel, Harrison and Harry. Also a thank you to Jimmy for assistant coaching.
Throughout the entire game, there was no negativity on the pitch form our team and no arguing with any decision made. However, there was chorus of ‘forward pass’ called by the entire TAS team at one point. Allowing the referee to comment, good naturedly, that it was like having fifteen TMO judges on the field at one go.
Its still early days, but an early win is always advantageous in bolstering resilience and confidence. We are very much looking forward to the next fixture.
Mr Irwin
