Match Analysis vs KSW

Despite being just 3 weeks into the new school year, the blue army were on the road again for game day 5 of the 2023/24 season. Kings Worcester were our hosts and the boys in blue and gold were looking to bounce back after an agonising defeat to Glantaf.

Tommies started brightly and were excellent in defence. The line speed was markedly better and as a result we were able to force mistakes and subsequently a turnover. The forwards carried powerfully upfront. This created space out wide which Tommies were able to exploit. Miller received the ball in a wide channel and fixed his man superbly before passing to Fenton on the loop. Fenton floated a nice pass out to Griffin who shot down the touchline. The after burners kicked in and Griffin dotted down for the opening score. Fenton added a smart conversion to send his side 7 points up.

Kings Worcester responded well, and Tommies had to work extremely hard in defence to repel a threating attack close to the Gloucester sides try line. A turnover was secured, and Griffin broke again up the left-hand touchline. Some good feet and nice offloading in the wide channels put Tommies on the front foot again. Tommies found themselves with a midfield scrum and Fenton called the backline play. Satheeswaran cut a lovely switch line off Fenton’s inside, whilst Davidson ran powerfully on the outside. With Kings defenders drawn to strike runners, Fenton dummied beautifully and carved his way through. A little goosey was enough to fool the fullback and he ran in for a fine individual try. He added the extras and Tommies led 14-0.

Off the resulting kick off, Harper put Tommies straight onto the front foot, bumping over the first man and exploding through. Finlay was in support and Harper offloaded to the Tommies winger. Finlay flew down the touchline to score a clinical breakaway try. Tommies ended the half with a fourth score. This time Davidson stormed over to score on his return from injury and Fenton added the extras.

Kings Worcester responded well in the second half and scored early on. Tommies were slightly complacent and took their foot off the gas in defence. Thankfully, a response was imminent, and the free-flowing attacking rugby returned. I was thrilled to see a couple of “Ospreys” perfectly executed and there were subsequently further tries for Davidson and Harper. Staite had one of the carries of the match late on, bundling through countless tackles before the ball was recycled quickly to Leney in a wide channel who sliced through to score. Miller scored an eighth try for Tommies to end the game and Fenton finished with 7/8 successful conversions.

Man of the match was a tough call. Harper was immense upfront alongside Glazier who put in some textbook tackles, but I have decided to go for Griffin this week. The Tommies winger was extremely threating out wide, carrying dangerously and offloading smartly with nearly every touch of the ball.

A full week of training awaits before we welcome Monmouth to the fortress next weekend.

This week’s man of the match was Griffin. The Tommies winger looked dangerous throughout, beating numerous defenders and making ground with every carry.

Areas to Improve

Defensive structure – Our defensive structure has been good, but it can be better. Watch the clip below where two types of defence are mentioned. The BT Sport guys look at a “Blitz” defence and a “drift” defence. It is important we buy in to both structures and in the coming weeks we will look at when to use them.

Pitch Demo: Shaun Edwards' rugby defensive masterclass | Rugby Tonight - YouTube

“Osprey” – We managed to nail a couple of ospreys on Saturday….amazing! Watch the below video which talks about layers in attack. It is very similar to our osprey but shows us what we can do if we have multiple “osprey runners” We will look at this in training.

Coaching MASTER Eddie Jones reveals top attacking tips - YouTube

Depth in attack – We are not deep enough in attack after first phase ball. Backs especially, we must make a conscious effort to realign!

Skills/Inspiration

Backs – Cameron Redpath

Cameron Redpath || Remember the Name Series - YouTube

Forwards – Ted Hill

Ted Hill || Remember the Name Series - YouTube