Match Analysis vs Cheltenham College

After tasting County Cup success midweek, the Blue Army were full of confidence coming into a big game vs local rivals Cheltenham College. Conditions were set to be testing and what transpired was very much a war of attrition.

Tommies got the game underway and fronted up well in defence. Some excellent shots by Leney and Satheeswaran enabled Glazier to go hunting at the breakdown. The Tommies 7 was superb in the early exchanges and stole the ball on a couple of occasions. College had a powerful set piece and were particularly strong at the scrum. The Tommies pack did very well and rarely lose one against the head. Neither side budged in defence and the game was locked in and around the halfway line.

College eventually worked their way into the Tommies half and built some pressure just outside the 22. A penalty was awarded, and Tommies were caught being slightly lazy in defence. College didn’t take the penalty quickly but realised Tommies were extremely short on numbers down the left-hand side. Tommies had failed to number up and College decided to tap and go. Tommies were simply caught napping and College were ruthless, powering over to score the opening points of the game. A smart conversion was added, and the visitors led 0-7.

Tommies responded well and fought hard for the remainder of the half to see the scoreline remain the same heading into the break. The second half was a fiercely contested affair. Tommies continued to defend tremendously well, and Fly Half Fenton kicked masterfully off both feet to ease pressure and put Tommies in some dangerous positions. In tricky conditions we just couldn’t quite click in attack. Depth proved a problem and credit to our visitors, they defended well. College added one further score and the game finished 0-12.

I have decided not to name a man of the match this week. I thought it was an extremely gutsy team performance where every man played their part. The front row of Yemm, Dunnage and Staite held firm at the scrum and carried hard in the loose. Harley worked tirelessly round the park, whilst Leney and Satheeswaran tackled relentlessly. Harper carried powerfully and Glazier was a huge threat at the breakdown and put in some excellent shots. Whitelock controlled his pack nicely and communicated well, whilst half back partner Fenton kicked fantastically off both feet, demonstrating some superb game management. O’Neill was solid at 12, often running some smart lines and centre partner Davidson looked dangerous in attack, carrying hard with every touch of the ball. The back three of Warner, Griffin and Miller were industrious throughout, throwing their weight about in defence and feeding off scraps in attack.

An excellent performance boys, we must kick on now!

Areas to Improve

Depth! – We have spoken about this numerous times now and we must learn from our mistakes. We have looked at this at training, and I want to see improvement this weekend.

Skills/Inspiration – Rugby IQ, Be CREATIVE!

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