Sunday saw Sandbach U14’s complete in a round-robin series with Manchester Rugby Club and Sedgley Park Tigers. The morning started inauspiciously, with access to the arena barred by a locked gate, but once we made it to the pitch we were able to make a good start on training before any opposition arrived. With a focus on defensive shape, the lads made a good impression as the oppo arrived, and heads were turned as they passed our training area.
The tournament kicked off with a match between Sandbach and Manchester. In the first few minutes, Sandbach struggled to find their defensive shape, and Manchester made inroads into the Sandbach half, camping between the 10 and 22 meter lines, but failing to show much penetration. But Sandbach slowly woke up, and duly scored the first try following a break away on the right wing. Sandbach then started to apply pressure in defence and attack, and gained increasing amounts of possession. Applying principles from recent midweek training sessions, straight running was the name of the game, both from the pick-and-go, and in the back line. Further use of the Sandbach speedy back division, ably supported by an attentive and hungry pack led to an eventual score of 29-0 at the end of the 25-minute game.
Sandbach stayed on the pitch for a second game against Sedgely Park, this time 14 a side reflecting Tigers lack of numbers. Sandbach looked up for it from the first whistle, and despite their significant size advantage Sedgely Park were under constant pressure. It was good to see the morning’s focus on defensive line speed used to good effect, such that even after winning good possession from the breakdown, the Tigers were constantly on the back foot. Snadbach again romped to an easy victory, playing some attractive rugby. Standout try of the game must be Mike Bygrave’s scored after a barrelling run from outside the 22-metre line, while other strong positives include excellent scrummaging, with the front row making their opposition look uncomfortable, by taking an admirably low stance. Excellent pick-and-go runs were seen from a number of the pack, including Sam Vale, Jack Malpas and Luka Cacamo, while the back row turned on the afterburners on a number of occasions. Most notable of these, perhaps was a beautiful move including a dummy run from 12 which pulled in three defenders, giving the outside backs – Aaron, Dan and Isaac Chennells joined by a looping Olly Barlow from 10 – to show off their silky skills, and make 50 metres of ground. Only excellent cover from the Sedgely number 12 prevented Isaac Chennells from scoring yet another try in the corner.
It was a bit of a shame that, in the last play of the game, Sandbach lost their defensive shape and allowed the standout Sedgely 12 to burst through from a distance to score their one try of the game. Much was gained by watching the last game of the morning, and it was great to hear the Sandbach lads picking up on the lack of some of the principles they’d applied early, with frequent dries of “Run Forward” hailing from them as pplayers from both sides made frequent 20-yard sideways runs. All in all, Sandbach showed an excellent application of training-ground principles to the match situation, albeit against weak opposition.