Waiting for Ticino....

RC Fribourg II vs. ZRC II 0:35

A short game report from the 2nds vs Fribourg. The game got off to a great start, with a coach (not me, a big bus) organised by Fanti leaving Zug full of keen 2nds players. Having 20 players going away for a 2nds game is something of a win by itself.

 

Overall everyone played their heart out, knew their job and when to do it. From the very start ‘rolling thunder’ was used really well, with people jogging to get into position. Again and again we punched through their line, creating opportunities for big runs.

 

The first try came early from an awesome lineout and rolling maul which pushed them back 20m and nearly went over, but the bad guys stopped it. So the backs passed it all the way to the other side where Tom went over with an assist from Steve.

 

Of particular note were the loose forwards. They were absolutely everywhere, tackling anything that moved. Very quickly it was clear the opposition did not know what to do with the ball when they had it because of the pressure they were under. And when we had the ball; wow. All the forwards constantly got into position for the busting runs, and then the ball was getting out to the backs who would then find holes to run through. I lost count of how many times it got out to the wings, which is a great sign.

 

Matt did a great job at 9 with ^%$# French being offside all the time and diving on him before he touched the ball. Antoine was great at 10, marshalling the troops and keeping the calls coming. His boot also helped pile on the points with 2 penalties and 2 conversions.

 

The discipline was good. No talking back to the ref, only a few balls thrown away in the tackles, and everyone getting into line when it was time to tackle. The 2-in-the-tackle really screwed with the bad guys’ game plan.

 

Some things to work on. At times, especially during warming up, far too much chatter. And a couple of times the calls went silent, which was when we stopped making meters. The instant they started up again, we started pushing the other side back.

 

The points went to;

 

3 to Storm, who was all over the field like a rash. He was either tackling something, or breaking through their line.

2 to Ilan, who was with Storm everywhere, and made just as many breaks. A pity his try was disallowed.

1 to Matt at 9 who did a fantastic job for his first game at 9, having to deal with offside French diving over the rucks.

 

Noteable games were from Felix, the other loose forward, the entire front row of Nici, Mauro and Ilyr who played more like loose forwards than front-row, and Tom at full back. Any ball kicked over he got and brought back immediately.

 

The final score was 35-0 to the good guys, 5 un-answered tries. They never really even looked like scoring.

 

A fantastic start to the season. Let’s keep it going.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris.

PS But perhaps the biggest winner of the day was the bus trip back with crates of beer from Baar Brauerei.