Coaches Corner - Top of the Table Clash vs Brunel

Four games to go. Three at home. This weekend sees us take on league leaders Brunel.

Before we get to that i’ll address last week's disappointing result away at Old Priorians. It’s been a tough one to digest so maybe I will find this therapeutic in some way! We always knew OP’s would be a really tough test, we only beat them by a point in our game against them at home and they have been in a rich vein of form leading into the fixture against us.

As a team they pose a big physical challenge and have some powerful forwards who are hard to put down. At home they can also lean into the dimensions of their pitch. They use St Benedicts school rugby pitch which is pretty narrow and this means the game lends itself to lots of midfield collisions and very little space on the outside edges. We were well aware of the threat they posed and had a strong week of training working on areas we believed would support us and pose them problems.

We started strongly taking an 8 point lead and we were playing some excellent attacking rugby, punching holes and keeping the ball moving at a fast pace. Then OP’s came back at us and we were able to repel them a number of times but couldn’t build on our defensive efforts with the oncoming wind challenging our kicking game. OP’s eventually scored a well worked try but it was a disastrous period of the game as we were penalised after the try was scored for interfering with the scorer. This meant what should have been our kick off led to a penalty kick to them from the half way which they stuck in the corner. Good pressure from them then resulted in a team yellow card against us and then they scored another. In a 5 minute period we had conceded 14 points and had a man in the bin. We weren’t doing a lot wrong but we were finding it tough to react to the referees decision making and this became a theme throughout the game as our penalty count started to rise and uncharacteristically this led to a lack of composure from the team.

We were able to score an outstanding team try just before the half and we went into the break a point up. The second half followed much the same pattern, we played some good attacking rugby. We worked good tries through both our lineout and some great offloading which got us the bonus point but every time we felt like we were getting some advantage we were pinned back in our half and OP’s would score to keep the game in touching distance. Two areas we really struggled with were our discipline, especially around the tackle height and our kick exits. It’s an area where we haven’t placed much focus on recently and in this game it needed to be sharper. Suffice to say that will be addressed through training this week.

We headed into the final phases of the game protecting a lead. We thought we had got the ball back through a rip in contact but the ref deemed the players knees to have already hit the floor and awarded the penalty. OP’s opted for a scrum and launched an attack. They misplaced a pass that was hacked on and in the hurry our player who had caught it tried to kick it out to end the game but being off balance he mishit it and OP’s regathered and after taking contact shipped the ball to score in the corner. It was a gutting way for the game to finish and for us to have lost two games with the last play of the game due to errors when trying to kick it out is fairly unbelievable and I would say cruel!

So now our attention shifts to Brunel at home. We ran them so close away from home in awful conditions to take the game into the last play. At that time we were the first team to run them close and since then aside from one loss against Belsize Park they have been pretty infallible. They have had some closer results in this second half of the season but they know that a win against us on Saturday will all but seal the league title for them. We need to respond from our disappointment from last week, there’s no shame in losing to a team as good as Old Priorians, it was more the manner which stung. Against Brunel we are going to have to maximise every ounce of our talent to put Brunel into a game. We know that they can be vulnerable at set pieces and this is an area we will need to target and our kicking game will need to be much improved for us to maximise territorial advantage. It’s going to be a real challenge but one we are relishing and personally I know the boys have the talent, intelligence and physicality to come away with a result. One area that will make a significant impact will be the energy and passion our supporters can provide from the touchline. I’m excited to show Brunel what a quality environment we can create.

I’m also excited that with the kinder weather we can begin to welcome back our mini and junior age groups for the match day experience. This week we welcome the U9’s for some coaching before the game, followed by a rousing match day speech in the changing rooms and the opportunity to form a guard of honour for the players as they enter the pitch. It’s fantastic to be able to show our young players what a 1st XV home match day feels like and hopefully creates the aspiration for them to one day pull on their club's 1st team jersey. I’ll be joined by several of our incapacitated 1st XV players and it should be a great experience for all.

I’d also like to say a massive congratulations to our women’s team who secured a great result over at Amersham and Chiltern on Sunday. I see the Women training on a Tuesday evening and can see how hard the coaches are working to run great sessions and the players are improving all the time. It’s exciting to think where they could be in a years time.

Finally in what is a busy weekend for the club it is the Beaconsfield minis festival on Sunday and our club will be buzzing with 1000’s of young players. I know how hard everyone works to put on events like this which provide vital funds for our club as well as helping players to find a love for the game. The pathway from minis to juniors to seniors is absolutely vital for our club and I am incredibly grateful for all the hard work being shown by coaches, referees, parents and volunteers to help us thrive. Unfortunately I cannot be there with my son as I have school commitments with my U15 team competing in the National Vase Semi Final (I suspect I may have a few more grey hairs come Monday!) over at Aylesbury. I hope everyone has an amazing time and lots of great rugby is played by our talented Beaconsfield youngsters.

That’s all for now. I hope to see many of you on Saturday at the club for what promises to be a tantalising top of the table clash.

Russ