Calgary Saracens Rugby

Calgary Saracens— your friendly neighbourhood rugby club since 1958.

From the Saracen Press

Week Two Match Reports

Posted on 2004-06-01 by Dave Lougheed

We built on our previous performance and were much more consistent…— consistently good and consistently bad. We moved the ball very well but then had the tendency to turn it over.

Saturday, May 29, 2004
Against the Rams
CRU
1:45pm
Sun and cloud, lots of wind
29-0 at half-time
55-5 at full-time

Team

  1. Reitbauer
  2. Malin
  3. Wilson
  4. Weist
  5. Perron
  6. Kusek
  7. Bailey
  8. Robertson
  9. Duffy
  10. Duffy
  11. Benson
  12. Laberge
  13. Ferguson
  14. Smith
  15. Hill
  16. Sparrow
  17. Beck
  18. Boutwell
  19. Montgomery
  20. Rattai
  21. Kofman
  22. Betcher
  23. Pronk

Tries

  • Smith
  • Kusek, 2
  • Hill
  • K. Duffy, 2
  • Robertson, 2
  • Kofman

We built on our previous performance and were much more consistent…— consistently good and consistently bad. We moved the ball very well but then had the tendency to turn it over. Penalties will be our undoing if we don’t learn to play the referee a little better. George only penalized us for two things, both of which are preventable and which we failed to adapt.

We had some excellent stints on defence and held them on our goal line a couple of times. It was nice to hear “In” regularly through the game and the one up tackles were much better.

Some well earned tries, both team and individual. And overall a much better team performance than vs. Saints.

The Good

  • Excellent handling
  • Met two out of three goals for the game (less than 2 tries and less than 20 points)
  • Defence. We showed more awareness at the breakdowns and prevented any significant breaks. To be honest I don’t think their backline was as capable as the Saints but we still worked much better as a group.
  • Counter attack and handling. We did not have much opportunity to counter but as said above, the handling was good.

The Bad

  • Only one I really want to draw attention to: penalties.

    I didn’t lose track this time as we had a goal for the game (less than 10) and we gave away 12 in the first half. We gave a way a total of 20 penalties during the game. As they did not tap and go at all, and that each kick and subsequent lineout probably took at least 1 minute we only had a 60 minute game. Fortunately due to the weather they were never going to be able to kick many goals, but in a tighter match it could/will be a factor.

    Think about what number you feel is reasonable for us to concede and what you will be happy with and let me know.

Notable Performances

  • Shane Kusek
  • Brian Hill

Player by Player

Tim
Another solid performance in the sets. Work on the awareness at the base of a breakdown on D. Try to work in and get the faster guys outside you.
Tom
Wind made throws difficult but it was not the throws that were of issue. We need ot work on the communication so that we are clear where the ball is going (when Nevin/nobody jumped) Good work around field and you took the ball into contact well. Good luck in Winnipeg with the Mav’s.
Mike
Not your A game. Sets were good but ball into contact can improve. We need to work on your positioning and carrying your momentum through the contact. A couple of time you stopped on contact, went to deck and we lost the ball. If you are going to stop we need to st up a maul on you.
Nevin
Some more good work around the field and good defence. Keep applying yourself and work (especially in practice) at pushing your skills a bit.
Casey
Good game but missing a couple of practices showed. You found yourself caught in the path of the ball between 9 and 10 a couple of times. Not to worry as it’s easily rectified once you have a clearer understanding of what we are trying ot do.
Kusek
Very good game. You got around the park extremely well and had a couple of nice runs. Against better opposition we need to have people there with you on the off chance that you can’t run through 15 people!.
DB
A workmanlike game and you did a lot of things well. You run well with the ball in hand and take good lines. Better work around the breakdown this game.
Jeff
A step above your first game. You did well from the base of the scrum bet we need to work on when/where to pick the ball so it is even more productive, and allows our backs the opportunity to use good ball.
Mike D
Your workrate was excellent and you covered the park really well. Awareness was better around the breakdown and continue to work with the Fly halfs to create the continuity we are looking for.
KD
You looked more comfortable which I expect will continue to happen. Kicking was better today and used effectively and at the right times. Keep working on your vision to use all you options and increase the volume of your communication with Mike to help the people around you position themselves.
Todd
Another game in which you had some strong breaks and used support well. Continue to keep the ball on the field through cutting back in as it will give the support runners the opportunity to take some nice lines off your efforts once they know this is what you are going to do.
Aaron
Distributed the ball well and made “some things out of nothing”. Keep working to get involved in 2nd 3rd and 4th phase possession. We need to work this week on you coordinating the backs on first phase defence.
George
You looked comfortable and made some good breaks and strong tackles. I still want to see you with the ball in hand more as I think we will be able to get the back 3 running off you as you will be sure to draw at least 1 defender.
Lee
Impressive encore to your first performance. Not the day for kick and catch and you stood out through sheer determination and effort. Well done.
Brian
A very nice game where you showed your speed once again. You entered the line very well and distributed the ball to the wings with good timing. Nice Work.
Shotgun
Steady once again and did well after playing a half earlier which is not always easy to do.
Bubba
Did well coming off the bench.
Rob
I was glad to get you some time in the 1st game as the 2nd game did not provide you with a tremendous challenge. You have improved each game and moved the ball much better against the Rams.
Scott
Good work and contribution when you came in.
Butch
You took control and distributed the ball well when you came in. Excellent work as well in the 2nd game.

Seconds Game v. Rams: 63-0

There is not a whole lot to say about this game outside of Well Done! You were pretty much able to do what you wanted to do. I was glad to see the quality of performance. In games where the opposition is not very good it is easy to allow the quality of your play drop. We played well through out the entire 80 minutes and did well to hold them out on a couple of occasions. Our ability to succeed as a club this year is going to be determined by our ability to build strong teams and create competition with in the club for positions. We also need to be able to have people with the ability to step up and move seamlessly from 3rd’s to 2nds, or from 2nds to the first team. The quality of the second team performance certainly showed we have lots of people capable of doing this. To help facilitate this, we need to try and run the same systems and have the same approach to the games on all of the teams. The quality of the handling and approach to the game was great.