It was a busy, and successful, weekend for the club. Thirds are in the final this Friday, Seconds had a big win vs. the Canucks and The Firsts beat the Lep Tigers to keep themselves in playoff contention. My goal for next week is to be able to field 3 different fifteens…that is no player will start in 2 games. I believe we have the depth to do this and succeed in winning all of our games. It is our final first team league game and a must win to ensure we can make the playoffs. The seconds are in a tight race for the playoffs and out thirds can set the tone by winning on Friday night.
Saturday Aug 22, 2004
Lep-Tigers Ground
3:00pm
Weather – Cold, Wet, Windy
Score: Saracens 15 Lep-Tigers 14
Team: Reitbauer, Malin, Wilson, Perron, Wiest, Kuzek, Bailey, Robertson, Duffy, Betcher, Smith, Laberge, Kofman, Ferguson, Smith, Betcher, Wilson, Laberge, Rattai, Boutwell, Schaefer, Moffat, Beck
Overall: We played our best 50 minutes of rugby to start the game. We need to do that (and a little bit more) each time we step on the field.
Handling/ball in contact: This was a much-improved area over our previous games, especially considering the conditions. We ran well with the ball, poached numerous balls from them in the tackle and played with a great deal of commitment.
Our scrums were stable and we did well to disrupt them on a number of occasions.
We showed that we know how to win.
Line-outs were, for the most part, very poor. I think we lost our first 5-6 line-outs which we need to shore up if we are going to be able to compete with the best teams in the league. Having said that, our defensive lineouts were quite good and we managed to poach a number of balls.
Defense…Some of the best defense of the year but we had a couple of situations where they went screaming through untouched. This puts tremendous pressure on the individual tackler at the back. As well, we need to recognize when the opportunity is there to put in the big hit. We accepted the contact on many occasion rather than dictate the contact situation and tried to pull them down which gave them the opportunity to keep coming at us.
It was a busy, and successful, weekend for the club. Thirds are in the final this Friday, Seconds had a big win vs. the Canucks and The Firsts beat the Lep Tigers to keep themselves in playoff contention. My goal for next week is to be able to field 3 different fifteens…that is no player will start in 2 games. I believe we have the depth to do this and succeed in winning all of our games. It is our final first team league game and a must win to ensure we can make the playoffs. The seconds are in a tight race for the playoffs and out thirds can set the tone by winning on Friday night. This is a time in the season where we must field our best teams. I do not believe in doing this at the expense of not playing players and having higher division players play down just to win (think Rams). As a result I do want to field 3 different starting 15’s with the reserves for each game coming from the division below. This obviously creates selection dilemmas and makes for some tough choices. As a coach I am glad we have the skill and depth to put me in a situation where I do have to think about selection. Not everyone may agree with my selections and I do invite people to approach me in person, via phone, or e-mail to discuss their position. Having said that, I would hope that everyone can step up to the plate and do what is asked of them for the good of the club. We have a strong club built on local talent and tremendous passion and commitment. We need to harness that power as we head into the final phase of the season. Let’s make it happen.
Reitbauer: Played the full match which is what we needed from you. A couple of dropped balls/turnovers and missed tackles which may have been due to fatigue but the sets were strong, which is the key for us. Work on the loose play and in getting into good positions to support the other players
Malin: Lineouts were tough due to wet, wind but we still need good throws and to throw to where we are going to win the ball. Excellent work around the field as usual.
Wilson: Was strong in the sets and proved to be a disruptive force in the loose which we need more of.
Perron: Playing better and better. You moved people in the rucks and stole a number of balls in the loose. We don’t need the pretty stuff from you, just the down in the trenches workmanlike stuff.
Wiest: We need to work on some options to get you the ball in the line-out when the opposition has strong defensive jumpers. You worked well around the field.
Bailey: You made a good impact as usual with the ball in hand. We also need you to make the same impact on defense when solo runners are coming at us. You have the size and ability to knock them back. We will need you to lead from the front next week.
Kuzek: Some good running with the ball but you have started to get out of position when going into contact and going in a little soft. We need to keep the ball heading up field and look to run at the seams.
Robertson: Strong all-round game. Some excellent support work and work at the base.
Duffy: service was improved from the week before and you made some good decisions as captain.
Betcher: Had a strong game
Smith: you looked for work and cleaned up the ball well on a number of occasions. Don’t know why you kept the ball on the 4 on 1 but you can explain that one at training
Laberge: gave us what we needed up the middle. We can’t let them through on defense and we will have to talk that through before next week. Handling was much improved….except for than one ….enough said.
Kofman: Same old good stuff. Bring you best game next week!
Ferguson: Looked more comfortable on the wing this week. Think about anticipating where the ball/opposition is going to be to allow yourself to get into a position where you are not in “no man’s land”. i.e., we can’t stop everything so we are better to take away something for sure than to leave them two options where we might get beat. As an example, take the run away from the base from the scrum and they have to kick.
Duffy: Match saving tackle, quality try and well earned man of the match. Well done.
Wilson: Didn’t get a lot of opportunities but stepped into the game well and took your chances when you had them.
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