Wrexham 7 v West Park U13 1 - First 15 a-side game for WP
Basking in the Welsh morning sunshine...err lashing, freezing-rain 💦 we had an unconventional warmup to our first 15-a side game to say the least. Greeny and Slim Shady had forgot their gumshields, Coxy drowned trainers in Tea and a last minute lineout practice in the changing room looked more a Billy Elliot ballet than an England back row- not a good start. A number of weak bladders prevailed just before we left for the pitch and the low voices reinforced the nerves and understandable apprehension against an unbeaten and powerful Wrexham 15 a side team. The U13 in England play 13 a-side with no flankers, line outs & limited mauls.
Despite difficult underfoot conditions, WP were starved of possession for the first 15 minutes following a hard lesson from the home team in how to effectively control possession through their tight ruck and maul. A very poor, late and off-the-ball high challenge from a very physical inexperienced Wrexham defender saw an early exit to ‘The TRYminator’ aka Dagger’s game. At first we assumed Dagger’s lack of response was a sign of concussion, but realised the Ref was giving him a 10 count in Welsh🥴 and resulted in a Yellow card🃏...err no, a substitution.
Through the continuous pressure from the full strength and controlled Wrexham side (whose Nr 8 was outstanding) saw us pushed deeper into our own half and totally negated of possession. Even though our tight tackling showed continued improvement, our sliding defence was slow to react when Wrexham moved the ball wide resulting in us getting caught with an overlap out wide. The Welsh were organised in defence and dangerous in attack and their next two tries came in quick succession from tight, controlled play. We were 3-0 down after the first 20 minute interchange.
However, once we gained confidence to man-up against an 8 man pack and managed to move the ball slickly across our backline, we looked the better of the two sides with ball in hand. Our response was like Lazarus on amphetamines; superb counter rucking and a sharp line passing attack saw Jamie Slim Shady (not sure if his mum was back with his gumshield to see it😂) being released for a mazy run with good support from the supporting pack to secure the ball for Hollywood to cross for a try against the run of play. George kicked the conversion (as this is allowed in Wales) which rocked the home side, who appeared shell shocked that a team could respond in such a manner.
A more apprehensive Wrexham started the second half in an arm wrestle with a rejuvenated WP, but were relieved by breakaway tries against the run of play from their reintroduced large, speedy, large, powerful, large winger who had the pace and power of to run in 2 long range tries in a manor similar to a young Jonah Lomu.
From the restart, a great steal by Slamin’ Sam (who was excellent today) followed by some good rucking, driving and scum domination from our pack including Owen the Ox (who had one of his best games to date) and the back row bandits Smokin’ Joe, Boris (who was also excellent today) and Taylor set up several phases for further West Park opportunities, which unfortunately we could not converted into tries.
Disappointingly, we lost focus when a string of decisions went against us, infuriating our own ref Tom 😡 (The Heckler) who was subsequently threatened with removal from the touchline by the Welsh referee of the same name (oh the irony of such an injustice happening in Wales, for those of us who have played there).
The decisions continued to hinder us and at one stage the Coaches thought we had more chance of catching a suntan in the freezing sleet - we had more chance of winning the raffle in the bar afterwards, which we didn’t get close to either. Wrexham scored two late on tries leaving the result 7-1, which was in no means a reflection of how tight the game actually was and keeping Wrexham unbeaten this season. All credit to Wrexham who are a very good, capable side who play a tight, robust brand of rugby, which we must learn to replicate for next season.
Notwithstanding the above, this was a great a great first introduction to the the 15-a-side game especially the line-outs where Coxy and Sam’s throwing in saw Alfie leaping like a Salmon (and not of the tinned variety).🐟
Finally, Dru made a significant impact in the scrum when he came on; there were also reports of a young Welsh Lad roaming the streets of Wrexham looking for a rugby ball after being left in a daze by a fabulous dummy by our prop, Owen the Ox.
Much to work on as always, but well done today to all the lads for sticking to their guns in spite of the terrible, freezing weather.
Report P Strett
Basking in the Welsh morning sunshine...err lashing, freezing-rain 💦 we had an unconventional warmup to our first 15-a side game to say the least. Greeny and Slim Shady had forgot their gumshields, Coxy drowned trainers in Tea and a last minute lineout practice in the changing room looked more a Billy Elliot ballet than an England back row- not a good start. A number of weak bladders prevailed just before we left for the pitch and the low voices reinforced the nerves and understandable apprehension against an unbeaten and powerful Wrexham 15 a side team. The U13 in England play 13 a-side with no flankers, line outs & limited mauls.
Despite difficult underfoot conditions, WP were starved of possession for the first 15 minutes following a hard lesson from the home team in how to effectively control possession through their tight ruck and maul. A very poor, late and off-the-ball high challenge from a very physical inexperienced Wrexham defender saw an early exit to ‘The TRYminator’ aka Dagger’s game. At first we assumed Dagger’s lack of response was a sign of concussion, but realised the Ref was giving him a 10 count in Welsh🥴 and resulted in a Yellow card🃏...err no, a substitution.
Through the continuous pressure from the full strength and controlled Wrexham side (whose Nr 8 was outstanding) saw us pushed deeper into our own half and totally negated of possession. Even though our tight tackling showed continued improvement, our sliding defence was slow to react when Wrexham moved the ball wide resulting in us getting caught with an overlap out wide. The Welsh were organised in defence and dangerous in attack and their next two tries came in quick succession from tight, controlled play. We were 3-0 down after the first 20 minute interchange.
However, once we gained confidence to man-up against an 8 man pack and managed to move the ball slickly across our backline, we looked the better of the two sides with ball in hand. Our response was like Lazarus on amphetamines; superb counter rucking and a sharp line passing attack saw Jamie Slim Shady (not sure if his mum was back with his gumshield to see it😂) being released for a mazy run with good support from the supporting pack to secure the ball for Hollywood to cross for a try against the run of play. George kicked the conversion (as this is allowed in Wales) which rocked the home side, who appeared shell shocked that a team could respond in such a manner.
A more apprehensive Wrexham started the second half in an arm wrestle with a rejuvenated WP, but were relieved by breakaway tries against the run of play from their reintroduced large, speedy, large, powerful, large winger who had the pace and power of to run in 2 long range tries in a manor similar to a young Jonah Lomu.
From the restart, a great steal by Slamin’ Sam (who was excellent today) followed by some good rucking, driving and scum domination from our pack including Owen the Ox (who had one of his best games to date) and the back row bandits Smokin’ Joe, Boris (who was also excellent today) and Taylor set up several phases for further West Park opportunities, which unfortunately we could not converted into tries.
Disappointingly, we lost focus when a string of decisions went against us, infuriating our own ref Tom 😡 (The Heckler) who was subsequently threatened with removal from the touchline by the Welsh referee of the same name (oh the irony of such an injustice happening in Wales, for those of us who have played there).
The decisions continued to hinder us and at one stage the Coaches thought we had more chance of catching a suntan in the freezing sleet - we had more chance of winning the raffle in the bar afterwards, which we didn’t get close to either. Wrexham scored two late on tries leaving the result 7-1, which was in no means a reflection of how tight the game actually was and keeping Wrexham unbeaten this season. All credit to Wrexham who are a very good, capable side who play a tight, robust brand of rugby, which we must learn to replicate for next season.
Notwithstanding the above, this was a great a great first introduction to the the 15-a-side game especially the line-outs where Coxy and Sam’s throwing in saw Alfie leaping like a Salmon (and not of the tinned variety).🐟
Finally, Dru made a significant impact in the scrum when he came on; there were also reports of a young Welsh Lad roaming the streets of Wrexham looking for a rugby ball after being left in a daze by a fabulous dummy by our prop, Owen the Ox.
Much to work on as always, but well done today to all the lads for sticking to their guns in spite of the terrible, freezing weather.
Report P Strett
