What a fabulous day to play a game of rugby, with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. The ground looked soft but I wasn’t the one about to go in for a tackle!

The squad from Longlevens RFC were a little short of players to create two squads so we quickly lent them some Old Pats players to make up their numbers; this always creates continuity issues for our players but considering the disruption caused the squad handled this very well.

The first game the Viking squad played was so exciting to watch – the squad were really playing as a team and you could really see the benefit of the Old Pats training coming out in the performance as there were big tackles, great support running and excellent rucking and counter rucking. I wasn’t keeping score but I think Old Pats edged a win.

The Longlevens squad for the second Vikings game seemed a physically larger squad than the first or was this my imagination? They had one particularly strong tall player who had the ability to intimidate and allowing him to score early on seemed to undermine confidence in the Viking squad and they didn’t seem to believe in themselves as much and played less to their strengths as a coherent team. There were still some good performances but it was more of an individual effort than a true team effort.

As a spectator with a vested interested in seeing Old Pats play well – I just kept remembering the opposition “can’t go anywhere without their legs” and if they have a big man then a two man tackle is the way forward.

After the match the team were given a stern talking to, and justifiably so, about the importance of effort levels, team work and determination, but I am sure knowing the squad the entire team will bounce back and be all the better the next time they run out!

Great rugby as ever!

David Freer