Match Report

Old Pats skewered by a mighty Saracens scimitar

Given the deluge of the past few days, we gathered at the Saracens ground on the King George V playing fields half expecting to see Noah, his arc and a menagerie of animals seeking refuge on what appeared to be the high ground of Mount Ararat. However, apart from a family of capybara playing in the mud on a lower field, we were met by the formidably sized Cheltenham Saracens’ lads going through their drills – they clearly meant business.

31

Tries 5
Conversions 3

0

Tries 0
Conversions 0

Despite injuries (Charlie Langmaid and Isaac Evans) and Gloucester representative honours (Josh Hansen captained the team, with Luke Smith and Alex Moore also playing, Hurricane Hamilton played for Gloucester u17 today) we still turned up with 20 lads eager to contribute to our impressive run, but there were rumours of a messy gathering the previous night – I must have missed that invite!! There was an awkward wind coming diagonally across the field from an easterly direction which gave the team playing away from the clubhouse an advantage – this was going to be Saracens in the first half. We were fortunate to have a society referee Dave today.

We kicked off into the wind and were immediately awarded an ominous attacking scrum midfield between the 10m and 22m line following their knock on but the Saracens pack plied phenomenal pressure on us and we lost possession which turned out to be a harbinger of things to come. We had some impressive early spells and our Captain Marvellous and physical centre Alex Moore looked to have open veld ahead of him with an almost certain 7-pointer beckoning after pouncing on a loose ball following a Saracens knock on but the referee blew and then awarded us a scrum. Other early promises included a fantastic turnover by our iron loose forward, magic Max Stanley-Jones and also a try-halting tap tackle by charismatic speed merchant Henry Brock.

With some excellent kicking out of hand from their maestro, Ed Scott, Saracens worked their way into our 22 and were playing with penalty advantage for our off-side before going over for a well-deserved TRY from a pick and drive near the posts for a certain 7 pointer. However, quite dramatically, our silky centre, Sam Stevens, somehow managed to charge the conversion down and it felt at that stage that those 2 points might be crucial later in the game.

5-0 Try Saracens

Saracens used the wind intelligently with their beefy forwards securing a great loose ball and then their accomplished playmaker, Ed Scott, again putting his long-range artillery to good effect pinning us back in our own half and for which we did not have any easy answers. Following another scrum against the head in our own half, which caught us off guard, their number 9 went on a tricky run which we were not able to deal with, leaving him to score a great individual TRY.

12-0 Try and conversion to Saracens

Saracens seemed to have us on the ropes but to our lads credit, they showed great fortitude to rally and we worked our way back, through disciplined phase play, into their 22. This gave us hope and showed, with front football, that we could compete and bring our superior mobility to bear. Despite several surges including from the redoubtable and multi-talented bazooka Ben Lord (playing his last game for us), we just could not breach their line which was a credit to the Saracens defensive effort. The half ended with us down a respectable 12 points but with the wind behind us in the second half.

Without being complacent, our halftime ‘indaba’ was optimistic. With the wind, if we played our game and got the ball out wide to run the big opposition forwards ragged, we could stay in this fight. It wasn’t for lack of commitment that we were behind, but rather a combination of clever tactical kicking together with the physicality of this Saracens team, which had us on the back foot. If we could counter this, we were in with a chance but needed to score early and we had been down many times this season and found that extra gear to come back and so reasonably believed we could do this again.

We received the kick off and looked to be making headway confidently getting into their half but a crucial turnover to Saracens saw them drive a cruel psychological dagger blow through our heart with a searing bit of interplay up the mid field to score a great TRY which was converted.

19-0 Try and conversion to Saracens

We now had our backs against the wall and were going to have to pull a series of rabbits out of a hat to get out of this one. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be as a while later, Saracens struck again, this time with a well-worked TRY in the right corner which was converted with an incredible strike into the wind.

26-0 Try and conversion to Saracens

Endeavour as we might, we were fading and just could not get any coherence to our play and eventually Saracens went in for another late score which they did not convert and the game ended soon afterwards leaving us looking a bit shell shocked.

31-0 Try to Saracens

The first thing to say is well done to Saracens who were a really impressive outfit today. As a learning team, we face our defensiveness in a reflective way accepting that we were well beaten by a better team on the day who were really up for it – there are always things one does well and other things one can improve on both as individuals and collectively. Given the amazing season we have had, there was no shame in losing although we are not accustomed to our big guns being muzzled in this way and it was disappointing both for our lads and supporters not to have scored but credit to Saracens for keeping us out.

We always knew they were physical and they have developed a system of play which was very effective against us today. Their meaty forwards were often dominant in the scrum putting a lot of pressure on us. In the loose, they met us head-on and both rucked and counter-rucked efficiently giving their talented backs front foot ball to attack us with. Their playmaker, Ed Scott, was in exceptional form and, in my opinion, is the best under-16 player we have played against this season combining a great strategic brain with sublime all round tactical skill. He seemed to be everywhere whether it be conducting their back line orchestra with the clever use of the ‘out the back’ pass creating space outside, his howitzer of a right boot which kept us pinned back, but also some breathtaking touches with several kicks and collects as well as a great defensive effort with important tackles and disruptive steals in the loose. I usually reserve my superlatives solely for our lads, but today Ed, you were in a class of your own – well done.

It was not all doom and gloom, there were plenty of positives for us and if a few things had gone our way, we might have had a closer game. C’est la vie. For starters, to end the first half just 12-0 down playing against this opposition and against that wind was a great team result for our lads. Our line out was dominant with both our hookers, gutsy Sam Woodward and ballsy ‘Faf’ le Roux, throwing in really well. Valiant lock, Charlie Houlston, was outstanding with his lineout takes showing, time and again, just how good his hands are. Sherman tank and left winger, Aidan Bartlett, put in numerous brave tackles to halt their dangerous attacks in the first half. Our loose forward trio of Gladiator Max Stanley-Jones, gritty Chong Lu and Charlie ‘The Terminator’ Davies, individually and collectively, put in a bruising performance that kept us in the hunt. Physical lock, Kai Sherrington, had his work cut out today and did not shy away from his duty. Luke Smith was immense in the scrum and Alex Moore was a handful in the midfield. We also saw glimpses of how dangerous fullback, Barney Heath Smith, was with his elusive pace.

Thank you again to society referee Dave who officiated really well today without the benefit of technology. We now have the 2 week Easter holiday break with an opportunity to eat a lot of chocolate and also hopefully to do a bit of work for those GCSEs. With one more game left this season, let’s finish on a high by going back to playing our ‘hit and run’ brand of rugby. It is important that, after licking our wounds, we regroup for our final training session on Wednesday 12th April before our big game against tough Minchinhampton on the 16th.

Finally, let’s not be sad – each one of our boys is awesome and our team will bounce back. Saracens did to us what we have done so often this season to other teams and we really didn’t like that feeling today which means we care – a lot!! The spirit of our team means that we have always lived by the sword and we have always died by the sword. Watch out, Minchinhampton!!!