Super Sunny Sunday and a Win

The day started well with the sun shining on a colourful Liverpool St Helens pitch. One coach arrived late, can you believe it, what kind of example is that to set?

The team consisted of :

Callum
Jason
Jamie
Ieuan
Luke
Michael
Oliver
Rowan - Captain

The opposition had 9 so it was agreed to play 8 a side which is very good of Liverpool St Helens. Their ref was wearing red because he is probably Welsh so we knew the standard of refereeing would be perfect and it was. It's always good to see the ref explain the decision so the kids can learn the game.

The match was the now familiar 4 x 10 minute set up. 2 quarters to be played up hill and 2 quarters to be played down the slope.

The game kicked off (well the usual 2 yard pass), Rossendale got straight into the action putting the latest training skills into play. Today the coaches had demanded precision passing and fast rucking and that is what Rossendale delivered in buckets.

Throughout the 4 quarters dale controlled the game and themselves well. Very few penalties were given away therefore they were not giving away possession. Very few passes were forward or knocked forward, again this meant they didn't give away possession. The passes to each other were quick and precise. When the defensive gaps opened up Rossendale ran forward and hard at the St Helens players, sometimes breaking through all the way to the line and at other times leading to a ruck or maul.

The game had a lot of mauls, both teams tending to tackle high and thus keep the player on his feet. This was a tactic that worked for Rossendale more than it worked for St Helens. Rossendale generally managed to turn and keep possession when the maul formed or were able to strip the ball from St Helens in the maul. Against a bigger opposition Rossendale may not have won as much ball so some thought is needed for the Rochdale tournament. (tackle the legs of the big guys and turn and pass quickly if held up).

The tries started to come in. The coaches lost count after 10 tries but what was evident and perhaps the most rewarding result was that St Helens had not managed to break through and score.

All of the Rossendale players had magic moments today beyond scoring tries.

Rowan led from the front with the highest work rate and most number of tackles.

Callum tackled like his life depended on it and focused his tackles to get the opposition down.

Jason three times in a row kept St Helens on 0 with tackles which took the opposition off the pitch.

Luke took an elbow to the eye but carried on regardless.

Jamie ripped the ball at every chance and looked to get the ball wide. Jamie was always in a support run as the play broke forward.

Michael managed to keep his gum shield in for a whole quarter. For the rest of the game he bossed his teammates into the rucks and mauls. Like Jamie, Michael was never far behind when support was needed.

Ieuan found himself tackled to the ground but turned and whilst on his back played the ball up for the supporting Michael who went on to score.

Oliver put himself all over the pitch and was ready for yi's pass, straightened his run to go at St Helens before offloading to a supporting Jamie for a try. Probably the slickest move of the game.

A fantastic day of rugby where Rossendale put into play a lot of the training drills. But now the real work starts. What happened on the pitch today with support play, good positional play, great communication, solid tackling and mauling, needs to happen faster and more often at the tournament next week.

Get ready for a tough session on Wednesday night lads.