Respect

It was always going to be a tough game playing Oldham at their ground, in the Lancashire Cup.

Tough it was...,

Sadly, missing a few key players, we still had a very good compliment of players to field and we needed them. Well done Rhys for turning up even though a pale shadowy self, a little green around the gills, Rhys managed to support the team from the side lines and summon the energy and wellbeing to run on to the pitch in the closing quarter. Great commitment to the team Rhys well done. To top that Rhys only charges down Oldham’s largest player whom had the try line in his sights and quite some pace having pin balled through most of the Rossendale defensive line and although Rhys could stop the eventual try, he single handed took down one of Oldham’s towering players whom was in a very dangerous try scoring position. Incredible effort Rhys!!

A lesson to us all: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but, the size of the fight in the dog!"

First and second quarter for me were lost in breakdowns, it seemed a real goal of Oldham to hit those breakdowns hard and clear clear clear, which they did, over and over, winning the possession and the control of the game, pretty much from the off. Scrums we did do well and although probably giving away quite a bit of physical size compared to Oldham, the boys dug in and were immoveable despite Oldham’s best efforts.

First quarter ended Oldham 5-0 up and Oldham put each and every try away with passion teamwork and determination. Rossendale missing tackles, missing rucks, some poor choices when in control of the ball really set us back when it mattered. Yet, that said Rossendale were no walk over despite the score line.

Second quarter and 5 minutes in saw the 6th try and unfortunately an unanswered 30-point spread leaves us in a position to call the cup game an end there and discuss carrying on or swapping up the teams. The decision was to play on as is.

Third and fourth quarters were better we put Oldham under a lot more pressure and found ground more often in the Oldham half, fatigue and a low ebb in mind-set unfortunately meant a little frustration creeping in as the tries were still racking up by the Oldham team. Rossendale took a few injuries but definitely slowed down the tumult of breaks from Oldham and put some very tidy tackles in to the larger of the Oldham players.

The score line in the end is irrelevant for the complete game and we'll report, as is the guidelines and agreed, to post 30-0. Well done Oldham - great performance.

Well done all Rossendale boys the work ethic and courage was there on a really wet and to be fair, quite imposing Oldham team. Will put in some outstanding tackles taking down some big players, also taking a boot to the face for his efforts (Ouch) having the determination, courage and heart to brush himself down catch breath and carry on showed real guts.

Tommy - has to have his own mention and I am and know the coaches and parents would all be in agreement. A few minutes in to quarter three and picking up the ball with vast space before him Tommy made for the try line hitting the space in a valiant dash, still with a bit of work to do in terms of yards and at least 3 Oldham players infront of him drifting towards the touch line. Unfortunately, the run came CRASHING to a halt just as our hopes and heart rates rose..., and what a CRASH! Tommy took a really big hit. Understandably, any player would, Tommy took a short spell on the side line to catch his breath, re-align the spinning stars, catch up with what day it was and gather focus on the 17 fingers he was counting on one hand as he regained composure. BIG respect Tommy for regaining that compose and getting back out on the field when you were needed. Well Done Tommy!

Our very own Springbok Ethan Fourie managed in one of his multidirectional breaks to find space, side step and wrong foot about half a dozen of the Oldham players and gain good yards for the Rossendale team. Well Done.

Ethan Taylor, pretty much played crash ball on several occasions on penalty restarts, quite often hitting an equally physical Oldham team but very well done for running straight at their defence, great ball carrying and well done for owning the ball when going to ground, great possession. Keep it up.

Fin playing a crucial part of the scrum (Hooker) and really getting stuck in holding a strong defence. Well done.

George C - stepping up to the role of Scrum half and doing a good job, with a little more confidence I think we've got some really good options to distribute that ball from the breakdowns. This is a tough job so well done. Keep it up and more of it please! Great game George!

Bailey - putting most of that, let’s call it youthful energy, to good use on the day and overall made great yards, some very exciting breaks, formidable hand offs and generally just making a really good nuisance of himself (gladly for the opposition and not for the coaches today) well done Bailey.

Oliver (new), yet to be named as we have 2 Oliver’s..., 3 quarters game time against a tough outfit like Oldham is very good, keeping onside, out of trouble and contributing and supporting breakdowns was really well done. Keep it up, hope you enjoyed your first Lancashire CUP Rugby match.

Lucas, Fraser, James, Oliver W, George Y, Alex also well done good defence, support and tackling, let’s see that again and more please!