Petes in lacklustre win over Science

Tuesday, 1 April 2014 01:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Over the past few years Science has shot into the limelight in the school rugby scene. The fact that they are in Division I, speaks volumes of their ability and meteoritic rise as certain teams that have been playing rugby for a much longer period of time are languishing at the bottom. In any sport attitude plays a big part in the success of the team. Science College have a very positive ‘can do’ attitude, and they have loads of self belief. Teams with a reputation mean nothing to them as they go and play as they know best. Thus against the Peterites they did just that. They went out and played their hearts out giving the much fancied Petes a torrid time. The Petes had come into this game devoid of any game plan and if they did come in with a game plan it was not visible to the majority of us. Any team must ensure that their players perform their core functions well first, before they indulge in fancy tricks. Thus the binding by the Pete pack on their loose head as well as the opposition put in was poor. The prop forwards as large as they are must be able to hold their own and the adoption of the correct technique must be foremost in their mind. The Science forwards were in scintillating form as they got down to the breakdown point at speed and in numbers thereby forcing turnover ball many a time. The fact that they were unable to put to good use such possession is regrettable as on the whole Science lacked finishing touches. In a lot of school rugby games, we are subjected to a high degree of kicking. I am not a great supporter of this strategy as one must retain possession in order to score. Thus if a kick is being made, it must be for tactical reasons, to gain territory, relieve pressure and not to indicate the strength of the boot. In this game too we saw some aimless kicking and this part of the game then turns out to be an aerial show with many bystanders. It is even worse, when the kicker fails to charge the kick and get his team mates in a position to contest. As in life taking decisions whilst thinking on your feet is a key component to success. With about three minutes to go, the Petes were deep in Science territory. The score read 22/18 in favour of the Petes. All that they needed to do was to grind their way forward slowly, whilst retaining possession. With the Pete fullback up with the three quarters they could not afford any slip ups. In their enthusiasm, they fail to read the game and decide on one of those long cut out passes, which was almost intercepted by the Science centre. For the Petes they were lucky that the interception was fluffed, if not it would have been a Science score under the posts. In the overall analysis Science had the better of the exchanges although they were on the losing side. What makes the game more exciting these days is that on a given day, the lesser fancied side is able to turn tables on the top guns. With the coaching staff of school teams now far more advanced than in the past, it is no excuse for school teams to get their game plans in a twist. Thus the Petes have some homework to do, whilst Science needs to ensure that their finishing touches are up to scratch. For an enjoyable game, the referees too must let the game flow so that the teams can get the maximum out of an ‘advantage’. In the Science vs. Petes game, the referee was still busy signalling the penalty when the teams had taken a tap and were on the move, only to be called back to start all over again. Even in the interpretation of a forward pass, they must take a leaf out of the book of the international referees. The international referees look at the position of the hands of the person passing the ball and as long as it is backwards it is fine. (The writer can be reached via [email protected])