Taking stock of the Boys game twenty-four hours later.
First off things I was impressed by:
1) Set play defense. On both sides of the ball the teams were able too mostly contain the opposition from set play, especially from scrums and line outs.
2) Mauling. With minimum practice time with each team there was only a finite amount of things to work on before the game on Saturday. The Corvallis team worked on mauls off of lineouts and then executed them perfectly on the two attempts they made, good strip good drive and the ball came out clean. When most mauls at this level degrade into a mass of bodies tying up a ball with no drive it was a nice victory for the boys from Corvallis.
3) Kicking for points. Despite the fact that as a whole team LBRFC only converted about 60 percent of their kicks it was still an inspiring effort when at least 4 different players were able to put the ball over the post.
4) Open play offense. Much to the chagrin of the Corvallis coach the Albany club thoroughly outplayed Corvallis in this aspect. The majority of tries scored by Albany came not on the first phase after a scrum or lineout but on the second or even third phase as the backs made the most of open fields and weak side play.
5) New players. Specifically new player tackling but quite honestly throughout the game new players turned out promising performances all game long. Despite some players playing in their first game or playing on just a week or two of practice they played smart, safe and all seemed to contribute at one time or another.
6) Experienced players. Here there is a split, the Albany side was impressive in how well the experienced players meshed and played together, as the more trialed back line dominated throughout the game and the forwards provided clean ball (usually) back to them it all came together in a dominating effort. The Corvallis side had experienced players take the lead and move the ball aggressively, keeping the greener players organized and helping to have them in position to make plays.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Never Too Much
I do love rugby but seven hours may be pushing it. Starting with warm ups at ten am the marathon began with the high school teams inter-squad scrimmage. The half I was coaching, the Corvallis part of the team, played promising but ultimately succumbed to a couple early tries and several late tries falling 42-3. Ben Overman scored the only points for the Corvallis side converting a penalty midway through the first half.
Following this was the OSU women's team playing the Budd Bay Women's club team. A spirited game that went back and forth quite a bit. The game was primarily dominated by great play from the OSU backs as they ran through tackles and moved the ball very well from sideline to sideline and up field as well. Budd Bay made the most of the momentum they had throughout the game making the plays when they had the advantage of position or penalty. Using their forwards effectively they managed to find holes in the Oregon State defense and convert a few tries. Final here was 32-24
Last game of the day was the Corvallis Men's Club against the Vancouver Men's Club. In a game that resembled the women's game before Corvallis' backs ran roughshod over Vancouver for much of the game and opened up the lead in the second half en route to a 63-17 drubbing. A very close game for much of the first half as both teams took turns volleying kicks back and forth and forwards from both sides worked the ball close to the try line and we're able to power it in as Corvallis took a 24-17 lead into halftime. The second half was dominated by ground play, Corvallis began working the balls with the backs, spending less time putting the boot on it and more time using the pass and smart running lanes to put Vancouver on their heels. Vancouver continued to threaten early on but in the half but by the midway point Corvallis had worn them down and was able to put together three late late tries (including one at full time) to ice the game. Corvallis didn't miss any conversions and was zero for one on penalties.
All in all I arrived at the pitch at ten am after working for six hours and finally walked off the pitch at four thirty completely exhausted but sated for now. More to come about the high school game in the coming week.
Following this was the OSU women's team playing the Budd Bay Women's club team. A spirited game that went back and forth quite a bit. The game was primarily dominated by great play from the OSU backs as they ran through tackles and moved the ball very well from sideline to sideline and up field as well. Budd Bay made the most of the momentum they had throughout the game making the plays when they had the advantage of position or penalty. Using their forwards effectively they managed to find holes in the Oregon State defense and convert a few tries. Final here was 32-24
Last game of the day was the Corvallis Men's Club against the Vancouver Men's Club. In a game that resembled the women's game before Corvallis' backs ran roughshod over Vancouver for much of the game and opened up the lead in the second half en route to a 63-17 drubbing. A very close game for much of the first half as both teams took turns volleying kicks back and forth and forwards from both sides worked the ball close to the try line and we're able to power it in as Corvallis took a 24-17 lead into halftime. The second half was dominated by ground play, Corvallis began working the balls with the backs, spending less time putting the boot on it and more time using the pass and smart running lanes to put Vancouver on their heels. Vancouver continued to threaten early on but in the half but by the midway point Corvallis had worn them down and was able to put together three late late tries (including one at full time) to ice the game. Corvallis didn't miss any conversions and was zero for one on penalties.
All in all I arrived at the pitch at ten am after working for six hours and finally walked off the pitch at four thirty completely exhausted but sated for now. More to come about the high school game in the coming week.
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