Clifton v Rumney

Wow ... what an unbelievable game of rugby that was. On Sunday we travelled to Rumney to play against a squad peppered with Cardiff Blues players some of whom will undoubtedly make the grade as professional rugby players. By quite some distance it was the toughest match that most of the boys had ever played in and it is testament to them that they battled through the vast majority of the game with just the bare 15 players and even down to 14 for the last 5 minutes.

Whilst many of the boys were frustrated with result at the end of the match, they should in no way be downhearted. With many of the squad missing through recovering injuries every player stood up to be counted. The tackling was ferocious from start to finish, apart from the last try which was a run through for Rumney against some very tired legs. Whilst our tackling commitment was 100% against some enormous players, we will need to brush up on our technique through the rest of the season to bolster our confidence and to avoid injuries.

During lengthy periods of the game we were on par with Rumney. We enjoyed some excellent ball carrying from all of the forwards. We need to work on our close support play, but I can't remember an incident when we actually lost the ball in contact. All of the forwards should get a medal for fronting up to an enormous pack. Perhaps one of the best moments was a defensive maul in which Ruben led the drive to push Rumney back 10 metres before the referee awarded us the scrum. Dom, Toms S, Ryley, Callum and Doug were extremely courageous in making hard yards against such a huge defence. Tom D's strength in contact was something to behold, on one occasion bundling out into touch the biggest player I think we've ever played against. We'll need to spend a bit more time on srummaging, but it was generally very good and Kit even managed to strike one or two against the head.

The back line spent most of their time on defensive duty, and they were superb. We were often faced with overlaps containing their giants from the pack, but our boys tackled as if their lives depended on it, with a little help from our bigger lads at times. When our backs did get the ball we were often under pressure from a well-drilled Rumney back line. Despite this, we played intelligently by delaying passes and keeping the ball when a pass would have been more risky. Special praise to Ben who played like a 4th back row forward in defence against a very fast and strong opposite number. Finn shifted from fly half to inside centre and played well throughout the game. The Sams were immense in both defence and attack, both totalling a really pleasing amount of hard yardage by the end of the game. Owen made a terrific run 40 metre run at the end of the game, and was only stopped by one of the biggest tackles I've ever seen. Hugo was as fearless as ever in defence and Elliot was safe as houses under a barrage of high balls from their 10 and 13, making hard counter attacking runs throughout.

In summary, despite the loss, the boys were absolutely awesome against the biggest, hardest and fastest team they've ever played. Apart from the last try, we kept ourselves in the game until the last 5 minutes when injuries finally took their toll. Sure there are some things to work on during training, but its a learning experience and you should all be very proud of the commitment that you showed during the game.

Finally, the Rumney coaches and parents were fantastic hosts. At times during the match when the players got a bit heated, it was great to hear the parents from both sides encourage their players to concentrate on playing the game fairly. After the game, the Rumney parents also provided everyone with lunch that they had made themselves at home, which was remarkably kind of them. The squad also presented us with a plaque which will shortly be on show in the clubhouse. Thank you Rumney RFC.

Please make it to training on Wednesday, we have things to work on as we turn our focus towards Dings on Sunday.

PS - Sorry about not calling out the try scorers, the game was too intense for the match reporter to record them !

Gary (deputy match reporter)