1st XV v Auckland Grammar
Tuesday 17 April
The final game of Term One saw the might of Auckland Grammar come down and play on the Number One field. A traditional fixture that has been reinstated over the last five years, this game provides us with a tremendous opportunity to measure ourselves up against a premier rugby school.
With the standard Palmy zephyr blowing, we played against the conditions in the first half. Auckland tried playing with the ball in hand for most of the first half and our defence line was generally well organised and playing with good line speed and aggression against their bog runners. However, there were two simple missed tackles and this led directly to two long range tries. Our kicking game, even into the wind, was effective and we played most of the first period in the opposition half. This allowed us to reply with a try of our own and we finished the first half in good shape to press on with our kicking game with the wind behind us. The talk at half-time was around resolving some set piece issues we were having, particularly at lineout time, and working hard on maintaining our defensive shape.
Unfortunately, the second half started poorly with a missed lineout and zero defence around the ruck leading to a third long range try. We replied almost immediately with an intercept try when the opposition tried to run it out from their own try line and the score line tightened up again. We generally managed to play in the parts of the field we wanted to play in, but staunch defence and mistake-ridden play meant that pressure was often released and good try scoring opportunities were wasted. Still, we kept firing our shots and the effort was not to be faulted. A poor period of play where a chance to pin them back in the corner was spurned resulted in the fourth long range try to Auckland. Their effectiveness in taking the scoring chances we offered them through mistakes was excellent and, at the end of the day, the difference between the two teams. The final score was 22-12.
The effort from the team all game was superb. Against a much bigger team, no backward steps were taken. But there was a big lesson learned - that effort is not enough. Against top opposition, as a team we have to be consistent in our skill execution and decision making. As we work our way to our white jersey programme, this remains the focus and the necessity.
Points Scorers:
Tries: Bryn Wilson
Ruben Love
Conversion: Stewart Cruden