On Friday 16 September the RLC Corps Development Rugby Squad convened for a training morning culminating in a match against the RAPTC in the afternoon. All part of the RAPTC’s royal appointment celebrations. Inevitably, against the RAPTC it was always shaping up to be a physical game and a good training session proved extremely useful with the late addition of some very green players to the squad.
After a physical first 15 mins, with both teams sizing each other up, the RLC scored through Adam Fawley after a strong attacking scrumage put the RAPTC on the back foot – size was definitely with the Corps. With the forward momentum the RLC went over again; it was our hooker, Butch, in the back line (like all good hookers) he then went on to almost emulate Chris Ashtons swallow dive, just with a lot less grace and poise.
With the score at 12-0 the RAPTC finally made their fitness tell and their speed and agility played a large part in a flowing move that saw them score their first try. Seemingly this is what they needed, their confidence soared (not that the muscle busters have any problem with soaring confidence) another try quickly followed. The Corps stemmed the flow and went on to score another 2 well created tries through Lagataki and Lottie.
After the break the differences between their fitness levels and our skills seem to bring the game to a bit of a stalemate for 15 minutes. However, after some silky skills from the backs; Human went over to score following a well worked overlap. The RAPTC would cross over twice more before Mark Humphries would cross the line to score his second to take the score to 36-20.
It would be remiss of me not to mention some cameo roles from the more seasoned players involved with the Development Squad (in fact all of the coaching staff………). Your efforts are much appreciated both on and off the park.
This was a great way to start the season for the Development Squad and a lot of good things came out of the game. That said, there is room for a great deal of improvement and this is what we must strive to achieve. There is most definitely some hidden talent and a few players who will not be long in knocking on the 1st XV’s door. |
