June 12th, and we are finally getting to play at home. After being on the road for the last 4 games, the exhilaration of running out at Norm Perry Park has been both long awaited and much deserved. It’s been a week of anxiety, worry, anticipation and pressure– not driven by the threat of the opposition or results– it was the chance to show off the high playing level that myself and the players have been working towards. This was our opportunity to showcase our best rugby at home, in front of our friends, family and club members.
Numbers at training this week have grown stronger and we ran a very constructive training session on Tuesday, looking at new plays to optimize our involvement in defense and attack. Thursday brought a good number of people out to the club as we performed a short, sharp, accurate session that enabled us to run through our game plan for Saturday. Thursday night was our club night. I was a little disappointed by the turnout from the club members and old guard, but the players were there in force for Calcutta night. This is a great fundraiser for the club; the starting men’s and women’s team are named and you bet on who you want to score by buying the player. If you win, you get half of the whole team amount– men’s was $700 and the women’s was $400. Chris Hart did a great job organizing, and it was a very fun night for all involved.
On Friday the guys and girls got together for a team meal and it was fantastic to see the players interact away from the rugby environment and watch our captain destroy every leftover on the table in a very PC tshirt !!!
Saturday saw me up a little early to set up the pitch and make sure things were ready to go. When I arrived and looked at the pitch, all marked out perfectly, I knew today was going to be a great day for the club– no matter the result.
The women’s team got the day underway at 12.00 against Wilmot and the girls started really well with senior players leading by example. The positive attitude on the pitch was fantastic. Julia Greenshields from St Clair started at 10 for her first game of the season and with some great leadership from Brook, she played a very confident game. The team made many mistakes but there were parts of the game that were fantastic to watch, due to some great individual moments. The girls won the game, getting the day off to a great start.
The development team started at 1.30 with what was by far the strongest side I have ever put out. I had 3 starting first team players that had been dropped from the squad and 4 players that have started first team this year. To say the players were happy about not being selected for the 1st XV would have been an understatement. The development came out and destroyed Peterborough in the first 10 minutes with physical presence, aggressive ball carry and the attitude to prove a point. I asked for passion and to show me what this club meant to these players, and they never took a step back all day. It was truly an inspiring team performance for all to see. Congratulations on a fantastic first win of the season.
Played two at home, won two.
1st XV
The boys looked a little nervous before getting in to the changing room. (A massive thanks to Shawn for the changing room- it looked amazing, great work) Once the guys had sat down in the new layout and chilled out to the music ,we all knew what we had to do.
The warm-up was good and the guys looked ready to rumble. With a quick trip back to the changing room to gain composure and get revved up for the game, it was our day and our party.
We started off outside with the Canadian national anthem played by Chris Molyneaux, who did an unforgettable job and provided a great start to the game.
We started well, but the game was a little scrappy. I was impressed by the team’s structure and how direct they were coming out, and I did see very quickly that there were gaps in the attack in certain areas. To solve this, we started to build phases, attacked those areas to great effect and after some fantastic passing and awareness on penalties we went into half time 21-0.
We knew this team would not just roll over and die, and since they had players and the ability to come straight back at us, the next score was vital.
They kicked to us, and before we knew it, we were behind our posts wondering what had happened.
We knew that it was now going to be a long afternoon and with continual attacks and stretching our defence we really had to dig deep. It was great to have support from the sidelines and I really do believe it made all the difference as we dug in and managed to score and shut down the game with 4 minutes to go.
Peterborough are a fantastic team and we did just enough on Saturday to overcome a very physical side that had some great players. It just proves that belief and a bond of players, friends and family can overcome anything.
We still have plenty to improve on as a squad, both on and off the pitch, but every week we lift the bar a little higher.
I also want to say a massive thank you to all the volunteers and supporters on Saturday for helping out and supporting the teams. We sometimes overlook what you do for the club but I know all the coaches and players are very grateful for all your hard work, so thank you very much. Just a special couple of thank you to Stu Powell and puppet for doing a fantastic job all day and night behind the bar and sorting out all the little things that go unnoticed.
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Best Regards
Matthew James Williams
519 331 1356
www.mjwrugby.com
