Sefton RUFC

Sat 6 Nov 2021

Widnes 2nd XV

40 - 0

Sefton 2nd XV

Widnes 2nd XV

Sefton 2nd XV

It seems most of the teams the seconds play are heavily influenced by rugby league. No more so than Widnes, who pick up their fair share of players when the league season finishes. Sefton knew what to expect, strong runners, and hard tackles, but probably lacking in set piece skills.

Two teams playing totally different tactics. Widnes relying on quick ball to their backs, and breaking the gain line, whilst Sefton were all about the set pieces, working from scrums and lineout’s.

After an initial attacking flurry from Widnes that was repelled, Sefton finally built some momentum. The scrum was dominated by the prop combo of Matthew Faulkner and Jack Crone, and this allowed Sefton to get into the oppositions half. However, a loose ball gave the possession back to Widnes, and their quick backs capitalised on this, breaking away to score their first try.

Again Sefton went through the process of scrummage, attack, penalty, and lineout to get them within the oppositions twenty-two. The ball is eventually passed wide, and Widnes are up fast, this time intercepting the pass to run the length of the pitch, and score.

With Sefton’s dominant scrums, Widnes were constantly driven off their own ball, and though this gave them plenty of ball, it was difficult to penetrate a solid defence. Fortunately Widnes were giving away a lot of penalties and this allowed Gorgeous to kick into the corners.

Lineouts were also favouring Sefton, with Dan Drakeley and Adam Walker taking everything in the air. A maul from a lineout was driven forward, and when the ball was released, JP Ellis crashes the ball in, only to be held up over the try line.

Unfortunately, the usual five metre scrum has now been replaced by the goal line drop out, which suited Widnes more than Sefton. The drop out takes the ball back into Sefton’s half, and they have to restart the attack from there. Another sequence of scrums and lineout’s gets Sefton back into an attacking position, and this time Jack Crone finds his way over the try line only to be held up again by a dogged defence. The kick out is repeated, and Jon Neville retrieves the ball.

--- Kicking Update ---

Initially things look positive, Neville runs at the onrushing defence with purpose, showing the confidence of a player who is improving all the time. However, what came next defies logic. Not known for his kicking abilities, and possibly unaware of the second teams disdain for kicking the ball away, Jon attempts to kick through. The kick goes horribly wrong, not travelling more than five metres, and straight into the waiting arms of the oncoming defence.

With this Widnes gain possession, and within a few short passages of play, they were once again placing the ball over Sefton’s try line.

At half time not much could be said, Sefton had all the possession, and all the territory, yet they were three tries down through their own mistakes, which Widnes took full advantage of. They started the second half confident it could be turned around.

--- A brief history of rugby (the introduction of backs) ---

It is well documented that originally a rugby team consisted of eight forwards, and a scrum-half. These eight forwards would compete against another eight forwards in a pushing competition (the scrum), with the scrum half given honorary status within the team, as they needed someone to feed the ball in. However, this proved problematic in that the ball never moved from the one spot, which infuriating ground maintenance staff. Hence, a group of inferior players were introduced (the backs), to move the ball away from contact area, where they would eventually drop the ball. This allowed the forwards to set up a scrum in a different area of the pitch, and hence protect the pitch from repetitive use.

This was the scenario now, as the backs from both sides repeatedly dropped the ball, resulting in another scrum. Even the ref was getting quite apologetic about the constant scrummaging. Sefton however, were quite happy with this, not so Widnes, who struggled to hold their scrums together, although they weren’t penalised once for breaking apart.

The loss of Gorgeous, and then Adam Walker shortly after meant Sefton were onto their third scrum-half with Russell O’Brian stepping in from the centres. This continued positional change disrupted Sefton, and they didn’t get as many opportunities despite both Michael Browne and JP Ellis doing some strong solo line breaks.

Both Brendan McCrudden and Sean Muirhead went into the forwards and showed great promise in their position change, learning that forward generally don’t side step you, they just try and run through you. As a result both completing their tackle for this season, if slightly reluctant.

In the end Sefton let it slip with some more handling errors, and some poor playing options, with only one clear break coming from Isaac Lancaster that nearly paid off if not for a high tackle. Widnes replied to this by scoring three further tries in the second half, to put the game out of reach.

It still baffles me how we won all the scrums, most the lineout’s, had all the possession, and the territory, yet still lost.

Some great performances, and a marked improvement from our last game, but it’s clear, it’s going to be a tough season in this new league. Both JP Ellis and Michael Browne were outstanding, and a début for Isaac Lancaster showed he can easily compete in Senior rugby. Both props did devastating work in the scrums, however it was Jack Crone who deservedly got Man of the Match.