2021 – Round 1 Roundup

Zumba Zumba Zey!!

First game done and dusted, and what a game! We started off strong, piggybacking on penalties to within 5 metres of the Wakehurst try line, but their defence held strong and managed to turn us around. In the space of 10 minutes, Wakehurst managed to put two converted tries on the board and we were now chasing the game. We got back in the game through some good play that saw Alex Roch slicing the defence to open our account – however, Wakehurst hit right back with a charge down, leading to a try, which saw their lead back out to 14.

Again we fought back to find ourselves in good field position, 5 metres from the try line. A good pick and go from the back of the scrum by Matt Norman fighting off the opposition and feeding it to Hayden to score our second. Closing the gap to 7. That was short lived as the opposition pounced on a dropped ball to score an unconverted try.

Leading up to half time we pegged them back through our hard working skipper, Michael Parker, a steal at the line out and a bustling run to the try line. Great to see the line out lifters doing their job and working well with Parker.

Half time:  Brothers 21 – Wakehurst 26

The talk at half time was positive, identifying areas we needed to improve on. We knew the game was ours to lose considering we dominated the set pieces. A fast start in the second half was needed and that’s exactly what happened.

We hit back with two converted tries through Braydon Lenz and Chris Royle on some impressive carries from our forwards and nice touches from our backline. This saw us lead for the first time and we didn’t look back. Two more tries from our inspirational captain saw us seal the deal.

Full time:  Brothers  49- Wakehurst 38

There were some outstanding individual efforts today, none other than by our captain who kept fronting up, at line outs, scrums, converting carries to meters or tackling his heart out. Declan Ward, the new Mr Versatile, started on the wing, then moved to 7, then 12 the last ten minutes, he tackles like a demon, carried well and contested the break down with purpose. The league boys Lachie Westwick, Nathan Ford and Jusdys Te Whare contributed heavily especially Jusdys calm, cool and a touch of class about him. Kicking 5 conversions, he gave us a buffer each time we scored, a great find for brothers. Matt Norman stepped up in crucial points of the game with turnovers and carries. Our halves controlled the pace as the game wore on. The most pleasing factor was our dominance at scrum and line-out considering we don’t practise set-pieces as much as we should.

Well done today men, a good fight back and great tenacity shown.

Special mention to Hayden Toohey, good to see you back in blue and gold. Eddy Sudradjat plays above his weight, played a good role off the bench, be on the wing or on the side of the scrum. The league boys travelling far to be part of Brothers rugby. Jayden Wall filling in at wing.

Lastly thanks to all who contributed outside of the field. Setting up the ground and putting things away after the game, scoring and registering players, looking after the canteen, doing the BBQ. If we all contribute a little it makes it a whole lot easier for the club. Thank you all.

See you at training.

The points this week:

3 Points – Michael Parker, no surprises here, 3 tries , line-out wins and steals, bulldozing runs. Kept us in the game when we were trailing.

2 Points – Declan Ward, a great technique in chop tackles, some very good tackles on their big poppas. High calibre play.

1 Point – Jusdys Te Whare, another player I had to move around from 13 to 15. Handled the positional change with ease. Kicking for goals is a very important asset, it adds pressure to the opposition.

1 Point – Matt Norman, crucial turnovers that played a big part in the final result.

Thanks,

Lenny.