2021 – Round 2 Roundup

Success comes when preparation meets opportunity!

Between two fairly matched sides, 3 tries apiece, it came down to who was the better-prepared side. Unfortunately, it wasn’t us…. with 6 kick attempts missed and two yellow cards, we came just 3 points short of victory. No doubt our men played their hearts out, a lot of tough minutes considering how light we were on the bench, our President put his hand up to fill the void and he did not disappoint with his valuable minutes.

The game.

It was a tussle as to who was going to draw first blood, we had our opportunity but just didn’t convert. Credit to Chatswood, they executed their game plan with a higher success rate, building phase after phase. They finally broke our line a few minutes from half time through and an inside ball to their winger, beating a couple of our defenders.

Chatswood 7 – Brothers 0

We hit back straight after half time through our new recruit Cam Redpath, scooting from the back of the scrum to plant the ball in the corner, an unconverted try. A few minutes later we struck again through Matt Norman, running with purpose to score his first of two tries, an unconverted try.

Unfortunately, our lead was short-lived as we gave away a penalty try which saw us playing with one less man but it didn’t look like we’re playing with one less man as we picked up the pace. Through a few phases and a penalty saw us attacking from a scrum. Again Matt picking up from the base of the scrum, going short side to score his second try, which we converted.

Leading 17 to 14 and with 11 minutes to go, we again got penalised and found ourselves playing with 13 men for a few minutes. The opposition took full advantage to score an unconverted try.

I can say we fought to the end, we missed a penalty and two drop goals. It just wasn’t our day.

Full-time score: Chatswood 19 – Brothers 17

Special mention to the boys playing their first game with us this season, Jesse Cahalan and Dean Price, and our new recruit Cam Redpath,  welcome to Brothers Rugby, Jusdyce Te Whare and Nathan Ford driving from Goulburn after playing a league game and our President, Karl Houghton, putting his hand up to cover our front row.

I was pleased to see an element of the game that we’re putting together get executed. Well done gents, repeat it again, make it a habit and we should be able to add a new layer moving forward.

Points this week.

3 – Cam Redpath – sound in defence, contested the breakdown, tried for the whole 80.

2 – Matt Norman – carried well, scored two tries, and rattled a couple of rib cages.

2 – Declan Ward – consistent player, whether carrying or tackling, again ended up playing in the backs to cover our light bench.

1 – Braydon Lenz – some good carries, went looking for work, even back-to-back carries at one stage.

1 – Clay Henry – scrummaging/lifting, even found himself locking the scrum. Great to see a few barnstorming runs from our tight head.

Thanks gents and see you at training.

Lenny.