The temperature was definitely a bit colder on Sunday but the sun was shining and it was good to see that we still had a good turn-out despite many being away for half term.
The training drills this week focused on rucking safely as well as ensuring that the players understood about getting on to position and rucking 'through the gate'. In addition we also started to focus on binding properly in the scrum and keeping necks and heads safe.
With 12 players available, we were able to get all involved in plenty of game time and get them all concentrating on the basics. As the session progressed, it was clear that some of the training was starting to sink in! There were still missed tackles and a lot of shirt grabbing, but the rucks were getting better as was the use of space around the breakdown ball. The ball was passed out to the wing more readily and many players were starting to pass before getting tackled.
The introduction of the uncontested scrum in to more of the game was also important and it is an area that the team will need to get used to doing safely and confidently as the season progresses.
What was fantastic to see, was that every player there on Sunday had visibly improved with many of the smaller players being prepared to put themselves in to tackles against some of the bigger boys! It just reinforced the great way that rugby allows players of all ability to get involved and play really well as part of a team - every player has a place.
Our player of the week went to Will - congratulations. He has shown real improvement in the training sessions and today was scoring plenty of trys, rucking well and being strong in defense - a good all round player!
We are back at home next Sunday and we look forward to seeing you for another great training session.