Heavies do it again….

Despite near perfect preparation, players returning from injury and one of the strongest sides we have been able to field; it was simply not to be our day.

Every single player put their all into the game and I could not have asked for more. Attitudes were spot on, warm up without incidence and lineout options which looked promising.
Yet despite everything appearing perfect, there was one small detail we overlooked……..did the Heavies believe they were going to win more than we did!?

Within 5 minutes Heavies scored in the top left corner and etched that first 'reason to doubt' in to our mindset.
We then contested with some dominance and some parity in areas of the game which kept us even for a while and briefly with a great try from aggressive rucking by Sean Gibson we were slightly ahead at 5-7.

After 30 minutes of play Heavies scored again in the top left hand corner and we started to loose some of our composure.
The score remained at 10-7 for some time and we really did defend well especially with the Heavies delving into their rich pool of players and bringing on a number of very effective substitutions.
Being on the back foot and not having enough ball forced us to panic and make mistakes.
A kick firm our own touch line which was charged down giving the Heavies an easy score was possibly the turning point at 50 minutes, pushing the score to 17-7.

The remaining three tries which Heavies scored were simply from capitalising on our errors and turning them into well executed opportunities and so whilst some would understandably argue that the 34-7 score margin doesn’t do the game justice, I would suggest that the very fact Richmond Heavies excel in punishing you when you make mistakes is testament to their quest to remain near excellent.
I congratulate the Heavies for doing the simple things well, namely turning over ball at the ruck which is where we lost the game.
Further, the continuing warmth and kind hospitality afforded to us in the Club House afterwards continues to galvanise the respect between our Clubs……….but oh Boy……….we really do want to play you again soon as we don’t lie down easily!

Thank you Richmond for a great contest and a great reception!

Many of us had to head back to Barnes to enjoy an encounter of a very different kind and so my thanks to all those at Barnes who made the Mini’s Dance with live Band such a great night to remember!!!

Skips/Finche