Full credit to Cranbrook today. They gave away size across the paddock but defended tenaciously with fast line speed and disrupted the Knox breakdown repeatedly. A very brave performance. It was really only in the 2nd hall that Knox were able to establish dominance, with the ball given some width, enabling the backs and wide running piggies some room to move, resulting in 5 second half tries. Teams attached.Knox out of the blocks in the 2H.
33-6 after 20
And 47-6 to finish.
In regards to the Waves Aloys game today, here were a few points I gathered:
- Best on field from Waverley was 3 (Finn Wright) who had a big running game, breaking several tackles, & 4 (Luca Moretti) specifically for his strong offload game.
- From Aloys 12 (Pat Flaherty) was exceptional in a losing side, consistently drawing attention and giving exceptional ball to his outer backs. 10 (James Westbury) I also thought played well, given the difficult ball he had to cope with
- It was not so much Aloys forwards playing poor as much as it was Waverley's pack playing well as a unit. They were fast to breakdowns as well as powerful, however their discipline was not always on point and this resulted in several penalties and a yellow card (arguably lucky for waves only to cop one)
- Aloys had strong goal line defense in the first half- the half time score was 12-6. They tired dramatically later in the second half
- Overall there were a lot of positives to be had from both teams. I think although the score line did in fact reflect the game, and Aloys deservedly lost well, they showed good structure, and given some luck can trouble all teams in the coming months
- Waverley played their strong typical game. In particular, their forwards were very impressive and they used this well to their advantage
I'd add some points to this. Another re-jigged backline didn't help Waverley's fluency to start and this, along with the greasy ball (there was a little bit of annoying rain about) made it hard for Waverley to get going. I would have given MoM to ben Donaldson who played out of position at 12 but is always on the lookout for opportunities and calms the team down as captain (he also scored 2 tries).
I thought Aloys played really hard rugby and tackled themselves to a standstill - they certainly didn't take a backward step & should be proud of their effort. You can only play as well as the other team lets you and Waverley always put them under pressure. In the second half they had much less ball and began to tire form the tackling they had to do. But nobody should take them for granted as they have talent and big hearts.
The Wav yellow card was justified (player tackled in the air from kickoff) but I would say that Aloys were lucky not to get one for repeated infringements. The ref blew lots of penalties for not releasing, not rolling away, offside against Aloys in the 2nd half (they did what they had to do) but didn't even talk to the captain about it. I think he didn't want to unbalance an increasingly unbalanced game.
So Waverley got a good physical game from Aloys but didn't have their tryline breached and were able to score 7 tries through a well-disciplined ensemble game. It sounds strange but I'd agree that both teams can take positives from this. Aloys lost heavily but this is a very good Waverley side and they put more points on against Riverview, Joeys, Newington and Shore than they did against Aloys. Waverley's team isn't back to full strength yet but it's much stronger than last week against Riverview and it showed.
As usual BJ, spot on.
I had lunch today before the game with 20+ Aloys and Waverley old boys prior to the game, vintage 1979. Hey Dick!
We all agreed that Aloys, as always, turned up and put pressure on the waves, and the half time score line of 14-6 was very much proof.
It is so true how a key player can make such a difference.
Ben Donaldson is seriously all class and was brilliant today at IC.
But the loss of B. Hardaker is so obvious, it is this combo with Bell and Donaldson that makes the back line machine purr.
Today it didn't but they had enough to get the job done but not a pretty game.
The Aloys team will put it to Knox and Barker, I am sure, and next year.
However, Based on todays results, I think Barker will need to improve if they are to challenge this year.
Accurate unfortunately. I thought Trinity played far better than Alos did against Barker a few weeks back. The Trinty forwards were very quick to the breakdown and tended to smother the Barker half easily when he had possession which made it difficult for Barker to develop fluency in the backline. The Barker forwards fired up in the last 20 minutes or so but it was a real close call. At least schoolboy Rugby has its excitement grounded in its lack of predictability.I totally agree. Barker played poorly today for 70% of the game. When they finally clicked the points came easliy but that will not happen against Waverley or Knox, and for that matter Aloys too. Aloys are a tough team to play and Barker will need to be on their game to win.
I totally agree. Barker played poorly today for 70% of the game. When they finally clicked the points came easliy but that will not happen against Waverley or Knox, and for that matter Aloys too. Aloys are a tough team to play and Barker will need to be on their game to win.