CN Round 3: Sub-16/18 v Agronomia

Match Report by Damian Steele

Sunday 21st of October, saw the Sub 18s play their second home game of the season, this time against Agronomia. Thankfully, the terrible weather that had been predicted did not materialise, however there was enough drizzle before the match to ensure handling was going to be difficult. A large crowd had turned out to support the boys in what promised to be a close encounter, following the 18-10 result in the pre-season match.

The first half was indeed a tight tussle, with both teams defending very well, but struggling to gain any ascendancy with ball in hand. Two penalty goals to St. Julian´s, following good attacking play from the forwards, were matched by an Agronomia converted try which saw them go to the break with a 7-6 advantage.

The weather had improved somewhat and all in attendance anticipated an entertaining second half with plenty of free flowing rugby. Unfortunately what eventuated was a penaltyfest with the referee never allowing the game to gain any momentum, and seemingly intent on blowing the pea out of his whistle. Agronomia adapted better to the confusing interpretation of the rules, and eventually ran out 29-6 winners, following four second half tries.

Credit must go to Agronomia, who defended well and constantly barrelled over the advantage line, eventually wearing down the St. Julian´s defence to score each of their tries.

There were, however, many positives for St Julian´s in defeat, with the commitment at the contact zone highly impressive, especially from Mathieu Rodrigues, and the spirit and determination remaining intact until the final whistle. The set piece in the forwards was also very good, with Martim Cruz being the dominant lineout player on the field, in attack and defence. Our use of the rugby ball in attack requires some work, as does our fitness and ability to adapt to adversity, but we are constantly improving, which is the most important thing.

We now have a few weeks off from games, which gives us the opportunity to focus on some fundamental skills that are lacking, and gain further clarity in our structures in preparation for the trip to Porto after half term.

Thank you to those who turned out to support, and we look forward to seeing you and many others at our home games in coming months.

Scorers:  Santiago Oriol (3,3)

Man of the Match:  Mathieu Rodrigues.

Although the final score was not the one we were hoping for, credit must be given to Agronomia, who clearly deserved to win. They had a bigger and stronger forward pack, which physically dominated the game, and in their backline they had quick and skillfull players, scoring some great tries, although we didn’t help ourselves by missing too many tackles.

We certainly allowed too many easy 1^st phase tries, something that did not happened in the previous game against Belenenses. Whenever our boys used their shoulders we saw some great tackles and some big hits (which often caused the opposition to lose possession or to knock the ball on), but in this game we were clearly inconsistent in our tackling, with way too many players trying to grab the opponents jerseys with their fingers, so that will definitely be a big focus for the next training sessions.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half our boys showed a completely different attitude, communicating much more effectively in defence, tackling more solidly and keeping a better defensive organization, and in that period of time Agronomia struggled to dominate as they had in the first half.

In attack, the few times we had the ball in hand, we were able to create some good attacking sequences, with good forward momentum and continuity of play, but poor pass-catch skills caused too many knock-ons.

Although we were unhappy with the final score and with the overall performance, big improvements were seen in the forwards, namely in the lineout and in the scrum, so not everything in the game was disappointing. Our backline was also able to inject some speed and pace into our attack, but our tackling and drift defence was simply not as effective as in the game against Belenenses, and once again we conceded several tries out wide.

Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that in the first three rounds of the championship, the sub-16s had a tough introduction to the A level, playing against Direito, Belenenses and Agronomia, three of the best teams in the competition. Our team is quite young (more 1^st year players than 2^nd year), but, although we are still inconsistent during the 60 minutes of the game, in some periods of the game we are showing good attack and defence.

Final score: St. Julian’s 0 – Agronomia 76

Man of the match: António Rodrigues