Rugby News – Positives to be taken from tough weekend away

November 21, 2016

rugbyThe midweek fixtures saw the junior sides in action against Bromsgrove School, which all teams unlucky in losing except the u13 A’s, who secured a thrilling 45 points to 35 win. On Saturday, Monmouth squared off against the old foe of Cheltenham College, with mixed results. There were fantastic wins for the u14 C team who put 60 points on their opponents in a rare opportunity to showcase their ability, whilst their u15 counterparts too secured a win. The u15 A’s and B’s both lost in good games of rugby, while the u16’s fought hard in a losing effort despite numerous injuries to key players which has depleted that age-group’s resources. The 3rd XV were sadly outplayed by strong opponents, whilst the 2nd XV were dramatically beaten by a penalty goal in a tense game of defensive rugby.

For the 1st XV, one word could perfectly summarise the game: frustration. Missed tackles and sloppy handling errors left the score at 0-0 at the break, before ill-discipline and mindless plays let Cheltenham kick two easy penalties. However, Monmouth would not give up and in the Asanji Mofor scored in the corner in the final play of the game; giving Dan Taylor the opportunity to win the game with an almost impossible conversion attempt for a schoolboy kicker, which was sadly missed. Although the results may not have necessarily gone the way Monmouth as a whole would’ve liked, there are plenty areas of encouragement to draw upon and areas to work upon ahead of the upcoming fixtures going into the end of the season.

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Many thanks again to Rui (Form III) for his excellent photos from previous matches which we are using to illustrate the Captain of the 1st XVs reports.