Westcliff U16’s RFC v Chelmsford U16’s RFC

Chelmsford U16’s travelled to Westcliff for a last minute friendly. 17 boys travelled South on a grey, drizzly Remembrance Sunday. Westcliff had their A team on hand along with their entire B team training on the pitch next door. CRFC however were missing a third of our squad, meaning many lads had to play out of their preferred position. It was great to see some lads back at a match who have been out through injury, and also a couple of our players came along to support from the sidelines.
Having respectfully observed a minute’s silence, the whistle blew for the first half. CRFC had a poor start, and for the first 10 minutes, we were by far the weaker side, allowing 2 tries to get past with one conversion. One minute before half time, a 3rd try was awarded to Westcliff, despite our players claims that the ball was clearly spilled over the line. Unfortunately the Ref saw differently and at half time, CRFC were 19-0 down.
The break couldn’t come soon enough, and it gave our lads the chance to regroup and refocus on the task at hand. The second half however didn’t start as well as we had hoped, with Westcliff scoring 2 more tries within the first 15 minutes. CRFC fought back, keeping hold of the ball much better and driving hard in the mauls, gaining ground and clawing back 2 tries in the final quarter. The win was well deserved by Westcliff, who were well drilled, quick off their line and super effective at the rucks. CRFC have the players, the skill and the determination to improve and they will no doubt be a much stronger when we next face them in the league towards the end of the season.
On a day dedicated to remembering the fallen and reflecting on the past heroics of the men and women who courageously fought for this country – it is time for CRFC to reflect on this performance today, Considering how little game and consistent training time we’ve had this year we knew the match would be a challenge. During the second half we had three forwards playing in the backs including a prop at centre and a flank at full back. Similarly many of our forwards were fatigued by the end and our lack of subs took its toll with our scrum back peddling against the fresher opponents. Plenty for us to work on at training but we know the result isn’t a true reflection on the respective strengths of the two teams.