Lee Tao JingThe 2 primary roles of the Forwards are: Ball Retention and Going Forward.
These are short and simple commands that are very much appreciated by a prop like me.
Whenever my vision decreased to the width of my shoulders, and all I see (is bodies piling) and hear is (players screaming). I will hold on to these basic principles dearly.
"Our possession is pressure to the opposition" (Quoted from Peerose)
Here are my thoughts on our first XVs game with the U14s boys:
Initially, I felt that we were not well prepared for the game. We have the knowledge; we know what we need to do but are we conditioned enough? Moreover we had only been training together for about 2 weeks. (But its okay I know our asses will be kicked and we will warm up by doing fitness when the 7s squad returns).
On the whole, I thought if everyone held on to the basic principles mentioned for the full 80mins, its will be a much controlled game on our side. The boys were nimble to react on our mistakes such as chucking of balls instead of setting up a ruck and lack of communication in defence.
The team's common problem is that we do not get into the game mode immediately. We take too long to warm up. However,we played much better in the second half and were paid off by tries coming in our side too.
In defence, we were not aggressive and quick enough to move up and pressure the opposition. I think fitness plays a big part here. I was "sprinting" but I was just not getting near to the opposition (from kickoffs, some of the times only I emphasize.)
However in attack, we had possession most of the time and we manage to apply some of the new moves/ play patterns we learned which I think is very encouraging.
There were some quick rucks and momentum going on and now I am convinced that ROCKET really works! We had brilliant inside passes that enable us to gain further ground. Occasional S ball and Post gave us more penetration into gaps. However, we need to keep this momentum going and retain the good flow ALL THE TIME.
And please do not be deceived by Gina's size because one occasion when I was keeping close behind her preparing to ROCKET over her. But she just went on going past 3 layers of walls/ defenders with her screw-driving techniques. Good job la Gina!
In set pieces like scrums, I thought some of our hits /engages were good but we did not keep our pressure/drive on the opposition. However when we kept the drive and pressure on we manage to move the opposition back. We need full on focus in every scrum and its not easy when fatigue sets in.
For lineouts, the throws' consistency can be improved and we managed to disrupt some opposition's throw ins when we contested in lifting.
We had more communication during set pieces and kick offs then in rucks. I think its because we can catch our breath then haha.
The best play of the game in my opinion: From our lineout, we went into a driving maul which outsiders could not even see who has the ball. Pris then detached from the maul and went diving straight for try.
Apologies for the lack of highlights on the backline. I have always secretly admired (not a secret anymore) how you all can penetrate and make line breaks with their speed, strength and excellent ball handling.
Please understand by the time I pop my head out of the scrum and make my way to the next breakdown, the backline action is almost over =)
Nevertheless I have complete faith in our backline especially the senior players.
Also, I though the scrumhalfs did a decent job despite all the pressure and shoutings from both sides and some of you are not very experienced.
Hey scrumhalfs do not be shy okay you guys have to shout back at us even louder. We understand the pressure. Really! Especially the forwards we need directions sometimes. Call our names!
I am fortunate to have almost full game time and I am glad I survived. But after the game I felt I lost 10 kgs and at some point I felt I could puke water as I was too greedy I gulped down gallons of water during break.
There is a lot of things I want to achieve but only when I have fitness of miss wing a.k.a wolverine a.k.a Duracell Bunny. She can go on at the same intensity for the full game.
Some of us played 7s after the game. I am always easily excited by the space available to run in 7s =)
-Waves to Weiyi- Your strength in scrums is in having really quick leg speed. Do make use of it to drive opposition back from quick feed on your side. Anyone interested please take on Weiyi she is a good scrummager. I am embarrassed by it as I am almost 10 kg heavier than her haha.
And Juan your quick hook and sweep of ball leaves us the opposition no chance to disrupt the scrum.
Glad to see the 7s scrums and engagement has improved in a short period of time.
I must say it is good to have Peerose back. The last time we had him we had only 2 weeks but he pushed us to another level. This time we have more preparation, new ideas and new goals (Eg. lineout throws at the last jumper) from him. We have a lot to look forward to. We know what we need to work on from the game and with more trainings with one another we will get somewhere.
Remember to check out for mystery bruises from the game and ice them =)
P/s front-rowers: Any secret remedies for sore necks?
tao.
These are short and simple commands that are very much appreciated by a prop like me.
Whenever my vision decreased to the width of my shoulders, and all I see (is bodies piling) and hear is (players screaming). I will hold on to these basic principles dearly.
"Our possession is pressure to the opposition" (Quoted from Peerose)
Here are my thoughts on our first XVs game with the U14s boys:
Initially, I felt that we were not well prepared for the game. We have the knowledge; we know what we need to do but are we conditioned enough? Moreover we had only been training together for about 2 weeks. (But its okay I know our asses will be kicked and we will warm up by doing fitness when the 7s squad returns).
On the whole, I thought if everyone held on to the basic principles mentioned for the full 80mins, its will be a much controlled game on our side. The boys were nimble to react on our mistakes such as chucking of balls instead of setting up a ruck and lack of communication in defence.
The team's common problem is that we do not get into the game mode immediately. We take too long to warm up. However,we played much better in the second half and were paid off by tries coming in our side too.
In defence, we were not aggressive and quick enough to move up and pressure the opposition. I think fitness plays a big part here. I was "sprinting" but I was just not getting near to the opposition (from kickoffs, some of the times only I emphasize.)
However in attack, we had possession most of the time and we manage to apply some of the new moves/ play patterns we learned which I think is very encouraging.
There were some quick rucks and momentum going on and now I am convinced that ROCKET really works! We had brilliant inside passes that enable us to gain further ground. Occasional S ball and Post gave us more penetration into gaps. However, we need to keep this momentum going and retain the good flow ALL THE TIME.
And please do not be deceived by Gina's size because one occasion when I was keeping close behind her preparing to ROCKET over her. But she just went on going past 3 layers of walls/ defenders with her screw-driving techniques. Good job la Gina!
In set pieces like scrums, I thought some of our hits /engages were good but we did not keep our pressure/drive on the opposition. However when we kept the drive and pressure on we manage to move the opposition back. We need full on focus in every scrum and its not easy when fatigue sets in.
For lineouts, the throws' consistency can be improved and we managed to disrupt some opposition's throw ins when we contested in lifting.
We had more communication during set pieces and kick offs then in rucks. I think its because we can catch our breath then haha.
The best play of the game in my opinion: From our lineout, we went into a driving maul which outsiders could not even see who has the ball. Pris then detached from the maul and went diving straight for try.
Apologies for the lack of highlights on the backline. I have always secretly admired (not a secret anymore) how you all can penetrate and make line breaks with their speed, strength and excellent ball handling.
Please understand by the time I pop my head out of the scrum and make my way to the next breakdown, the backline action is almost over =)
Nevertheless I have complete faith in our backline especially the senior players.
Also, I though the scrumhalfs did a decent job despite all the pressure and shoutings from both sides and some of you are not very experienced.
Hey scrumhalfs do not be shy okay you guys have to shout back at us even louder. We understand the pressure. Really! Especially the forwards we need directions sometimes. Call our names!
I am fortunate to have almost full game time and I am glad I survived. But after the game I felt I lost 10 kgs and at some point I felt I could puke water as I was too greedy I gulped down gallons of water during break.
There is a lot of things I want to achieve but only when I have fitness of miss wing a.k.a wolverine a.k.a Duracell Bunny. She can go on at the same intensity for the full game.
Some of us played 7s after the game. I am always easily excited by the space available to run in 7s =)
-Waves to Weiyi- Your strength in scrums is in having really quick leg speed. Do make use of it to drive opposition back from quick feed on your side. Anyone interested please take on Weiyi she is a good scrummager. I am embarrassed by it as I am almost 10 kg heavier than her haha.
And Juan your quick hook and sweep of ball leaves us the opposition no chance to disrupt the scrum.
Glad to see the 7s scrums and engagement has improved in a short period of time.
I must say it is good to have Peerose back. The last time we had him we had only 2 weeks but he pushed us to another level. This time we have more preparation, new ideas and new goals (Eg. lineout throws at the last jumper) from him. We have a lot to look forward to. We know what we need to work on from the game and with more trainings with one another we will get somewhere.
Remember to check out for mystery bruises from the game and ice them =)
P/s front-rowers: Any secret remedies for sore necks?
tao.
1 comment:
A tip on sore necks:
Become a Back Rower or even better become a Back!!
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