Yarnbury - Wasps & Spiders

Hi All,

Wasps
Game 1: Won 35-15 (3 for Elias, 2 for Lucas Winn and 1 each for Foggy and Lucas Burden)

Slow start, they didn’t think it necessary to tackle at first, going 0-2 down within about 3 minutes, two very soft tries. York dominated the game from then on, except for another soft try at the start of the 2nd Half (daft missed tackles).

Yarnbury simply couldn’t cope with the speed and strength of the York game with the forwards dominating the scrum and particularly impressive at holding runners up in the defensive maul and forcing turnovers (1st on the choke tackle, second onto the ball). Josh Shaw made a proper nuisance of himself pressuring their 9 in the way a scrum half should and getting quick ball the Freddie I who was feeding the 2 Lucas’ centre partnership that was charging on to the ball with speed and aggression. Joe J seemed magically to be everywhere he needed to be at all times, and was showing a fantastic ability to catch off-loads and passes off his toes and at full stretch (apart from the unfortunate drop with a walk in try begging, next time).

I’d like to see the first man into the ruck to get a little lower (i.e. lower than the opposition), this improved as time progressed and I’d put the game one victory down to a great performance by the pack, illustrated by the meters and tries secured by Elias who was on fire (with a very well functioning hand off!) and Foggy showing off a great determined, driving finish.

Wasps
Game 2: Won 40-10 (4 for Lucas Winn, 2 for Elias, and 2 for Luke Redman)

The forwards once again dominated for most of the game, however I’d credit the backs for this score line. Lucas W racked up 4 tries, but it was the combination of Lucas B, Lucas W, Jo Jacques and the quick, accurate ball from Josh and Freddie that made it all possible.

Time and time again we had one or the other Lucas hitting the line at speed with quick feet and good hands and the back 3 (Fin, Jo J and Charley G) in full support, Yarnbury had no answer and at times it looked all too easy. Additionally, the back 3 looked impenetrable, on the occasions when Yarnbury did get the ball wide, the threat was very quickly shut out.

In the second half Yarnbury lost a player to injury so we dropped to 12 a-side and 5 man scrums, then York lost Elias to a nasty ankle twist. Yarnbury got aggressive and York lost a little shape so the scoring rate dropped, however the result and York's dominance was never in doubt.

Credit to Luke R who’s work rate is phenomenal, 2 tries to Luke a result of hard work and making sure he was in the right place to receive the ball and no one is going to stop a determined Redman from 2 meters!

I’d also like to credit Lucas Winn for his sportmanship. Lucas had broken down the wing and on being tackled 5 meters out popped a pass to Joe J who had got into a fabulous supporting position to then jog over and score to the well earned cheers of spectators, I gave the try then a Yarnbury player complained about a hand-off to the throat (that I had not seen). I asked Lucas if he’d done this and he replied yes, but not intentionally it was to the chest and slipped up. This of course meant I had to disallow the try and bring play back for a penalty. Sorry to Joe for denying him a try , but full credit to Lucas for his honesty and upholding the core values of the sport.
Spiders vs Yarnbury
Game 1: Won 35-5
Game 2: Won 35- 5
Not sure I’m as eloquent as Martyn, however the results in games came down to a commendable Spider’s performance. The key attribute was intensity. Against a big and organised pack, the boys simply did not back down. Yarnbury’s forward play was excellent at the breakdown, getting over the ball that little bit quicker than Spiders. They improved things in the second match, however it is in games like this that you can learn a lot. Notwithstanding Yarnbury’s success at the breakdown, Spiders defensive display in Yarnbury’s 2nd phase is where the matches were won. The intensity of the York defence throughout the whole morning was the key factor – never giving their backs an easy ride and forcing turnovers which in turn resulted in some great team as well as individual tries. At the scrummage the front 6 held their own against a much bigger pack , winning all their own ball (strong hooking from Archie and Frankie)
Some powerful performances by Jake, Charlie P and H, Jay and Henry DuBoulay (who both had their strongest/most dominant games of the season), were supported by another step up in the performance of all the Spiders squad. Saif rampaged all morning, Ben Fairclough who burst open the defence before sprinting in from the half way line to score his first try for York, James McAdoo’s best game to date linking play and finishing off his morning with a fantastic try. Freddie L showed the value of his size driving over the gain line again and again. Archie’s quick and accurate passing and hooking, Frankie’s handling and work rate, Christie’s wing play and tackling, Josh E making big yards and Joe running hard and straight in the centre. Will sustained a neck injury in the first game prior to which again showed is attacking potential. However, Ed Brown delivered the Spider’s performance of the day, playing at scrum half. An outstanding morning – we lost count of the crunching tackles he made, with his tireless work rate he led by example, whilst is accurate passing to Charlie P at Flyhalf just kept the Spider’s machine rolling.
As mentioned earlier in the Spiders report, the biggest challenge we have as a coaching staff is quickening the players reactions to firstly getting to and secondly securing the ball at the breakdown for quick distribution