Rugby Report: Quadrangular 2010 Review
The 2010 22nd Annual Quadrangular was hosted by St Andrews (STAC) in Christchurch. After finishing 5th in the Wellington Premier Trophy competition 3 weeks earlier and on the back of 2 lead up games against club age grade sides, Scots were well prepared for their 1st up opponents on Day 1 - St Kentigerns (AKL). St Kents also finished 5th in the Auckland competition. A competition reknown for its physical size and intensity. Scots last played St Kents at the 2008 quad at Lindisfarne and on that day were beaten 59 - 0.
A number of parents and supporters travelled down to be with the team and their contribution to the week is notably acknowledged.
SCOTS COLLEGE 14 V ST KENTIGERNS 29
The tournament couldn't have started any worse for Scots captain Hunter Prescot. In the 2nd minute of play Hunter received a Quad ending shoulder injury and Scots were still trying to organise themselves when St Kents scored the first try of the match in the 5th minute. More bad news for Scots when James Kora was taken from the field in the 7th minute after a heavy knock to the lower leg. Not only had Scots lost their captain and lineout thrower but also their big ball winner and 2 main ball carriers. Once organised Scots started to gain parity in the possession against their bigger opponents. St Kents jumped out to a 10 point advantage in the 15th minute when Scots infringed and St Kents slotted a penalty. Play was contested with great intensity and Scots matched St Kents in this area of the game. Scots has based their play around the games core skills. Scots attempt to play their rugby in the 15m channels which means getting players in support to give the team go forward. This paid dividends as they stretched the St Kents defence and ran their big guys around play after play. Halfback Patrick Gluck crossed for a try which Jackson Garden-Bachop converted after good lead up work. The score remained 7 - 10 until the break.
St Kents scored a converted try 2min into the 2nd half to stretch their lead to a 10 point ball game but if they had any thoughts of Scots rolling over they were mistaking. Scots with possession parity and making good use of the ball applied pressure and in the 11th minute Chris May scored a 50m try beating several defenders for Jackson to convert to close the gap to a 3 point game. Scots were proving a tough nut to crack, but they did finally crack the nut in the 22nd minute with a try. Scots made 2 crucial errors around the 25th minute mark when a penalty clearance to the line found touch in goal and a scrum awarded to St Kents on the halfway line and a quickly taken penalty that could have been 3 points. St Kents hammered the final nail when they scored a 7 pointer after 29 minutes of the 2nd half. Scots battled gamely till the end and were bitterly dissapointed with what could have been.
We were so proud of the boys and their effort and the dressing room resembled a hospital emergency department. They had spent every bit of energy and in some cases bled for the cause.
SCOTS COLLEGE 13 V LINDISFARNE 38
Day 2 of the tournament is always tough. After watching the Lindisfarne v At Andrews game on day 1, the Scots v St Kents game was by far the more physical encounter. With so many battered and broken bodies we called on every member of the team to get us across the line. Under stand in Captain - Jackson Garden-Bachop - Scots started well and in the 5th minute Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted a decent sized penalty only to be matched in the 15min by Lindisfarne. Not to be out done Jackson converted another Lindisfarne indiscretion 2min later. Despite not getting a great share of the possession Scots were using it well and they were trucking along nicely when Jackson made a break and passed to James Tyler who shadowed in support, for James to dot down handy to the posts for Jackson to convert in the 21st minute. At this point the game had been open and flowed nicely and both teams showed good skill with good inter-passing exchanges.
Scots were put under pressure when Lindisfarne got good field position and scored a 29th minute try. Scots hung on till the half for a 13 - 8 lead. Lindisfarne got the jump they needed and scored a converted try 1 minute after halftime. The game disintergarated into a stop start affair as the referee blew a string of penalties and neither team could get any traction or momentum. Lindisfarne adapted better while Scots got frustrated and paid the price when they were penalised in the 8th minute and Lindisfarne kicked the resulting penalty, 13 - 18. As frustraion took a hold and strangled the life and any fight out of the Scots boys Lindisfarne. The truck was quickly running out of gas as Lindisfarne took advantage and scored tries in the 10th, 20th and 33rd minutes to run out winners 38 - 13.
The team headed off the field dissapointed, I suspect with their own performances and lack of discipline under pressure. However as we have learnt along the way this year, it is a tough old world but lessons can be learnt on the sporting filed and applied to life. I am sure as the boys have time to reflect they will be able use the lessons learnt.
Congratulations to the 2010 Men of Steel
Jackson Garden-Bachop (2009/10), Nick Wellwood and Hamish Vance started in every game in 2010 (Jackson 2009) earning themselves the title of Men of Steel – well done boys
Dave Meaclem