Scots College – Learning. For Life.

In front of a big crowd, Scots College were on the receiving end of a good old fashioned hiding against St Pats (Town) on Saturday. St Pats demonstrated that they will be serious Premier 1 title contenders come playoff time with a powerful display of 'all round' rugby. They were dominant in all facets of the game. Their set piece ensured a steady supply of good quality ball and their phase play was always on the front foot with an aggressive display by their well conditioned forwards which was complimented out wide by their pacy three quarter line.

When we set our goals for 2010 we were objective with the reality of the competition we wanted to play in and the opposition we would face 'week in & week out'. We knew that every week would be a steep learning curve and we would walk away from the 'field of dreams' knowing more than the week before.

Our goals; 1. To make Premier 1 Trophy Round 2010 - Achieved 2. To knock over a Top 4 'traditional' school - Achieved and to finish a credible 5th - still to be achieved would be worthy of our playing resources and ability.

More importantly we would understand what is required to take our rugby to the next level. As the saying goes 'if you do what you have always done, you are going to get what you have always got'. Each year we have set our goals a little higher but also understand that we have to push ourselves that little bit more to achieve them.

St Pats (Town) was a perfect example of a team with a very definite goal - To win the 2010 Premier Trophy and they demonstrated to us what is required. They are kids of the same age but they are kids that have committed totally to a vision and a common goal. To achieve such goals requires total commitment, sacrifice and non-negotiable standards.

Although being able to compete for small periods of time with the ball in hand, our play tended to be static and any running ball was met with a stand out defence. Our defensive effort was very poor and led to St Pats able to break tackles and off load to support runners at will.

While rugby is a team game a large proportion of it is made up of individual core skills - these become the responsibility of the individual - mental & physical conditioning, fitness, positional core skills etc and the more we do of it the better we will become.

Yesterday's performance bore out that we have a definite top XV and when these players are available we are competitive. On the plus side we were able to give Liam Privett, Jordan- Glen Bradbrook & Chris Rintoul (U15s) some game time after they had played earlier in the day, Andrew Benham and James Holden showed they have become better players with regular game time. The tireless qualities of James Tyler, Cade Umaga, Hunter Prescott (WRFU U18 Trialists), Nick Wellwood & Hamish Vance and the growth of Geraint Breese, Jackson Garden - Bachop, Paddy Gluck & Graeme Peter at this elite level.

Our attention now turns to the business end of the season with the return of our many intrepid global travelers to bolster the playing stocks. With a 'friendly' arranged against Premier 2 side Newlands College on Saturday 17th July and a week later we will play St Bernards in a 'must win' clash. These will be followed by an away quarter final and of course quad. Competition will hot up for the 22 man squad to travel to this tournament to be hosted by St Andrews (Christchurch).

Every year the future gets a little brighter with playing resources and increases to the school role. However it is this year’s year 11 & 12's that will need to 'shift' the culture of the Scots College 1st XV to achieve the next step by making the commitment and sacrifices to ensure we are not a one term Premier Trophy competitor

All the best to James Tyler on his participation in the Hurricanes Schools Camp this week.

MVP

3.James Tyler

2.Graeme Peter

1.Cade Umaga

by Dave Meaclem