Plate Final Cherry Blossom Tournament

Neanderthal; primitive, league rugby, American football style ... these were some of the descriptions on the sidelines of Archbishop Spalding's simple yet effective playing style in the Plate final of the Cherry Blossom Tournament. Both the Exiles and Spalding were vying for the Plate after finishing second in their respective pools. This was the largest pack we had faced over the weekend and we had limited numbers of front five forwards. The narrow pitch also seemed to favor a forward's game.
Despite their size advantage in the scrum, the Exiles held their own in the first half. Possession went back and forth; the Exiles gaining territory during the few times the ball was swung out to the backs. Aiden Perrenoud playing at fullback came into the line on several occasions to gain large chunks of territory. Unfortunately, we were not able to break through the Spalding defense - sometimes due to tough tackling others because of bad low percentage passes. As we came to the touch line too many times we were forced out of bounds rather than working the ball toward the center. The first substitution came at the 14-minute mark when fly half Max Engel was swung to the ground by his jersey and had his face planted into the ground. No penalty but he had to come off. Nathaniel Turak was shifted from center to the fly half position and Noah Lucas came on as a center. This was to be a game of attrition. Number 8 Charles Martel came off the field at the 18-minute mark with Laku Kreutzer coming in. Finally, in the waning moments of the half several passes found winger Siya Dalton with some space. He was able to race down the sideline and with room running out, he cut inside to touch the ball down for a try. Exiles were up 5-0.

Spalding had been playing a simple game. Forwards would pick and go; and push the Exiles defensive platform backwards. Their scrumhalf would run laterally and itch to a back who would run into contact to give the Spalding forwards the ball back. Spalding also used several mauls that the Exiles had difficulty stopping. Rather than engaging the legs, more Exiles would commit to the maul leaving fewer forwards to defend around the edges. Our forwards responded by trying to match up to the Spalding forwards reducing the amount of opportunities for the backs to advance in space. Several times, we had 2-3 player overlaps but the pick and go was opted for rather than swinging the ball out. This led to a grueling match for the forwards and we ended the game with half the starting pack on the side lines. Inside center Cory Levy had to be pressed into service as a prop and along with his brother Josh Levy we did finally steal one of the Spalding scrums. All the Exiles played hard but grudgingly gave up four unanswered try’s in the second half to fall 5-22.
Some areas to improve: We need to learn the off sides on lineouts and rucks. This was consistent throughout the tournament. Wings need to do a better job chasing down kicks. We did manage it a couple times; but too many times a Spalding player was able to catch a tactical kick with no pressure and launch a counterattack. We need to play smarter – when we have an overlap then the ball needs to be swung out. Better communication between the half backs and between the scrum half and forwards should help here. When running out of room by the touch line, backs need to look for the pass or cut inside to maintain possession of the ball – it’s better to be tackled and set up a ruck than be pushed out of bounds and give line out possession to the other team. We need to recognize the strength of the other team and not go mano a mano – play to our team’s strengths not theirs.

Now these are private notes so that we can learn. There was a lot to be proud of and positive outcomes from this game and the entire weekend. We had close to 30 players that got game time and played some good hard rugby. Thankfully, no major injuries and the referees all complimented you on your overall demeanor.