Saxons Structure themselves and find Space

There was another good turnout of Saxons at training today and we carried on from where we finished last week, honing our skills and drills at the breakdown. We know that there can only be two players from each side in the ruck or maul, so if it is not you, then you shouldn't be there!

In attack the third player to arrive acts as the scrum half and he will look left and right and identify the best attacking option. We know you can pass the ball 10-15 feet, so the next attacking player should be standing no closer than 8-10 feet. The idea is to move the ball away from the contact area into space and attack an area where there are less defenders (2 of them will still be on the ground from the previous maul/ruck). This is how todays tries were scored, moving the ball away from the contact area.

In defence, once the maul or ruck has formed, trust the tacklers to stop the drive and compete for the ball. You should now be thinking about the next attack that is going to come. Look up, where are the attackers lined up? Am I defending against thin air or is their an attacker in front of me? If not then move into your defensive line and ensure you are behind the imaginary line drawn across the pitch at the back of the ruck/maul; if you are in front of it you are offside.

Finally, rugby is a game played on your feet. If you are on the ground or knees you cannot play the ball. The tackled player must either immediately play the ball (pop it up or lay it back) when going to ground or release it. The tackler must release the tackled player and get to his feet before competing for the ball. There was too much playing for the ball when off your feet today. The referees will start penalising you for it - stay on your feet or roll out of the way.

The match was fast paced and enjoyable to watch because you are getting better at not putting too many players into the tackle and your sructure was better. We are seeing real aggression and power when attacking, notably Tom W and Jamie B and Connor E powering through today, well done.

The try of the week was made by securing the ball at the breakdown, moving it wide to a strong runner who made ground and committed a tackler before unselfishly passing it further wide to a player at pace running a good line, it was a great team effort, but the finish was fantastic, great pass from Freddie, taken beautifully over his head and the finish was devestating. Well done Ollie for try of the week.

Player of the week has has worked hard in training all month and has grown into a confident and capable Saxon. He made a big impact in the game today and was defending and carrying the ball well into contact. He was spotted by several coaches, including me, so well done Conor E for player of the week.

Welcome to Max who is joing from Trojans and is clearly playing a good standard of rugby. We are pleased you already know players in the team and hope you enjoyed today.

Next week we host Petersfield, a strong local club who we enjoy playing. We will have games and drills before playing two 20 minute matches. Every player will play Petersfield, so see you next week.