Yesterday's opens XV at Breen really does warrant a second review.
A bunch of drover's dogs against a more fancied rival. Pats had the better pre-game situation; the underdogs, who needed to play above themselves to match their rival. St Augustine's needed to win. They had the burden of being favourites. They were expected to win.
The match opened at a ferocious pace. Augustines big pack were dominant. Pats tacklers were cartwheeling backwards and being trampled, as Auggies forwards and backs ran with purpose and power. In attack, Pats had limited effect. Pats #13 was obliterated by a 2 man tackle pod (fully legal). He was later ambulanced for further attention. Thanks Auggies #12, for ignoring the play and showing genuine concern for this player in difficulty.
Pats took a penalty to hit the front, 3-0. Auggies struck back quickly, with a try out wide; 5-3. Pat's struck back with another penalty; 6-5. Auggies returned fire with a penalty, as did Pats. Hat's off to Pats goal-kicker; he was on-fire today. The third penalty sailed 42 metres to the posts, over the black dot, over the fence, over the road and into Mrs Brown's roses; 127 metres, on-the-fly.
The first half was a great performance by Pats. To go to oranges at 9-8, in front of such a powerhouse squad, was a real achievement. The main concern in the Pat's cohort, was that they couldn't possibly repeat that effort, throughout the second half.
It was on again in the second half, Auggies big men came out with renewed vigour, but there was no soft defence in the middle. The big men were making yards, but Pats forwards defence was like a nuisance fox terrier, nipping at the ankles. The free-running Auggies pack created half-breaks, but the terriers were swarming. Time and again, the big runners were brought down by 1 leg or half a boot.
Auggies structure at the breakdown was impressive. They controlled their own possession and distributed the ball with variety and intuition. Both sides of the ruck were tested. They were able to retain ball fairly easily; their consistent phases often produced 50, or more, metres of territory. This form reaped its reward, in 2 tries out wide. Auggies skipped to 20-9; was this the flood-gates, beginning to open?
The match settled back into this dour struggle. Auggies had the majority of possession throughout the match, due to their superior ball control. St Pats defence was unflinching; right down to a desperate ankle-tap by Pat's #14; indeed, every Pats player was totally committed to this battle. Some possession stayed with Pats for a period, and they were able to move up-field. Pat's attack was impressive, they made clean breaks with clever long passing and willing runners. As the bigger Auggies team began to tire, we saw Pats create a few line breaks and strong runs bearing fruit. This culminated in a converted try out wide to Pats. 20-16 - Game on!
An awkward restart saw Pats back-pedalling again. Auggies ball control converted this to possession on Pats try-line, but they still couldn't get through the middle. A series of 'pick and drive' moves came up empty, as the Pats terriers held firm. A penalty was issued and the pick-and-drive started again. Finally, a grounded Auggies player was able to drag the try-line forward and place the ball on it. Try! 25-16.
The restart, again, saw Auggies approach Pats line. Pick and drive, again, but no success; culminating in the final play being held-up over the line. Full-time.
This was a great game to watch, played in great spirit, by both teams. Pats could have improved their general kicking in play - no one in particular, but looking back at the match, too many kicks went wrong. Aside from this, the boys from Pats put up a legendary performance, a- la '300 Spartans'.
Play of the day: Camped on Pat's tryline, Auggies fed the ball back to a rampaging #3. Surely this was try-time. Pat's #8 stood his ground and tackled #3, ball-and-all; relieved him of possession and placed him on the ground, with a tap on the head. They had a brief chat; and both ran off smiling; they seemed to know each other from somewhere. Great play; Great game.
