Watched Barker v Trinity.
As the score indicates,an exciting game.
A match of two halves.
Barker playing smarter Rugby in the first half,playing to minimise
the physical advantage of Trinity,played clever ,mistake free football,designed to draw the Trinity defense in to the rucks & mauls ,then quickly switching the ball out wide,where they were able to outflank the opposition & find an overlap on the wing.Trinity ,in contrast,not so clever,were pushing the pass to supports who were quickly overwhelmed by the rapidly advancing & hungry Barker defense,resulting in plenty of lost ball & turnovers.
Trinity clearly eager to use their power were for the most part ineffective,with one notable exception when the ball was transferred out to McLennon,who spent much of the time standing out in the backline,& who was able to make a devastating run through 3 attempted tackles,& score under the posts from 35 metres out.
Of significance in the first half,was the loss of James Wayland 12 minutes in,who after making a crashing run down the sideline to score a disallowed try , experienced a knee injury,forcing him to take no further part in the game.Trinity seemed to become quite rattled for a time after his departure from the field.Barker dominated possession & the penalties in the first half & went to lemons looking the better team
In contrast,there was a complete turnaround in the second half,with Trinity gaining significantly more possession by playing a much more structured & controlled game,resulting in ,not surprisingly,a string of penalties & favorable field position.
Midway through the second half ,Trinity no.12 Jordan Morris sustained a serious ankle injury,necessitating his removal from the field by ambulance,& resulting in a complete reshuffle of the Trinity backline.
Trinity hit the front after sustained second half pressure,by scoring a try in the corner followed by a marvelous conversion from out wide by Ryan Longville,his second such conversion for the match.21-20
Trinity were then in a position to hold on for the remaining 5 minutes on the clock ,for victory.However,following an errant lineout throw by Trinity 35 metres from their own line,Barker regained possession & worked their way down field & looked certain to score in one of the many attacking sorties from close to the Trinity line.Of note was the Barker refusal to take 2 penalty opportunities,& instead opt for a hoped for try option, linout & scrum.
After an extra 8 minutes of injury time ,the referee called a halt with Barker still camped only a few metres out.
An extraordinary & exciting finish.
Of note in this game for me was the excellent controlled & virtual mistake free attacking Rugby by Barker in the first half & tremendous defense ,particularly in the second half when Trinity had a wealth of possession in Barkers quarter.
Trinity, when they decided to play more controlled Rugby in the second half,always were dangerous,except of course in the closing minutes when the roles were reversed,& they in turn displayed outstanding defense.
For Barker,their outside backs played clever controlled Rugby,in fact there were no bad players for them ,whilst for Trinity it is hard not to mention the contribution of McLennon,& in particular, Longville.
