Senior Academy Boys
Matches
Sun 06 Oct 2019
Wigan
17
29
Crewe & Nantwich RUFC
Senior Academy Boys
Tries: J Rowlands (2), E Tomlin, O Joyce (2)Conversions: B Applin (2)
Under 16's win away at Wigan.

Under 16's win away at Wigan.

Dan lynch7 Oct 2019 - 17:02
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https://www.cnrugby.uk/teams/2

Above us is only pie

Whilst the whole of the Northwest was under water, Wigan RUFC had blue skies at a bowling green of a playing surface for the lads to enjoy. It was great to get a fixture on a weekend that saw many teams short of numbers due to Sale DPP commitments.

It was a game of 2 contrasting styles, Wigan fleet of foot, and C & N heft of thud - Which style would prevail on the day would be kept in the balance until late in the game.

Find your advantage and exploit it.
It didn’t take long to find the area of the game were Crewe had the upper hand, in the first minute Joe (who had a fantastic game in both the loose as well as set piece) took the ball at full canter into a waiting and willing Wigan defence, the solid impact can still be heard echoing around Wigan Pier. This set the tone and for the majority of the game, the team stuck to task repeating the onslaught of heavy artillery, once we ran out of forward runners, Alfie playing for the first time in the centres took the ball to the line with great effect.
We had moments were we switched off allowing the Wigan backs to get to the outside channels causing us trouble, and on a couple of occasions they did catch us out to run in tries from distance, but the second half efforts seemed to subdue the threat somewhat.
We opened the scoring through Joe spotting space close to the ruck, driving through several tacklers to touch down. Ben converted well from a tight angle.
Wigan got the next 2 tries moving the ball well, using the pace advantage they had out wide to score 2 unconverted tries to take the lead.
C & N just need to get hold of the ball and keep hold of it, which is something that took a while, but once the penny dropped to keep it simple, and increase the effort it really started to click. Louie bossed the forwards well from 9 and Ben linked the play between forwards and backs at 10. Kohl carried strongly showing a huge improvement over the last few weeks. Drew and Ryan now they were getting a little help had stopped the Wigan wingers getting to the open wide areas.
Joe added to his tally later in the half repeating the trick from earlier, Ben did his part adding the 2 points. Taking C & N to a 14 – 10 lead at half time.

Wigan scored almost directly from Kick off, showing that if you gave them an inch they could score at will.
What came next was 30 minutes of shear effort and dedication, a relentless barrage from every player on the pitch. Ollie, Ellis, Joe, Alfie, Ivan, never stopped attacking the line in the most direct manner I have seen, Ivan on one occasion was lead runner in phase 1,3,5 and 7 gaining yards on every occasion. Not to be out done James (who’s has obviously been practicing his lineout work), Dan and Pete added a little light to the shade of the big runners.
The third score came from Ellis who was relishing his leading battering ram role, clattered over from close range. Then learning from the 2 try scorers before Ollie scored the final 2 tries first one with a pick and go the second crash ball from close range.

Not a great deal of it was pretty but it was incredibly effective.

The coaching team could not be prouder of a team who were missing 9 players, they were immense, they have reset the bar for the amount of effort that is required to succeed. I hope a few have the realisation that no matter what place in terms of exertion you go to during the game, it is worth it for the feeling they had in that huddle with their teammates after the game.
Many thanks to Wigan for a great game, and fantastic hospitality. I hope we can arrange a return fixture later in the season.

Try scorers – Joe x 2, Ollie x 2, Ellis x 1
Conversions – Ben x 2

Match details

Match date

Sun 06 Oct 2019

Kickoff

11:00
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