Chapter 18

Jo and I met in my office, and we had a chat about the teams and how the game should be played. We chatted as I made coffee. The lads turned up and got changed into their rugby gear. Jo took them outside and got them warmed up before splitting them into different teams.

I went and put some printed signs on the two changing rooms, A team and B team, we had the new first-team shirts and the old ones, so I put them out as well. Old shirts for the A team, new for the B team.

As I was about to leave the referee turned up, we had decided to hire a real referee from one of the local leagues, we had a good chat about the game and then he used my office to change. We would use two of the none playing lads as touch judges or as they as now known in rugby, assistant referees.

Then I went out, just in time to take my team off to start to drill them. We had around forty minutes before kick-off. We talked about the keywords and then the line-out squad worked on the new lineout calls. There was not much to do before kick-off, the lads seemed up for the game and I knew we would have a great game.

The kickers went and practised their kicking. The pack did some scrums.

With ten minutes to go, I sent the lads to take on fluids and to get into their game shirts. In each changing room, I told the lads the same thing, the same speech. It only seemed fair...

“Go out and enjoy the game, but remember you are staking a claim for the game shirt for a huge game,” I said and looked each lad in the eyes.

All the lads seemed up for it. The referee went and had a chat with each team before calling the two captains out to toss the coin, we lost, and they chose to kick off.

I went out to the pitch, it seemed the whole of the rest of the school had come out to watch the game., the lads, the teachers and the support staff had all made the effort.

The A team came out first and took their places on the pitch and were given a hearty round of applause, the B team came out two minutes later and again the crowd cheered them out.

The referee made sure that both captains were ready and then blew his whistle to start the game. Barnes kicked the ball high and long and we were off...

The game was played well, and in good spirit but it was obvious that the lads were all there to make a statement and to put their name on the team sheet for the Fort William game. I knew from talking with the lads that they were all eager to make the first team. There were some of the lads who could and should make it in the pro game.

I had picked a lad, Darren Greenock, in the second row who was a year below the first-team lads, but he was a natural rugby player. Tall and well-built, he had a natural spring which is needed as a second row and he carried the ball well.

He was in the pod that took the ball and he passed it down to another good prospect, our scrumhalf was a lad called Danny Clarrs. He had a good pass off both hands and was nippy as well.

He ran a good line and passed the ball just before a huge tackle took him to the ground. Our centres thundered up the pitch, the ball went from inside centre to outside centre and then the full-back hit the line and took the ball up.

The A team made a few good tackles, and, in the end, they gave away a penalty in front of the posts and our kicker and fly-half, Marc Smythe, called for the kick at the posts. It was the right choice in my mind, we had told the lads that they had to make the decisions on the pitch.

He nailed the kick; it went straight through the uprights.

A team Zero - B team Three.

Barnes kicked off and the ball fell into the hands of our big number eight, he ran hard, and he ran straight but was soon taken to the ground and lost the ball, Barnes got his hands on the ball and dive passed the ball out to a winger, he made good ground before he was tackled. The A team recycled the ball, and it was passed out into the centres.

The inside centre dummied to the outside centre but passed back inside to the scrumhalf who put the afterburners on and glided over the line, it was a well-worked try and it gave Barnes an easy kick for the extra points.

A team Seven – B team Three.

We kicked off and they collected the ball cleanly, and then their backs took the ball up the pitch. My lads defended well and some great tackles were being made. They were working in a good pattern and working well for each other.

All the time the lads were playing I was making notes because I knew at the end of the day, I had to pick two teams to go to Fort William high school.

The rest of the half was played in the centre of the pitch, both teams defended well, there were a couple of scrums and it was obvious the A-team lads had the upper hand in that department. They had two big props and they made it hard work for the lads in my team.

Both teams were working hard and playing well, I could not see any weak links.

I was excited to see good ball skills and good off-the-ball skills. In both defence and attack, both teams did well. It was good to see that the things we had worked hard on in training were being put to good use on the pitch.

When the referee blew for halftime, I ran onto the picture with a basket of water bottles, as did two of our subs. I gathered the team around me under our goalposts and we passed the water bottles around. The lads gulped the water down, it had been a game played at a high pace.

I saw that Jo was doing the same with her team.

I let them take five minutes to get their breath back and take on board some fluids.

“Right guys, we are doing well and there is little between you!” I said looking around at them.

“We need to stop kicking long, keep the ball in the centre of the pitch and away from their wingers,” I said and looked at the fly half and scrum half, the main kickers in the team.

“Okay Sir!” they all said at the same time.

“Try to stop them from getting the ball out wide, they will run rings around us if you do.” It told them.

I noticed that one of the props had a large bruise coming up on his thigh.

“Ellis, are you okay mate?” I asked. The bruise looked painful.

“Yes sir, it’s a bit stiff but I will try to run it off,” he said with a smile. I had been there, carrying an injury but at the same time eager to stay on the pitch. Rugby lads no matter what level they play at are all tough nuts and hard competitors.

I called Jo over to have a look, she was the team physio after all. She told him to try it for ten minutes and see how it went.

The referee called over to tell the captains to get the teams ready. All the nonplayers left the pitch, the players got into position and the referee blew the whistle and the game started, we kicked off to them.

The ball was short, and their pod had set well back. So, one of the centres took the ball and one of our flankers hit him hard, took him to the ground and got into a position to jackal the ball.

Jackling is when the tackling player regains his feet and wins the ball, or the next defender in wins the ball. It is an art; you must have good upper body strength and good stability to be a good jackler.

We won the ball as our pack rucked over and our jackler won the ball, he passed to the scrumhalf and he darted into space, the A team defence left a huge hole and he took full advantage, our centres ran good lines and the scrumhalf passed out to one of them a split second before he was tackled, the centres smashed the ball up the pitch, then our full-back made a good run and took the ball in space and cruised over the line.

The crowd cheered him like it was the world cup final. I told the subs to run the water on as our flyhalf got ready to kick. He took his time and made sure we got the extra points for the conversion.

A team Seven – B team Ten.

I asked my subs to warm up, it would not be long before they had some game time. They all went off to do some shuttle runs and warm-up exercises.

The A team kicked off and our catching pod took the ball cleanly. There was a quick pass down to the scrumhalf, he passed to the flyhalf. The fly-half saw space behind the A team defence, so he chipped the ball into it. Our backs chased well, and the A team full-back got his hands on the ball with our winger and full-back right in his face. He did the only thing he could do; he kicked the ball into touch.

It was our lineout just ten metres from the try line. It was a great position, I called out to the hooker, using one of our new lineout calls. He gave me the thumbs up; the line out was formed; the new line out call was called, and the hooker waited five seconds.

He threw to the middle, our two props lifted and held the second row, Darren Greenock, they held him for a second or two longer than was needed. This move was good because if the opposition crashed into the line out, we might get a penalty and at the same time, it gave our hooker the chance to run around the back of the line out and smash the ball up the pitch.

Some refs might blow the whistle but today’s ref let us get away with it.

The move worked a treat, Darren Greenock held the ball and as the hooker passed him, he passed to him, and the hooker smashed past Barnes the A team fly-half who was defending that channel.

Then he broke past one of the centres and was tackled inches before the try line. He presented the ball well and our scrumhalf took the ball and dived over. The players and the crowd went mad. It was a well-worked try and it was a move I would keep in our playbook for future games.

The referee indicated the try had been scored and the players all ran back toward their own half. I grabbed the kicking tee and ran on, calling out to the subs to run the water bottles on at the same time. The game was being played at such a high pace I knew the lads would need a drink.

I gave the fly half the tee, and he sipped some water before he started to get ready for the kick.

Jo had run on and she was calling me over, she was working on the thigh of Ellis one of my props.

“He is running stiff,” she said as I ran up to her.

“I can play on Sir” he pleaded but I could see the pain on his face.

I looked at Jo and the look on her face told me it was not a good idea; she was the expert after all. I had always thought it was wrong to keep a player on the pitch if he is injured and I had seen the damage it could cause.