Chapter 47

I followed the players into the dressing rooms, we had fifteen minutes before the second half. We left the lads for the first five minutes; some used the toilets some just grabbed fluids and energy bars off the table.

Kelly came in and told us that the first team scrumhalf, a lad called Danny Calf, had failed his head injury assessment. That meant young Tom would have to play out the rest of the game.

Kelly headed over to see Sam Cole. I grabbed a bottle of water and downed it in two swigs, then I got an energy drink and took some sips.

Jim and Noah called me into the shower room.

“Fuck me mate it’s all going well,” Jim said and Noach nodded his agreement.

“Yes, mate but I think they will come out with all guns blazing after the break,” I replied.

“So, what do we do, what’s the game plan?” Jim asked.

“We keep doing what we have been doing,” I told him.

“I want you to talk to the lads, “he said, “is that okay?”

I nodded and we went back into the dressing room. It was noisy the lads were excited and I was glad to see they were all taking in fluids.

“Right lads let’s have some hush,” I said and the hub hub died down.

They all looked at me and it took me right back to my playing days.

“Right, we are on top of the game, you have played a great game!” I told them, “We need to make sure the Hawks don’t get back into the game, we need to keep up the tempo, and Max sure we hassle them at every breakdown,”

I glanced over at big Sam Coles

“Colsey are you good to play on?” I asked.

He gave me a thumbs up, “Yes boss,”

I glanced at young Tom.

“Tom, we need tempo, we need you running around every breakdown to keep them on their toes,”

“Right boss,” he smiled. I knew he would be enjoying his first first-team game.

“Right lads just keep playing how you have been and we have this in the bag!” I said.

The lads all cheered.

“And lads they will come out and throw the kitchen sink at us, just absorb the pressure, and wait for the gaps in their defence to open up, “I said, “and trust me they will open up!”

I looked around at the lads they all seemed to be smiling and happy.

The coaches and subs left the room. I told the subs to get warmed up. I knew we would need them in the second half of the game.

I got back to the technical area and made sure all the water bottles had been filled up and were ready to go.

The Referee and his assistants ran out onto the pitch, quickly followed by our lads. We lined up and were all ready to go before the Hawks ran out onto the pitch. I noticed they had swapped out three players. They had brought on a giant of a prop; they had a new second row and one of the centres had been swapped out. I guess their coaches thought they needed some more power on the pitch.

The referee checked everyone was ready before he blew his whistle to get the game started. Our flyhalf, Brad, kicked off. The Hawks fullback caught the ball and ran a straight line directly into the heart of our defence. He was tackled, and our lads rucked over him, but only two of them.

The Hawks players threw themselves into the ruck and pushed our lads off the ball. Their scrum half got the ball out of the ruck. He passed to their fly half who put boot to ball. His kick was high and long.

Max ran in to try to catch it but one of the forwards got in his way and fumbled the ball. The referee blew his whistle and called for a scrum with the Hawks getting the put-in. Their new prop was scowling at Colsey, he was almost snorting.

The referee called out his instructions.

Crouch...

Bind...

Set...

The two sets of forwards locked together in a battle of weight and strength. The ball was fed into the scrum by the scrumhalf and was soon at the back of the scrum. The number eight picked up the ball and charged for the line. He was a big, strong lad, but at the same time, he was a good player. He dummied the ball and our defence lost their focus and he had ten yards of clear space in front of him. He trundled over and dotted down the ball.

It was an easy try and I could see the lads shaking their heads as they walked back between the posts. I ran on with the water and gathered them around me as the Hawks kicker got his tee lined up and took a drink of water.

“Right lads that was a lucky try, catchers if you want the ball call out put your name on it,” I said. I heard the away fans cheer as the kick went through the posts.

Twenty-Eight – Thirteen.

“Right Brad kick long and chasers get your turbos fired up, we need to score next, okay?” I said.

The lads all agreed and I gathered up the bottles as they ran into position.

Brad kicked long, the chasers chased and one of their wingers caught the ball and ran at us. I could see that Colsey was struggling. The last scrum had been a hard one and I think the giant prop opposition had brought on at halftime weighed a lot more than Colsey and he had put him through the wringer.

I pressed the button to activate my headset’s microphone.

“Guys Colseys on his knees, we need to bring him off!” I said and at the same time indicated to the bench. The replacement prop got up and started to warm up.

“Who are you bringing on Zak?” Jim asked.

“Breen Rodd is a direct replacement,” I said as I watched Breen warm up. He was not as big as Sam Coles but he was a good scrummager.

I saw Colsey take a knee and Kelly ran to make sure he was okay, as she ran on, I heard her talking in my ear.

“Is he coming off?” She asked.

“Yes, Kelly bring him off...” I said.

“Breen, come on lad you are on,” I said and watched as he pulled off his training bid and sprayed hand grip on. We bumped fists as he passed me. Our crowd gave Colsey a big round of applause as he walked off. I shook his hand and gave him a bottle of water.

“How are you feeling Sam?” I asked.

“I think I pulled a muscle in my back, Zak, Sorry!” he said apologetically.

“Don’t be daft mate these things happen!” I replied.

Brad kicked off, the ball bounced into space and then their fullback collected it and ran a good twenty yards. He was tackled by Max but got the ball away before he hit the floor, their winger caught the ball and set off a good run. He sidestepped his opposite number and broke through a tackle from our scrum half.

he made three more yards before one of our forwards hammered him to the ground. His own team rucked over him and they got the ball back. Our defensive line didn’t get into place fast enough and their scrumhalf ran around the side of the ruck, he flicked a pass to the inside centre who threw a dummy pass that caught the eyes of our defence and he ran over our try line without a defender touching him.

Twenty-Eight – eighteen

I grabbed the water and ran behind the posts to where the players were gathering.

I let them grab the water before I spoke.

“Come on lads we are letting them back into the game, we need to attack and attack hard, we need the next score!” I said.

They all nodded in agreement.

“Brad, we need to keep the pressure on and make them play in their own half, chasers let’s get to them before they get into our half, okay?”

All the players muttered Yes.

“Let’s sound like we are up for it lads!” I said.

And they all gave a more rousing chorus of Yes’s.

I saw the assistant referees drop their flags. The kick had gone wide. I gathered up the bottles and ran off the pitch.

But we were still at twenty-eight – eighteen and the Hawks had shown that they had both power and pace in attack.

The players took their positions and the referee blew to start the game. Brad kicked the ball long and our chasers chased after the ball. Their winger caught the ball, two of our forwards were on him and took him to the ground.

Three more of our forwards rucked over and we had the ball. Tom the scrumhalf had the ball in his hands. He popped a pass up to our prop, Breen Rodd, and he trundled up the pitch. He made three yards before two Hawks players bundled him to the ground.

We rucked over him and we had the ball back. Tom had the ball and he popped a pass up to the other prop, a strapping lad called Alex Walter, he made a few yards before being tackled. It was a perfect example of how to pick and drive, pick the ball up drive on up the pitch. Get tackled, recycle the ball and then another player picks up the ball and it all starts again. It sucks in defenders and opens up space for the more fleet-footed backs to run into.

The ball was recycled and big Breen Rodd was ready to trundle on again. he made less than two yards but three defenders hit him and that made space for us.

It was good that we were sucking in defenders and making a few yards. Some of our lads rucked over him and secured the ball. Tom ran in and had the ball in his hands, our hooker, a big lad called Tim Cruise, ran a good line. Tom dummied a pass to him and the Hawks were drawn to him like moths to a flame.

Tom saw the space and darted into it; he had a great break. Max ran with him and they had a one-on-one with the opposition full-back. He looked like his feet were stuck in thick mud as Tom and Max ran at him.

Tom ran at him but with Max in his eyeline, he was not sure what to do. At the last second Tom threw a dummy pass to Max and the opposition fullback tackled Max, Tom ran in under the posts. Our crowd went mad, our bench went mad, and the coaches and physios went mad.

I grabbed the two trays of water bottles and the kicking tee then ran on. I gave Brad the kicking tee and bottle of water. then I passed the ref a bottle before running back to the players and dropping the water down.

“Lads play like that and we have this game in the bag!” I said.

They all had huge smiles on their faces. One of the centres was holding his leg and I could see Kelly running on.

“Lads can you get a centre sub warmed up please!” I said into my microphone. Then I heard Jim talking and running down to the bench.

I ran back to the referee as Brad kicked the ball sweetly between the posts.

Thirty-five – eighteen, a good lead but in rugby when every try is worth a possible seven points the game was far from over.

I collected the water bottles and the tee and saw that Kelly was leading off the centre whose knee seemed to be giving him trouble. I grabbed the trays of water bottles and followed them off.

The referee gave us time to get our man off and the new guy on. then he blew his whistle and the game continued. The Hawks players seemed to have lost their sparkle and their determination.

We scored two more tries, including one using the tunnel ball move we had practised. They scored a three-point penalty. The Hawks head coach sent all his remaining subs on with fifteen minutes to go and it was obvious they had been told to defend like their lives depended on it.

I made changes, making sure all the players were part of a game that I was sure would go down in history as one of their greatest wins. The rest of the game was played in the middle of the pitch and was not great for the fans but for rugby tacticians it was great. Lots of scrums, I noted in my book we needed to work on the scrums and lots of picking and driving. The forwards from both teams were dead on their feet when the referee blew his whistle to end the game.

Out crowd went mad, I could hardly hear myself think.

Forty-nine – twenty-one. Yes, I would have loved the lads to score fifty points but the score was good, we had targeted a four-point win. Four points mean we avoided relegation five was a bonus.

I had looked up the league rules, and it was similar to the rugby back home.

Win = 4 points Draw = 2 points Loss = 0 points Bonus points are also awarded in Premiership Rugby: scoring 4 or more tries is worth 1 bonus point and losing a match by 7 match points or fewer is also worth a bonus point, often referred to as a “losing bonus point”.

So, we would have moved up the league with the five points, four for the win and one for scoring more than four tries’ plus we had denied the Hawks of any points.

More importantly, we had beaten a side that normally thrashed us. The players were on their knees. Our subs and support staff ran onto the pitch, I stopped two of the lads and asked them to take water on. I could see tears in the eyes all around.

I walked down to the opposition technical area. The Hawks’s coaches looked shell-shocked. We all shook hands and exchanged a few friendly words, then I walked onto the pitch and shook hands with the officials. The referee and his assistants, the referee asked if we could get a selfie later, I agreed and said I would see him in the bar. Then I shook hands with the opposition players.

Then I walked up to where our players were sitting on the pitch, hands were shaken, and hugs were exchanged. I saw Kelly handing our rehydration drinks and I took a few from her pack and handed some out. Max and Tom were sitting together, I shook hands with them both and saw that Max had tears in his eyes. They had both played well, they deserved their first team place in the next game that was for sure.