Under 12s vs Shrewsbury - 18th November 2007

The Under 12s hosted a strong Shrewsbury side on the first Sunday of the season to have a real wintery feel about it - bbrrrrrr !  The enthususiam of many of the players was heightened by the opportunity to play against their school mates. 

Both sides had plenty of players available so the morning was split in to two matches to ensure everyone had a good run out.

The first match was a very tight affair with both sides struggling to find space against well organised defences.  Shrewsbury's pack had the upper hand in the scrummage early on, controlling their own ball well and making it difficult for Newport.

Shrewsbury's positional kicking also served them well, using the wind in their favour to good effect.  In contrast Newport at times elected to play too much rugby in their own half.

The first score came for Shrewsbury after a period of pressure - using their early dominance in the scrum they broke blind to cross the line before Newport's defence could respond.

Conceding a try rallied Newport who, despite Shrewsbury's size advantage, started to compete at the rucks and mauls. However, despite good recycling of the ball and the occasional turnover, the speed of possession gave the Newport backs little space to play, and they compounded this by getting too flat or taking the ball almost stationery.

When they did manage to spin the ball wide and make half breaks the Shrewsbury defence covered across well and limited the damage. It looked as though the single score was going to settle the fixture.  However, late in the second half, after some more excellent rucking and mauling, Newport's backs went over for an equalising score.

The draw was probably a fair result with both sides showing some excellent skills, especially in defence (26 players on less than half a pitch limiting the space & opportunites!)

Again the players can be proud of some good rugby. Newport's forwards were excellent in open play but more work is needed on the scrum. The backs were superb in defence and aiding the forwards in recycling possession - but can learn from Shrewsbury's backs organisation of attacking lines. We'll also need to improve our decision making to ensure we take the right options in the right parts of the field.

The second match saw a host of changes on both sides with Newport playing many players in their first season of rugby union (in some cases their first match !).

There was some good pressure by the Newport forwards and some pleasing breaks in the backs but the Shrewsbury three-quarters had too much pace and experience and, as in the first match, made good use of their kicking game.

Shrewsbury won by three tries, in what was a more exciting fixture for the spectators - with the space available there was more running rugby on display.  Despite the loss there were some good performances from Newport - with the less experienced players showing a good deal of organisation and this season's new starters getting a chance to practice their skills in a match situation.

Next week we host Wolverhampton - a fixture with special significance for some of our squad.

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