Tring Show True Spirit of Rugby is Alive

First of all I have to thank all the players who showed why we love this game so much. After lots of messing about last week, a few head aches and toys thrown out of the pram, after the 3rd team opposition cried off for the arranged league fixture it was Friday lunchtime and Aylesbury 2nd team were looking for a game. What ensued was 24 hours worth of asking players if they were still available and after 3 different team selections we finally had a strong team at 11am on Saturday morning. It would be really harsh to single anyone out, but just got to mention Guy Fountaine, who stepped in at the last minute and played at hooker, incidentally he had a stormer and scored two tries.

With just three 2nd team players and Michael Hicks (Hixxy for those who didn't know that was his name) in our squad we arrived at Aylesbury just thrilled to be playing a game of rugby and not spending the day shopping with the Mrs. I spoke to a coach of theirs and asked how many teams they had at home, thinking we were playing their 2/3's squad, turns out their 3's were on the far pitch, we were on the other side of the ground against a genuine 2nd team, who clearly trained a lot together and were very well drilled. They were clearly surprised by our will to compete and win the game. All 17 players really did put their bodies on the line and as a coach you can't ask for any more than that.

Aylesbury ultimately won because they were well drilled and to be fair had some decent players in their squad. Having said that there were a lot of performances for Tring which suggest quite a few of this squad could easily play a higher standard. Mat Boswell for one, having only recently moved to inside centre, has learnt the game very quickly and is improving at a rate of knots, he showed again on Saturday why the positional move from wing has been made. Making some good breaks, showing some great hands after straightening the line. But most of all and the reason for his man of the match, he has a never say die attitude, he made every tackle count and there were a lot of them, he got injured three times and refused to leave the pitch. In truth a number of players could have been awarded man of the match as they all showed this steely determination to not just make a good account but cause an upset as well. They nearly did, until fitness and training told in the end. Hixxy led from the front as expected, I know a lot of the 3rd team enjoyed playing alongside a fantastic player who has played all but four games in the first team this year (he told me that), Tring put together some good patterns of play towards the end of the second half and that pressure told when Ed Martin, the feisty scrum half, took a quick tap and put Guy through a gap and over the line with a strong finish.

Guy also scored the final try of the match when Will Mitchell, who had orchestrated proceedings extremely well for Tring all afternoon, put a deft grubber through the defence for Guy to show his pace and touch down. I also have to mention a couple of others, George Mitchell, playing his first ever game at full back showed what skill and pace he has and that Will and Ben are not the only talented rugby players in the family. Aidan Manning is another who typifies this squad, he turns up every week, not always knowing where he is, but puts his 6 stone body on the line for his team mates, he always tackles well above his weight and on Saturday showed some great skill tidying up the kicks over the top in tricky, muddy conditions.

After all the hassle of last week, it was all more than worth it in the end. Although we lost the game, we showed fantastic commitment to the cause and I believe a lot of players will grow from this and realise they are more than capable of playing a good level of rugby. From a personal point of view it shows why I enjoy playing in/coaching this team so much, to see 17 blokes enjoy their afternoon and to see players develop and have a beer together is what rugby is all about. Well done team.