01 March 2010 - February Recap

I have been remiss in my writings.  So lets get to it.  February was an eventful month, and, further, we have much to look forward to in March and beyond.  Working backwards, this weekend Kirkwood Rugby, in a last minute scheduling success, traveled to our wonderful state capitol of Jefferson City to take on... well, Jefferson City Rugby.  The game was set up as a friendly, and as such, we played three 30minute halves on a marvelous pitch, and under a warm sun - albeit the wind was quite brisk.  To Kirkwood, I was proud of y'all before the match even started;  For showing up hardy and in good spirits and most importantly for showing up in numbers.  Give yourself a hand for traveling at the last minute and being able to field two sides; A validation to our clubs success as a program.  Keep the numbers coming and the quality of play will only increase.

Very well, I have gotten a bit off topic.  Our boys travelled and played - quite furiously I might add - and ended this friendly as we should.  With increased experience, knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, in good health and with enthusiasm for the upcoming spring season.  Play was dynamic and for the most part continuous, with some dashing runs and reverberating hits, however, I must make a few points.

• Although we kept toe to toe on the scoreboard, we were dominated possession wise and thus were on defense far too much.  No possession, no sustained offense
• Further, our rucks were not consistent or tactical enough.  Those were some big boys out there and they liked to keep it in the pack.  When we rucked we were inconsistent on the numbers we committed, speed to which support arrived, and most importantly, when the former were in place, we were often not resilient enough to secure the ball and give our scrumhalf clean ball

Rucking, in my opinion, is where we can see the greatest improvement.  Keep it simple: Hit the rucks hard and fast; immediate support, show good and stable form, blow by and over the ball, secure it and hold until balls out.  Keep working and we'll get there and be fearsome.  Also, a big thanks to Jeff City for the hospitality showed to us post match.  Always the pleasure to socialize with ruggers.

We have thus played Jeff City in a well fought match; enjoyed the festivities of the Tin Cup tournament the week prior; and endeared the snowy ice fields of Priory proceeding.  In addition, Crossfit workouts have continued - a brief respite in mid-Febraury as I had some business to attend to in LA & Vegas - and we will continue to kick it up a notch, and then some, as we head into the heart of our season.  Stay committed and keep the work rate high.

Our training schedule has changed slightly and so we will now have training on Mondays and Thursdays 4 - 6pm and Crossfit on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 330 - 5pm (two sessions still).

Later,

Brett