Chichester prove stiff competition for U15s

Heathfield faced Chichester for the first time in juniors and, despite a slightly reduced squad for this non league fixture, fielded a strong team. As this was a friendly fixture, we played in a 3 x 20 format. Heathfield kicked off and through some very poor tackling allowed the opposition to run the ball right back up the field. After a few quick ruck phases, Chichester opened the scoring with a converted try. This was followed by a second Chichester try very shortly afterwards, again as a result of poor tackles and a general lack of intensity by Heathfield. This shook the boys to life and a few tactical substitutions raised our game. Heathfield scored a well taken fast tap and go penalty through their scrum half , and the error strewn first period finished 3-1 to Chichester.
The second period was improved, but some careless hands and needless penalties, saw Chichester run in 3 trys unanswered.
The third period, Heathfield reverted to our more conventional game, and put real pressure on Chichester. Despite their greater size and weight, Chichester were pushed back and rucked off the ball. Greater line speed from Heathfield put added pressure and forced errors from Chichester. Heathfield ran in 2 well worked trys and kept much better shape on the field, both in attack and defence. Despite letting Chichester in for a try in the corner in the final play, this was a much better and more encouraging display.
This was a friendly fixture and one that we used to experiment with positions and roles. We had people step into positions that they were not necessarily comfortable with and also combinations that were unfamiliar with each other. As a squad we need to work on alignment and tackling. We gave away many silly penalties for offsite, poor rucking and general discipline. This is something that we need full focus on in training before we progress to the upcoming league fixtures. Practice makes perfect!