Greenville 20 Spartans 13

Heading into our contest against Greenville B this past weekend, the Spartans faced several obstacles. Both of our starting centers (seniors) had left the team. So all of our efforts during the past month to develop timing, craft plays and strategies for our backline were for naught…in the trashcan. In football terms, we had to punt.

Also, both practices this week were cancelled due to rain.

Tackling throughout the first half was poor and rucking was average. Predictably, our new backline faced difficulties realigning for defense. But, we used some timely kicking and spurts of good rugby to take a 13 -5 lead. Then the superior size and athleticism of the other squad took over, a refrain that occurred last week. Tackling lapsed and Greenville scored three trys in succession to take the win. Considering our size and youth, now just three seniors on the team, we will continue to face these issues.

We need to buckle down and concentrate during these critical times late in the game. When you are tired, you begin looking for the other guy to make the play. Your tackling becomes lazy. We, too, need to focus on the break down area. Since we are smaller we must be more tenacious at the spot where ball meets the deck.
Again, our effort was good, mostly. We’ll get better this week and continue to grow. Here are some photos of the game.