A windy day at Westcliff

With it being half term we were low on numbers as expected but the enthusiasm and energy of the 8 players we had was great.
On the good side we had no rain, or snow but the weather and wind made it nice and cold.
With 2 games planned and the weather cold we decided to sub players in and out after every try so that no one was on the sideline for too long. All the players seemed happy with this and they made it easy for the coaches to manage the substitutions.

The first game got off to a flyer, before I had a chance to get the pen out to note the try scorers, Nick had crossed the line to score the first try.
The game continued to be played at a fast pace by both sides. Westcliff attacked with pace but there was some great chasing by billericay and some phenomenal tagging, including some great diving tags. The players were great at organizing themselves when defending, they are prompt to line up at the kickoff and the communications between each other is improving week by week.
For the second game an additional rule was introduced, where each team would have to pass it at least 3 times before they could score a try. We have played with this rule in training so the players were quick to adapt to this. This rule is good for their development and fits well with what we have been trying to develop their passing skills while moving forward in training. Again the 2nd game was fast paced, both teams adapted well to the 3 pass rule. There was some very good passing and catching on show which considering the cold hands shows the how well the players are developing. Even though Westcliff had more players than us our team played the 2nd game with as much energy and enthusiasm as the first game.

So the players were; Nick, Niall, Sam, Alex, Jimmy, Aaron, Rory and Henry.
Try scorers; Nick 8, Niall 2 , Sam 3, Aaron 2, Henry 2. If I have missed anyone or got numbers wrong sorry I do not have video replay unfortunately.
Not sure of the final scores, for the coaches it is about the players development but I am sure you know that the players keep the score more than us so they will be able to confirm if you need to know.

Thanks to Andy, Dave and Lawrence for their time and help. Thanks to the players and parents for braving the cold
Next week we are scheduled for training at home, hopefully the pitches will be in a better condition but any changes and we will be in contact.

Thanks and hopefully see you next week
Ben