1st XV vs Atherstone (H) Midlands 4 WS

Round 2 of league fixtures brought Atherstone RFC to the Stade.

Rugby-wise, the Wheats were on a high following last week’s result. Off the field, the news of the tragic death of Dan Scheimann had cast a shadow over the Club and the players were determined to put in a performance that would have made Dan proud.

Wheats lined up with Big Dom and Chunky hugging Jack in the front row, Andy T and BJ were in the engine room, Kai, Pace and Hero completed the pack in the back row. Lowey and Rob T combined at half back, Loachy and D-Day were in the centre, Nolan at full-back, The Snake on one wing and Kilian making his Wheats debut on the other wing completed the starting XV.

Early morning showers gave way to beautiful sunshine as both teams observed a minutes silence before kick-off. The Wheats players were also wearing South African Green and Yellow armbands for Dan.

Atherstone started the game very impressively. Their big, experienced pack put the Wheats under pressure at scrum-time and in the loose and carried powerfully all around the park.

The Wheats couldn’t secure ball with any consistency and the 10 try victory from last week seemed a very distant memory. The opening 25 minutes was a real arm wrestle and the Wheats were coming off second best. Atherstone took a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes converting a penalty opportunity having pushed a previous effort wide.

Without much ball the Wheats, in fairness, were very organised and disciplined in defence, the commitment and effort unquestionable.

Gradually, they started to secure ball and work together more, easing their way into the game and starting to look dangerous going forward.

Nolan opened the scoring for the Wheats in the 34th minute when good hands put him in space and he had just enough gas to OUTSTRIP the cover defence and dot down for 5 – TRY TIME.

Kilian just missed with the conversion.

The Wheats had woken up! Confidence clearly grew and more superb hands put the ball in Loachy’s hands 5 metres from the try line. There was only one outcome as Joe SMASHED over with two men on his back.

A great score on the stroke of half-time gave the Wheats a 10-3 advantage at the break.

The half-time talk was all about better protection of the ball in contact, moving the point of contact quickly and playing at a pace that Atherstone would have difficulty coping with. On the positive side, we had weathered a massive storm, scored two good tries and finished the half strongly.

The second half started exactly according to plan with Rob Thomason taking a real grip at 10, the forwards manning up superbly at Nolan looking really threatening from 15.

The Snake DOTTED DOWN Kilian making it a 7 pointer, Loachy CRASHED over for his second with Kilian again adding the extras. The Snake then chased a kick through and used great pace to fall on the ball before it went dead – THE FOOT SPA HAD CLEARLY PAID OFF. With Billy converting, the Wheats had registered 21 unanswered points in a 15 minute spell. This put the Wheats up 31-3 and confidence was OOZING.

A major contributory factor to the second half display was the IMPACT and ENERGY brought by the bench. Si Wright’s presence in the second row seemed to sure up scrummage ball, Billy added spark to take on the tiring Atherstone back-row, Josh was back to his blistering best on the wing, Charlie offered great energy at hooker and it was great to see Casper back on the field in a 1st XV shirt.

The final score of the game was probably the best and came from a trademark Billy Smith SIDESTEPPING SNIPE before an SBW off-load found Josh’s superb supporting run and he DARTED in under the posts, Billy adding the extras for a final score of Wheats 38 Atherstone 3.

It was a very different game to the week before but the performance and result were equally as satisfying. Chunky summed things up in the post-match de-brief, the Wheats have to earn the right to play in this league and after an incredibly fierce battle for the first 30 minutes that’s exactly what they did.

Huge performances from the front 5, back row again excellent, the half-backs controlled the game for the last hour, the centres sound in defence and strong in attack and the back 3 yet again incredibly impressive – a good all round team performance.

Special mention must go to Atherstone for their generous post-match purchase of a jug of beer, presented to the Wheats in memory of Dan. A thoughtful gesture gratefully received.

Match Report by Mase

Photos of this game can be found in the 'videos and photos' section.