Weston Far Fardre Away From Llantwit

There is no disgrace in defeat when beaten by a far superior team and I wonder whether we will ever meet a finer team than there Welsh counterparts in Llantwit Fardre who executed the simplest of game plans to win the ball quickly and move the ball faster than Weston could ever run to perfection. As simple as it may sound a high level of discipline and no lesser amount of skill is required.
At this age Welsh rugby have some subtle rule differences. They still don’t compete for the ball in line outs and scrums and only two players can enter the rucks. It was their play at the breakdown which took Weston apart. With only two players ever entering the ruck who consistently retained or turned over the ball, their ability to then move ball along what appeared to be an infinite line of pink and blue shirts was way beyond anything Weston’s brave defence led by Isaac Bliss again, the ever improving Jack Rollings, Jamie Meaden and Matthew James could handle.
Cut to the way Weston play, Weston’s players still gravitate towards the breakdown but only a few commit to it, the rest are drawn there by the ball and do not have the awareness of their role in it or around it. The result is an inability to move the ball forward because players not in the ruck aren’t ready to receive a short pass and go forward; neither can we move the ball wide because the same players are in the way.
Llantwit however on winning the ball were often left with several players spare and they exploited these overlaps and space with almost faultless passing and handling to run in try after try. The pressure was relentless and many players found themselves in impossible positions defensively as a result.
It would be an unfair reflection of the match if Weston’s ventures into their opponents half were not mentioned and they came close to scoring several tries as their usual ball carriers in the form of Matthew James, Tom Burge, Jamie Meaden and Dylan Way made gains, Hobbes Gaulton at scrum half was busy but unable to find his backs in close enough support. Bradley Robinson came close but was denied as the line beckoned.
Weston scored two tries in the second period; Bradley Robinson deserved his following in what has to be viewed as his best performance of the season. Seizing on a rare loose ball he side stepped a tackle was half stopped but not held. He reached forward to ground the ball. Jamie Meaden who is arguably now Weston’s most effective player in a crash ball situation took a pass on the angle and broke the Welsh defence to score.
It was a pleasure to host a team capable of playing such good rugby and from a coaches perspective we hope that the players can use it to develop their own game.
The star player was identified by the Llantwit Fardre Coaches – Matthew James.