"The second half was a better reflection of how we can play scoring 38 points which asks the question what were we playing at in the first half......."

Tony & Chris give their honest opinions on last weekends defeat against Barnes.

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Tony Yapp

Again Barnes have proved to be a bogey team for us. Going into the game on Saturday there was certainly no lack of focus and organisation based on the fact that we’ve lost at Barnes away before. After wasting a great opportunity to score early in the game that was as good as it got for the first 40 minutes, after that our attacks quickly petered out and defensively we didn’t have enough players holding their shape and making tackles. To go into the change room 25 points down was a huge disappointment but there was also a feeling if we could keep hold of the ball and keep the energy high we could get back into the game and so it proved.

The second half was a better reflection of how we can play scoring 38 points which asks the question what were we playing at in the first half, something that I don’t think will make great viewing when the match footage comes through on video. Despite scoring 38 points we also conceded to many points to really get ourselves back into the game although 3 of their second half tries came against the run of play this can often happen when you start chasing games.

We’re obviously bitterly disappointed with the result and with a weekend off coming up we’ll be rolling our sleeves up in training and look to right the wrongs from the weekend when we face top of the league Rams at home on the 17th. As disappointed as I am I must also pay credit to Barnes who on the day were excellent, they played with great energy and a real commitment and fully deserved their win.

This week presents a slightly different challenge for us as our Warriors will be taking on Winscombe in the Somerset cup at home on Thursday evening. This is a welcome break from the league for the players and will give some of our fringe players the chance to stake a claim for the Rams game

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Chris Brown

Saturday we were second best. We demonstrated in the second half that we were capable of performing and scoring points but made too much error throughout to justify winning. 

Significantly under pressure at half time we mounted a comeback which saw us play some scintillating rugby. However, at this level we need to be more accurate to win matches and we cannot allow them to get a head start.

We had some good individual performances but tactically as a group we needed to show composure and no use. Putting ourselves back in the driving seat was admirable; but we needed to be stronger at concentrating in defence

It’s a a disappointment but we will bounce back. We have a great challenge approaching where we will have to bring our A game and show what we are capable of against the Rams..

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