Belief. Positivity. Unity. DOG! Following an excellent evening with guest speakers Dermot Gascoyne and Paul Broadbent, these were the four key elements that were identified by the players as Mantras for the club going forward. It was an excellent session, and it was clear going in to Saturday that everyone who attended the evening had a renewed sense of purpose and belief. Going into a game against the runaway league leaders on the back of a 79 – 7 beating in the reverse fixture, there was a lot of talk about how nobody outside our changing room expected anything other than a heavy win for the team averaging 45 points a game. Although there was in the end a win for the visitors, the performance, dedication and fight shown by Moderns surprised everybody watching. Though it seems perverse to say in the face of a defeat, it was quite probably the stand out performance of Moderns’ season so far. From the start, elements that had been missing from Moderns’ game across the season at various points were all on display – the kick off chase was committed and catchers were pressured into mistakes or sat down immediately – defence in the tight was committed and ferocious and when Newark managed to fight hard to secure possession up front, their dangerous runners were harried into errors or put down by clinical defence in the backline. The front 8 dominated in the set piece against their larger and more celebrated opponents and although Newark had the lion’s share of the possession throughout the first half, all they had to show for it was two penalties until an overlap on the stroke of half time allowed them to break down the touchline and score. Even in conceding a try, the desire and committed tackling of the cover defence meant that what in previous weeks would have been a walk in for the winger turned into a slick move with support runners having to work hard to offload out of the tackle to get over the line to give them a 13-0 halftime lead. Perhaps having watched too much premiership rugby, Newark had announced that they were to go into the changing rooms at half time, and the fact that their coaches kept them on the pitch was duly taken as a small victory and a reflection on a first half performance that had shocked the ‘Big Club’. It was identified in a wholly positive manner that whilst we had been excellent in managing to contain, disrupt and harry for 40 minutes we had not shown what we could do with ball in hand and we were in a real position to ask questions of Newark that we all believed that they would not have answers for if we could secure some more possession. Whilst the commitment and determination of the first half were matched again in the second half, Newark showed why they had not lost a game all season and found a patience and calmness which they had not had in the first half, sucking up Moderns’ defensive onslaught and finally taking the chances that will present against any team starved of possession for the majority of the game. There was a lot of talk of putting your body on the line for your team and never taking a backwards step, and this was typified by 2nd Row Jared Allen, who whilst flying in to counter ruck fell awkwardly and was taken off to hospital with a double ankle fracture that has ended his season. His excellent lineout work and growing presence in the loose will live a big hole to fill, and he will be missed. For those wondering, he had an operation on Sunday morning and is expected to make a full recovery in time. The second half yielded three tries for the visitors as on this occasion securing ball going forward was just beyond Moderns. A loss is a loss, and any positives should be taken with that in mind but this performance highlighted a renewed desire and an increase in performance levels from 1-18 that will surely set the team in good stead for the rest of the season. Man of the match was rightly awarded to the entire squad.
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