One would not think that on a day with low ceiling fog, clouds full of intermittent rain and a slow, soggy pitch, two forward oriented teams would engage in a flury of backline attacks. The Red Eyes, unwilling to let Jacksonville’s large forwards hammer them again, stymied the opponents relentless pack attack while spinning most possession. But Jacksonville, on their heels early on, adjusted. Their big backs supported by their quick flankers, capitalized on mistakes in the Red Eye attack then began slicing through the defense like a hot knife through butter. The end result, officiated well by John Seldon, was a 51-5 lesson for the Red Eyes.
The early tempo of the match was set by the Red Eyes as their kickoff, aimed away from the forwards, was caught by a Jacksonville back who was then pummeled by the Red Eye centers. Jacksonville forwards tried to pound their way upfield but instead lost yardage as the Red Eye forwards aggressively attacked behind the gain line in defense. The result was a struggle for field position with the Red Eyes controlling the flow, position and for the most part, the possession. The Red Eyes spun their ball, but could not overcome handling errors to cash in on the opportunities. A sequence of three penalties against the Red Eyes resulted in a 3-0 Jacksonville lead but that was the most effective offense either team could muster early on.
By midway through the half, Jacksonville had adjusted their game and began to execute their backline offense with good support, while deploying a slide or out defense. This brought more manpower to bear at the breakdown in the Red Eye attack while applying offensive pressure with depth in their wide attack; confident in the knowledge that the Red Eye forwards were committed to stopping the inside game. The result was devastating as the home team cashed in repeatedly on Red Eye miscues while also creating overloads outside the centers on offense. To their credit, the Jacksonville backline, playing in wet conditions, had but one knock-on all game. And when the ball was misplayed, their offensive depth was there to clean it up quickly. Ironically, this was precisely the plan the Red Eyes had hoped to execute.
The final scoring was 8 trys, 4 conversion and a penalty kick for Jax against one try for the Red Eyes. DJ Hewett was awarded Man-Of-The-Match for his work in the front row, at flanker and in defense. Virgil Russell scored the only try for the Red Eyes off a maul driven in from a full lineout and had a fine run on his first opportunity at outside center while substituting for backs in the 2nd half. Dean Pitcher won the jersey lottery.
Hopefully it was learned today how important adjustments and execution can be in the game of rugby. Jacksonville RFC is not only big and fast but experienced. The Red Eyes took them out of their forwards game but they adjusted then attacked repeatedly with their backs where they perceived weakness to be in the Red Eye defense. They are clearly a level above the other Division III teams in this state, and in my opinion, could compete successfully in Division II. Nonetheless, that is the level to which the Red Eyes aspire and saturday they witnessed first hand the type of play and gamesmanship that it will take to reach that goal.
The B-game was a loose, slippery, free flowing affair won late by the Jacksonville B-side. Thanks must go to the many Jacksonville players who played for the Red Eyes and to those Red Eyes who gallantly played two full games. Anthony Madland, with some crushing hits, earned Man-Of-The-Match honors at center.
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
