With at least eight former Cov among that lot (including a couple that still work for Cov) it'll be an interesting afternoon. See you there.
I see 3 ex-BM players in Th Cov squad, hope it's a good game!
I only count contracted players, personally. If we listed loans and DRs there wouldn't be room on the website 😉 I'm sure it'll be a great game. Just a pity there aren't points at stake.
Adam mentioned in the Q+A session that Ryan Roach has had an operation and will be out for a while. Ollie has rolled his ankle and as such is not featuring. What about Tom Benjamin and Ben Palmer?
The score doesn't really tell the whole story - 12 -12 at half time. They had a purple patch at the beginning of the second half, scoring 3 tries (according the announcer) in three minutes - but certainly very quickly. One of these tries looked very suspect, with a lot of juggling and to-ing and fro-ing. I suspect a TMO review would have found something awry in the chaos which led to it. All in all, though, I was very encouraged - some strong scrummaging, penetrating runs, especially by No 6 and good handling - though it's true there were also some spills, some stuttering attacks and some tackles not fully completed, allowing players unexpectedly to get up again and continue - perhaps the artificial pitch helped in this respect. And all this with a constant rotation of players and certain key personnel - like Ollie and Tom B - not on the field. No lack of commitment and team spirit - and a desire to play from the first minute to the last, which was great to see. As you might expect from a second tier side, they have some powerful and skilful players - especially the No 15, who looked a threat throughout. So I feel we have the core of a very useful outfit and certainly look forward to showing what we can do as the season gets going. Come on Mose!
The score doesn't really tell the whole story - 12 -12 at half time. They had a purple patch at the beginning of the second half, scoring 3 tries (according the announcer) in three minutes - but certainly very quickly. One of these tries looked very suspect, with a lot of juggling and to-ing and fro-ing. I suspect a TMO review would have found something awry in the chaos which led to it. All in all, though, I was very encouraged - some strong scrummaging, penetrating runs, especially by No 6 and good handling - though it's true there were also some spills, some stuttering attacks and some tackles not fully completed, allowing players unexpectedly to get up again and continue - perhaps the artificial pitch helped in this respect. And all this with a constant rotation of players and certain key personnel - like Ollie and Tom B - not on the field. No lack of commitment and team spirit - and a desire to play from the first minute to the last, which was great to see. As you might expect from a second tier side, they have some powerful and skilful players - especially the No 15, who looked a threat throughout. So I feel we have the core of a very useful outfit and certainly look forward to showing what we can do as the season gets going. Come on Mose!
A fair assessment. At one point I'd decided we were going to lose, especially when we made wholesale changes early in the second half. But we rallied, and the three-try burst all but put it to bed. Both sides looked rusty, as expected, and Cov in particular looked light in the forwards (losing Boulton and Burrows will do that, and Nayalo was absent too. A lot of beef, skill and nous missing there). We are bedding in a lot of new youngsters, and I'm expecting a fairly torrid time this season while that happens, but I expect survival. Wouldn't be surprised if Mose are top half though.
In the 1st Team squad pix I see we won two lineouts - encouraging indeed. Whilst for our Walking Squad pressure from swift crossfield patterns dictated play towards victory. Well Done!!
