Category: Match Preview

WORTHING V CANTERBURY

As a team we take great pride in playing at home. Our performances in front of our extremely loyal home support are very important to us and that’s what makes last Saturday’s game against Wimbledon so disappointing. The good in our game is something we can be proud of but the moments when we are not at our best are way below what we expect of ourselves, and these moments are really hurting us. Two kick chase errors cost us 14 points and when we have reviewed this as a team, we have identified these as effort errors. Effort errors are when we are not putting in the effort required for us to play our game and are not acceptable to us. This weekend our focus is on removing them from our game.
Worthing have had a similar start to the season to ourselves, and I’m expecting a tough clash down on the south coast.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

Last time we played away at Esher we lost 26-0. To come away eight points behind and fighting to the end there are obviously positives for us to take away from Saturday, but our overwhelming feeling is that we missed an opportunity. After the slowest of starts we were staring down a 17 point deficit. Esher had taken their chances well, but off the back of our cumulative errors. The quality of our current squad showed eventually, and we had two good scores to go in 22-14 at the half. We had all the territory and possession in the second half need to come away with a win, but errors blocked our ability to get over the line. The other disappointment is to leave empty handed. We learnt the lesson last season that good league campaigns are built on continually adding to your points tally, win or lose.
Three games in and our understanding of what we need to do to be at our best is coming into focus. We need to make sure this week against Wimbledon we are clinical with the opportunities we create. Wimbledon visit us off the back of a good win last week against Westcombe Park and our focus will be at being at our best for 80 minutes.

The Pilgrims started their league campaign with a great win at home to Beccehamians. The whole 1st and 2nd XV squad is much stronger this season and there are some very talented players representing the Pilgrims again this week.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

What a difference a week makes. I was so pleased for the players that within a week they turned the disappointment of Sevenoaks into such a strong performance on Saturday. I obviously love a good lineout maul, and to see it produce five tries and really apply pressure on Tonbridge, was something I really enjoyed. I don’t think Nathan Morris minded getting on the score sheet four times either! There are still a few things for us to tighten up on, but we spoke in the week about getting the job done and the players did that without question.
Looking forward to the weekend, Esher will provide another strong test. Following their season in National 1, they will be keen to return at the first time of asking and have a squad to do so. We are stronger than the last time we played in Esher, and I can’t wait to see the players show what they are capable of. For supporters traveling to Esher please note that the entrance fee is £15

Matt Corker, Head Coach

Canterbury v Tonbridge Juddians

Last week was not the start we were looking for. Two defensive errors cost us 14 points, added to a handful of converted penalties and we ended one point behind. Alfie Orris’s fantastic solo effort at the death nearly snatched it for us but when reviewing the vast quantity of possession we had in the attacking 22, we were nowhere near clinical enough. We created some great line breaks and built pressure but came up with errors at crucial times. We had some very honest words in the post match huddle and changes have been made for this weekend to give other members of the squad a chance to show what they can bring.

Any fixture against Tonbridge always has an extra degree of excitement due to the local rivalry. We will be looking to fix the wrongs of last week and get our season started this Saturday.

CANTERBURY V GUERBNSEY

An enforced reshuffle in the back division this week. Fly half Frank Reynolds is recovering from illness but joins the bench replacements. Lewis Hollidge starts at Number10 and Tom Best returns at inside centre. Scrum half Tom Williams is another making a return after a successful trial for the the England Universities Sevens squad but flanker Sam Rogers misses out because of a ham string strain
Head Coach Matt Corker says: ”Leaving Old Albanians last week empty handed was very disappointing. We started the way we planned, dominating territory and playing at speed. However, we squandered too many opportunities on the OA’s five metre line and in the final ten minutes of the first half we stopped talking to each other and conceded three quick tries.
“The next 39 minutes of the second half was filled with composed attack and we pulled ourselves back to a score behind, before a moment of madness led to us conceding in the last play of the game. Our discipline did prevent us taking full control and some errors at the lineout also made it difficult to punish OA’s when they got on the wrong side of the referee.
“On reflection we did take a big step forward from Bury and the intent in training this week has been exactly what we need.
“Guernsey travel to Canterbury this weekend after a big victory last Saturday against Rochford and a good win against Dorking in recent weeks. This is an important game for us in terms of the league table and I am anticipating another great weekend of National 2 rugby. “

This week really feels like we are on the final approach of the season and we have some important fixtures on the horizon. For us to get the points we want at Old Albanians this weekend, we know we will have to put in a performance. Our focus over the last fortnight has been to reignite our strengths and getting back to the standards that we set in the games against Worthing and Tonbridge.

In our last game against Bury, territorially, we had the start that we had planned for with the first quarter of the game being played in Bury’s 22. We had a very honest review which was led by the players and it was painful to see how many chances we had squandered. We know if our accuracy and ability to execute our plan had been better we would have gone in at halftime with a very different score line. We know what we need to do, Saturday is about doing it.

We also had some news to celebrate this week, thanks to Chris Fullbrook’s knowledge of the league regulations the Pilgrims league table was adjusted and the Pilgrims have been crowned champions. The coaches and players have had a fantastic season and this has been the cherry on the top.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

Will Waddington returns to the squad after injury and replaces Sam Sterling who has been given a three match ban after his red card in the Barnes game.
Last week Barnes showed why they are third in the league. Another slow start and we were four tries down at half time. We can not give good teams a lead of this size and after two good scores early in the second half we showed that we were able to fight our way back. This was stopped in its tracks by errors in possession and ill discipline and the final scoreline left us feeling that we hadn’t given a good account of ourselves.
With five games to go we have talked about how we want to feel at the end of the season and the players are united in wanting to be proud of their performances and finishing the season on a high.
Saturday brings a milestone for one of our players and it will be great to see our captain, Jamie Stephens, run out for his 100th performance. I first met Jamie when I arrived in Canterbury and was coaching at the Langton. To see him progress from school rugby, to breaking into the first team and then to become the youngest first team captain has been a pleasure to be a part of. His achievements, in such a short time, are testament to his hard work and strong character. We are very lucky to have him as a key part of our club and whatever he decides to go on to achieve I know he will attack it in the same manner. It’s also a good excuse for us to all buy him a beer as well!.

Mett Corker, Head Coach