Here Endeth the Lesson

The festive season was brought to an abrupt end for Harborough u13s when they met old rivals Silhillians on Sunday. Harborough are used to winning their games but Silhillians dished out a lesson in simple, fast, effective rugby that was just too much for the home side to handle.

Harborough know from previous experience that Silhillians are a very good side and they need to ruck and tackle like never before to be competitive. Unfortunately, Silhillians were strong and competitive right through the squad.

The opening exchanges were fairly even, but it didn’t last. Once Silhillians were able to spin the ball out wide to their fast running backs, Harborough had no answer and were 0 – 7 down. The next score was a repeat of the first, with the Silhillians winger again the scorer. 0 – 14.

Silhillians racked up another two tries in the first half to take the score to 0 – 26. This was an uncomfortable place for the home side to be, barely having conceded a score in recent months, let alone falling behind.

Silhillians continued to ruck well in the second half, continuously winning turnover ball. They also varied their attack, kicking over the top and putting Harborough’s back line under pressure. One score came from a lovely long kick and fortunate bounce that Silhillians gathered and ran in.

The Harborough forwards put in a lot of effort, but were rucked off the ball by a more organised side. The opposition backs were a class apart. This is a well trained side with a large squad from which to select. Last year, Harborough were given a similar lesson and went on to win the Land Rover Cup. Positive learning from this year will again be the best thing to take from the game.