Head coach Garth Dew has given us his thoughts ahead of the game against Leicester Lions tomorrow.
It’s been another tough two weeks as we failed to capitalise on massive early scrum dominance against Tynedale and were eventually well beaten, before the same old issues cost us last week at South Leicester, a game where if we had more confidence we could have easily got a result.
Losing ultimately becomes a habit, and it’s clear that we just lack the confidence to back ourselves at the moment, and I think this is why we suddenly look a different side once we are trailing and have to play some rugby, as was the case last week.
With our current league position as it is I think it’s now imperative the lads back themselves to play from the start. I am convinced we are one of the fittest sides in the league, and if we can stay in game up to the hour mark then I have no doubt we can get on top of teams in the last quarter. However, we must cut out the silly mistakes that are costing us dearly, three sloppy errors last week led to three South Leicester tries.
With 8 weeks to go, however, the key for me is that the whole club remains positive and continues to back the squad. It’s been a season blighted by disruptions, from losing six players in the off season and thirteen more in season, to having to play on pitch two for the majority of the campaign with injuries to key players on top.
I’m not making excuses, as every club deals with these issues, but the fact is it’s the players who now take the field who are the good lads sticking it out through this rough patch, and they are the future of the club and deserve to be respected and supported unanimously by everyone. The fact we have been very competitive with so many disruptions and young players in their first season of 1st XV rugby is a testament to their attitude and work rate.
I don’t intend to sound defeatist with what I’ve said, I just want the lads to know that everyone backs them and there is no pressure, rugby is a game to be enjoyed and we must do that for the rest of the season regardless and look to improve as a group each week.
With a positive attitude and a no pressure approach, I believe we still have some big wins in us this season and it’s still all to play for. Go and enjoy it boys, put your bodies on the line, and get some big results in the next couple of months.
I’ll look forward to seeing everyone getting behind the lads this weekend.
Garth
