Match v South Gower

Here is the report from the South Gower.

South Gower 2 Mumbles Crusaders 9

On a glorious Easter Sunday the Crusaders Roadshow and its Eastertime Extravaganza made the short trip to Pwll Du Lane for the final test in their Triangular Series against our nearest rivals South Gower.

With the matrix machine cunningly avoiding the elementary schoolboy blunder that befell Police Chief Bob Quick earlier in the week, the team for today was not posted on the blog for the all seeing paparazzi and was, up until kick off, a closely guarded secret.

For today's game, the 11 players on parade were Rhys D, Rhys C, Ben M, Cameron, Lloyd, Dom, Jack P, Tom P, Aled, Keiran and Cian. The responsibility of selecting a captain for the day was given to John "Voice of the Balls" Marsden who, after two attempts and plenty of encouragement, correctly identified the number 6 as being a random number between 1 and 11. Captain for the day was then bestowed upon Dominic.

With the pitch widened and lengthened to allow Mike M to referee and to safely comply with his regulatory minimal stopping distance, and with both sides able to use the 11 players at their disposal, the game was split into 3 x 10 minute periods.

A fantastic game of rugby ensued with both sides playing with a Gallic flair and abandonment that was befitting of the weather and the occasion. Both sides, with the encouragement of their coaches, treated their supporters to a rugby spectacle which was played with some real pace, width and vision. The game itself was played in an exemplary spirit from both sets of players and this is to the credit of all associated with these teams.

For the Mumbles it was particularly pleasing to see all the players make significant contributions whether it was with ball in hand or the nitty gritty "nuts and bolts" stuff that stops your opponents in their tracks, thus allowing for flowing movements and prolonged passages of play. It was also good to see the players gelling as a team and their game awareness increasing. This encouraged the players to give out the extra pass (even if it didn't always stick, this is still to be applauded) and to clear out at the breakdown rather than standing off or trying to put to many hands on the ball.

Try scorers today were Rhys C, Dominic, Lloyd, Jack P and Ben Marsden who probably had his best game for Mumbles. Yet again, Cameron, Keiran, Cian and Aled made their presence felt in all facets of the game, while Rhys D and Tom P played with great endeavour and made telling contributions in attack and defence - Well done to all for an outstanding performance.

Our thanks go Nils and Stuart and to the South Gower team who, despite being shorn of their regular coaches and a number of players agreed for this fixture to be honoured. Despite the seemingly top heavy final score this in no way reflects the efforts of the South Gower team who played their part in a magnificent game of rugby.

Luctonians Update

Despite the best efforts of Donna M and Kay M, apparently there is still some monies to be collected for this trip. Having sought legal advice, they have now sold on any outstanding finance to reputable debt recovery agency and harbingers of Inquisitional Law and Cuban Justice, namely Ratchett, Hatchett and Pincers. The current rate of interest lies somewhere between the inflationary economies of Zimbabwe and Uganda. Those who fail to part with the readies in due time for the trip may incur an unearthly hour visit from the partners in the firm, Everard Filchuss QC and "Big Ronnie" Grabbuss.

NOTE: No training Wednesday, lots of training on Thursday!