Worcester at home

" Fightback "  NOUN   British
" A great effort to gain a position of strength made by a person or group who seem likely to lose a contest "

Today we welcomed Worcester and with this being a weekend of rugby history being made with Ireland turning over the All Blacks, we were all in for another treat.
First off I need to wish Haani all the best with his dislocated finger which he did whilst warming up. Thanks to Chris (our new addition to the Sils/Montgomery casualty team) he was soon relocated, strapped up and ready for action. Sab was indeed relieved to hear that Chris is in fact a doctor and neither an accountant or a window cleaner! 

Right from the start Worcester looked strong and well drilled. Some big lads, especially their giant winger, were clearly going to pose our boys problems. This was indeed the case when they scored first with Sils looking lethargic and missing tackles. 
Some more evenly contested rugby saw us wake up a bit when Elliot broke from a ruck to release to Haani for Sils first of the game. Jacob duly converting.
The first half then began to show a pattern, with both teams playing decent rugby but Worcester utilising the whole of their team better and with greater attacking accuracy. This simple philosophy led to them scoring 3 more well worked tries and leaving our boys somewhat shell shocked. This was definitely unchartered territory!

First Half  Sils 7  Worcester 26 

The second half began and, with some strong words from our coaches still ringing in their ears, the boys appeared to have woken up. 
A strongly contested ruck saw the ball come to Ethan who handed off a challenge to give himself a clear run to the line. Jacob once again converting. Worcester replied almost immediately when they despatched their giant winger with a one way ticket to our try line. 
Some more evenly contested rugby saw both teams executing nice moves and playing with intent. Sils again clawed their way back into it with Ethan making a strong determined run, evading two or three tackles to score his second.
The players and the parents were all now beginning to think we could actually do this but Worcester were not giving up. They looked threatening every time they had the ball and our defence was working hard to contain their line breaks. 
Next score came from a great passage of play by Sils. The backs shifting the ball well, then the forwards stepping in at the breakdown to construct a lovely driving maul which saw the ever reliant Noah go over. Jacob converting extremely well given the distance and windy conditions.
Sils continued to battle hard. This again paid off when Ethan took the ball to go on another strong run to bag his third of the game. Jacob once again kicking a great 2 pointer. 
We all now had our tails up but none of us could relax. This is what rugby is all about - tough, fair and entertaining. 
This was now a nail biting situation. Nobody knew what would happen next until Sils produced one of their finest tries I can recall. A lineout on the Worcester 22 with their throw in produced exactly what we all needed. Their player taking the ball only to be absolutely smashed by Woody to produce a driving maul towards their try line.
The Sils pack threw all they had left at it and turned the ball over which enabled Ethan to go over in the corner for his fourth. 
Up stepped Jacob to convert another extremely difficult kick.

Worcester then had one last charge for the line before Sam H bravely tackled their charging giant winger to prevent a potential match levelling score. ( David v Goliath springs to mind )
This was not a game of individual skill or talent. This was a game where 15 lads played as a team and refused to lie down and be beaten. 
Absolute credit to the entire playing squad today. 

Final Score  Sils 40  Worcester 33
GW