BOI Munster U14 Boys Plate - Quarter Final

Bruff RFC V Charleville & District RFC

Match Report 29/03/24

At this age home advantage is very significant. If Charleville boys are to go all the way this year, it is the toughest journey that they will have to do it, needing to get wins on the road. With Bruff having secured a bye into this Quarter Final at home, Charleville boys have had this fixture looming on the horizon since even before they played Clanwilliam FC in the previous round. Add to this the fiercest of local rivalries between these clubs, the heroics of the U16s in securing a win in almost exactly the same fixture in their competition, it cannot be overstated how much was at stake.

Nerves can become shredded in the build up to a match like this amongst players and coaches. That makes it even more important to remember these players are young people who thrive best on positive messages and reinforcement, which was a vital ingredient in the preparation for this game.

Coaches can only handle these situations by controlling the controllables. So, the pitch was walked and the warm up grid set up before Bruff arrived. The boys were able to get straight into their routine and focus their minds on the challenge in front of them. As before the Clanwilliam FC match, the work at and immediately around the breakdown was going to be crucial to success. The boys prepared with an intensive contact and handling under pressure orientated warm up. In a departure from the usual format, the starting team was announced in the warm up area with words of encouragement for each individual in the squad imparted by Diarmuid.

And so, with an evening kick off, Charleville boys eked out the last moments in their warm up before grouping together to cross the pitch for the changing room to get that coveted Charleville & District RFC shirt on their backs. The floodlights flickered on and as the sun was setting behind clouds to the west, it would be doing so for one of the teams taking to the pitch tonight.

The air bristled with tense anticipation as Charleville kicked off the opening third deep into the Bruff half. With the ball gathered, Bruff carried it back straight and hard, setting their stall out immediately with how they were going to play. The early part of the match saw some missed tackles from Charleville that allowed Bruff’s dangerous backs to make line breaks that put Charleville under some serious pressure. This pressure also led to a couple of early penalties for offside against Charleville and even more penalties at the breakdown for holding onto the ball, as carriers got isolated and Bruff showed excellent jackal technique to make it easy for the referee. All of which added to the tough start to the game for Charleville.

As the third wore on, Charleville boys steadied the ship with some reliving carries of their own, but Bruff pressure defence was top quality and forced handling mistakes in an all too frequently flat Charleville backline. However, at least the breaks for scrums broke the Bruff rhythm slightly. But it was only slightly, as Bruff organisation at the set piece was good. In the 9th minute a Bruff scrum just to the left of the centre of the pitch presented an opportunity to split the Charleville defensive line. With three Bruff players ready on the left channel, the ball was spread to them, and they had an immediate overlap and space to run into. Charleville boys scrambled back to defend but with such momentum in attack and quick interplay with supporting runners, Bruff were able to break through to score wide on the left for the opening unconverted score 5-0.

All too often when an expectant team are the first to score in a knock out game at home in this competition, the opposition fold and the floodgates can open. Charlevillle boys are made of different stuff and have shown on more than one occasion throughout this season what they are capable of when their backs are against the wall. The restart would be an opportunity for a reset, to get into Bruff territory and find some consistency to get their phase play going.

Unlike the opening kick off, this time the pressure came on from Charleville and Bruff couldn’t exit so easily. Tackles that were missed in the first five minutes of the match were not any longer. The urgency of Charleville boys forced a knock on deep in the Bruff 22 and offered the chance for Charleville to put sustained pressure on. It worked. With Charleville pressing on each Bruff attempt to break out and forcing them back, Bruff stopped trying to get to the edges where their really dangerous runners were. They went for a relieving kick from close to their try line instead. The distance was good, but it was nowhere near the touch line and Charleville swooped in under the ball to set up a counterattack. With Bruff defence out of shape, Charleville backs ran the ball back straight and fast. The ball was worked to Muiris O’Riordan, who made a break as he pirouetted through the grasping arms of two defenders to make for the try line under the posts. Scramble Bruff defence streaked across from the left of the pitch, trying desperately to fill the spaces and head off the score. It looked initially like they succeeded, but as Muiris and supporting players were forced to adjust course and head out wide to the right, Muiris scored an unconverted try in the final minute of the opening third to level the tie at 5-5. It was a crucial, yet just reward, for Charleville’s efforts and was a foretaste of how this match was going to be decided.

At the break the Charleville boys knew that they had worked hard to get themselves back on level terms. With only 17 mins to keep their season alive, they knew a win was the only way left now under the first score win rule in the event of a draw. Now would not be the time to buckle under fear, but an opportunity to draw on all of the best that they have done this season and put it together into one third of rugby.

As Charleville received the kick off for the second third, they gathered cleanly and ran back hard. But their momentum was stalled by conceding penalties at the breakdown as carriers got isolated. Bruff boys’ season was on the line too and they knew that they were in a fierce contest.

The next twelve minutes of this third of the game was characterised by Bruff throwing everything they had at Charleville. They pressed with phased breakdown play and added variety with passes out to the edges, pushing Charleville back deeper and deeper into their own 22 with each wave of attack. What unfolded was probably the most sustained and disciplined defensive effort the Charleville boys have put together all season. The closer Bruff got to Charleville’ line, the more intense the defence became as boys got set and put themselves repeatedly into the contact. The Charleville boys had found the “dog inside”. On three occasions Charleville defence put the Bruff ball carrier into touch less than 5 metres from their line. Crucial psychological battles were also won with pressure ball defence forcing the knock on and an opportunity to relieve pressure. But exiting was difficult, as Bruff were equally adept and forcing the error on Charleville as they gamely looked to carry the ball out rather than invite pressure by kicking it away.

In the 12th minute, Buff were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts 15 metres out from the Charleville line. With the contest still tied, it was credit to the ferocious discipline of the Charleville boys defence that Bruff decided to kick for goal instead of challenging the Charleville boys with a pick and drive move, or tying them in with a scrum.

The kick was successful and put Bruff 8-5 up, but with six minutes still to go and the Charleville “dog” off the leash, any thoughts in the Bruff camp that this was over would be very much mistaken.

Maybe it was the second period of Charleville boys opening match against Bro Ffestinoig RFC in North Wales, when they took phase play from their own try line all the way down the pitch to score one off their best team tries of the season.

Maybe it was the narrow loss to Bruff in the same festival but knowing that they had the measure of them when it would really count, tonight.

Maybe the raw memory and tears of disappointment at the loss in the final of the North Wales Festival to Bro Ffestinoig RFC, having given everything, but hurt. Yet they came away off that knowing they had brothers they could count on in future when they needed it.

Maybe…..

Whatever it was, with the urging from the touchline to “empty the tank”, the Charleville boys marched up the pitch for the restart. They were no longer just a team. They were an army with bonds forged between them that in these moments is the difference between failure and success.

The restart was gathered and Bruff came up strong, looking to hold Charleville deep in their own half for what little remained of the match. The plan seemed to be working, as Charelville boys pinned in their 22 looked to make carries to get out of the red zone. But the discipline of Charleville was simply impeccable and the handling was also improved to match. Charleville went through a couple of good forward phases of play in their 22 before the ball went to Harry O’Conner, who slid through a gap on the fringe of the breakdown to get his team moving at pace. Supported by Allen Krause and Connor Quinn on the outside left channel, Harry drew the defender and popped it to Allen who surged on out of Charleville’s half only to be tackled into touch on the Bruff 10 metre line.

With Muiris O’Riordan at the front of the line, Bruff lineout possession was frequently stolen, or otherwise messy ball throughout the game. In this instance it was the latter. The ball was tapped down and back with the Bruff scrumhalf scrambling to tidy it up. Although they got the ball away, their backline were static and Charleville surged up to force the error. Bruff resisted, but they were pinned in their own half. The clock ticked into the final 90 seconds.

With the touchline an unfaithful friend, Bruff resisted the urge to kick their way out, preferring to hold onto the ball and run down the clock. But that needs a discipline to match Charleville boys and with a knock on advantage, a sequence of Charleville boys passed, carried and pumped their way directly into the Bruff 22. Boys wrapped and drove the ball carrier forward. With less than a minute to go the ball was released to a hard charging Ronan Hayes. In full flight, Ronan barrelled into the Bruff defenders. But his own band where with him to help Ronan crash over on the left hand side for the decisive score. Roars and gasps from the Charleville supporters where matched by a forest of Charleville arms held aloft around the scorer. At 8-10 and only 15 seconds to go on the restart, all Charleville needed to do was gather cleanly. This they duly did and after a couple of ruck phases Pauric Crowley booted the ball out to touch to seal an outstanding win.

The final third of the match saw all the remaining players who had yet to get game time come into the team. Unfortunately, the proceedings stopped on player welfare grounds in the 2nd minute as a Bruff forward, Daniel O’Neill, was injured at a scrum. The news is good however, as Daniel was checked out at hospital and discharged, much to the relief to all.

If ever there was an example of defence winning matches, this was it. Charleville boys knew they would have to dig deep to get the win against a talented, well drilled and balanced Bruff team. Whilst the rivalry is fierce, the game was a credit to sportsmanship and respect all round and an excellent example of the values of the game.

Charleville boys have talent and balance across the park that is also capable of scoring scintillating trys. But on this occasion the match was one in the dark pit of contact, in the unseen places where only those that know the game grasp the value. A win built on the shoulders of giants like Jack Foley who once again put in repeated tackles for his team and set an example that his teammates followed.

Skill wasn’t going to be enough today. It needed something extra. It needed an inner belief in the toughest moments of adversity that only a group of players of this quality and comradeship can muster. There is no earthly reason for Charleville boys to fear anyone and anything from here on.

The boys are away to Dungarvan in the Semi-Final on 7th April. Having come off the wrong end of that fixture in the earlier group stage of this competition, the have the opportunity to show what they really are about when they bring their ‘A Game’.