1st XV v Derby GS

Date: Saturday 30th January

Venue: Home

Team from:

Please note that Sixth Formers will be collecting for the Haiti appeal during all home matches and there will be cakes on sale at the Sports Complex. Thank you for your support.

Result: 0-39

Match Report:

Repton entered this game with only sixteen fit senior squad players available – some measure of the ongoing availability and injury issues which have blighted this half-term’s fixtures. With such a makeshift quality to the team and no flexibility with replacements, it was always going to be difficult to perform effectively against a physically robust and well-drilled Derby GS XV who sought to play a fluid running game for the entire sixty minutes. In the event adverse circumstances brought some notably strong performances from the Repton forwards. Reinke excelled in his work-rate, showing a pleasing physicality of approach when confronting the opposition. Martin was equally tireless in the tackle, making many big hits and showing a real appetite for the battle. Captain Webster, Ashurov and O Block rookie Taylor also showed relentless commitment, and the bloodied but unbowed Perera made some pummelling drives into the opposition. Behind the scrum we were less impressive, with some wayward kicking (two re-starts went straight to touch, a spirit-sapping sight for any forward) putting us on the back foot too often. Standards of defence had definitely improved in the backs also, however, and Keen showed some fine touches in his developing kicking game at fly-half. There is a lot to build on here after half-term, in particular the improved physical edge we have added to our game since the last two fixtures. If player availability improves after half-term, we can look forward to this year’s remaining fixtures with confidence.