Sandy Bay U16 boys visited HKFC bright and early, for their third league fixture of the season. The expectation was that with the 10:30 am start, combined with the palpable changing of the season, the heat would have been moderate. Unfortunately, it was far from it as there was not a cloud to be seen.
With a record of two wins out of two to start off their season, the U16 Boys were flying high. Some players confidence could have been forgiven as there are members of the current team that have, over *three* full seasons, only experienced a single competitive defeat.
This was as chastening a fixture for the boys as any. Over-exuberance -- if any existed -- was erased as the U16 Boys fought to a valiant 39-5 loss against league leaders, HKFC.
The first two games had given Coach Dean enough to implement certain positional changes among the backs before the start of this game: Kurtis had dropped to full-back, Matheo to right wing, Mengli had come into outside center, while Alex moved into inside center, with Andrew taking the fly half spot. The formation of the forwards remained unchanged.
Sandy Bay were on the back foot from the early periods of the game as hard tackles on two key players meant two enforced changes at full-back and right wing. With the wind behind their backs, HKFC began to exert their dominance as the quality of their individual players came together to influence the collective's performance. Just marginally, the HKFC boys were faster to the ruck, harder tacklers, and stronger runners. At this age level, small differences like those are all that are needed to manifest in terms of a team's overall performance.
By the end of the first half, Sandy Bay had conceded 3 tries (1 converted) meaning they were 17-5 down at the break.
That said, the attitude and overall team play of Sandy Bay was first-rate. Players protected and fought for one another, and rotated in trying to lift the team's performance. There were pockets of the game when individual players put in big performances, (which at times left those players completely exhausted), but alas those fleeting moments were insufficient to lift the entire team who also played some good rugby but were sadly outclassed.
In the second half, as bodies became more sore and tired, the depth of HKFC's bench came to the fore as they brought in first-team-level subs from the bench who took the baton from their starting peers. This meant that the pressure on Sandy Bay was unrelenting.
Back to the drawing board for the coaching and management team as they try and pick themselves up for their next -- also difficult -- game against VF.
Naub