Oaks Academy's availability issues finally came home to roost in a very tough day at the office against a strong Canterbury side.
Missing in excess of 10 potential 1st team starters due to injury or school rugby commitments, Oaks found themselves outmatched for much of the contest. Injuries to key players such as fly half Louis Bouverie and big 2nd row Jack Ludden during the game did nothing to aid the Oaks cause.
Oaks actually started reasonably brightly in attack and defence. A couple of big shots early on led to turnover ball from which Oaks settled neatly into their attacking shape. However, a lack of precision at the attacking breakdown led to numerous Canterbury turnovers. It was clear from the outside that Canterbury were going to be a handful to contain. Big, powerful runners in their pack needed multiple tacklers to bring down and then deceptive, pacy outside backs took full advantage of the extra space afforded to them. This led to Oaks having to defend with as many as 14 players in the front line, leaving a lot of space in the backfield. The Canterbury fly half would take full advantage of this fact.
An early penalty gave Canterbury a lineout 5m out from the Oaks line. The black and yellow pack gave the Oaks forwards a taste of their own medicine as they constructed a powerful drive to take the game's first score. The wide conversion was missed. 5-0.
Oaks responded with a couple of strong lineout drives of their own. Unfortunately, some cute Canterbury defence and a couple of 50-50 calls not going Oaks way meant that no points came.
Then Canterbury took control. The Cant fly half was using the downhill slope perfectly and his massive boot pinned Oaks deep inside their 22. Canterbury scored two more lineout tries in quick succession. One came from another powerful driving maul and then other from a clever peel off the back by their hooker who bumped off a couple of weak tackles to score. Only one of these scores was converted, but the score was already 17-0.
Oaks were able to string some phases together from the kick-off, their wide-middle-wide shape opening some gaps in the middle of the Canterbury defence. Canterbury gave away a penalty in their enthusiasm to win the ball back. It was within range and Zac Shirtcliff stepped up to get Oaks' first points on the board. 17-3.
Sadly, this did nothing to change the overall flow of the game as more astute kicking presented Canterbury with another close-range opportunity. They took it and with the added conversion they went in at half time 24-3 leaders.
Oaks did their utmost to use coffin corner against Canterbury at the start of the 2nd half. Some good kicking from fullback Billy Boyd pinning Canterbury deep in much the same way Oaks had been in the first half. The key difference was that Oaks were unable to get that all important score that might just have ignited something. When a failed Oaks attack resulted in another close-range Canterbury try from yet another kicking duel win by their fly half, the fight went from Oaks.
At this point the lack of overall squad availability really started to bite. Replacement scrum half Mac Leason found himself on the wing for the second time in two games and centre Cam Davies had to shift into the back row when injuries in the pack forced several players off the pitch. Canterbury took full advantage of the impact this had on Oaks' cohesion and the rest of the game was a brutal experience for the young Oaks.
Complete physical dominance combined with a huge amount of enthusiasm to score more points led to four more Canterbury tries in quick succession as Oaks' usually solid phase defence imploded. The players looked exhausted and whilst they continued to put their bodies in harm's way, the lack of bite made it all too easy for Canterbury to pick holes and get their final killer offloads away.
The final score of 53-3 was a fair reflection of the two teams' performances on the day.
With the National Cup 1st round next weekend (October 10th) away at Old Reigatians, Oaks must try to take any small positives that they can from this experience. Several players will come back into the squad having recovered from various niggles so immediately Oaks will be a little bit stronger. They can also take heart from the fact that early in the 2nd half, they did put together several strong attacks that really challenged the Canterbury defence. Indeed, if a couple of 50-50 calls had gone their way during that period, it is likely that they would have scored. Who knows what would have done for the players' depleted energy stores.
Squad list: Alby Butt, Elliot Wright, Luke Walter, Jack Ludden, Barnaby Thomas, Ben Sellors, Elliot Peters, Will Murphy, Sam Hopkins, Louis Bouverie, Joe Ryder, Zac Shirtcliff, Cameron Davies, Juan Barnard, Billy Boyd
Subs: Damien May, Mac Leason, Jon Odeyimi