| London French 1st XV 6 – Pinner and Grammarians 16 |
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| Written by berenger |
| Wednesday, 24 February 2010 16:55 |
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London French 1st XV 6 – Pinner and Grammarians 16 The 1st XV seriously compromised their chances of winning the league by losing at home last Saturday to a very solid Pinner side, who are now level on point with us. Conditions were perfect, although the ground was a little muddy, which didn’t help in the scrums. The French brought along a very solid team on paper, notably with the come back of Mark James, and despite the unavailability of a handful of usual front rows. So it is with a noticeably smaller pack that the French defied an opposition in direct competition for the top spot.  The first half of the match was very even. Seriously contested in the scrums, the French pack was largely dominating in the air. Our defence around the rucks was impeccable, as illustrated by Ben Kitchen who showed he clearly had nothing to envy to his opposite hooker, probably close to twice his weight.  Quentin placed at fly half for the first time this season following Stephane’s injury last week led a few attacks out wide which reminded me of some of the great plays we’ve had against Cuffley – swift passing drills between the backs (and Cyril Gatinot) led us very close to their try line…until the ball was given away to the opposition. But we camped inside their 22s and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Quentin converted. The rest of the half was punctuated by 3 other silly penalties from either side which led the score at half time to be a level 6-6. The game from there could have really gone either way, but it went the wrong way. Pinner are a very good team as they had already proved it to us in the 1st leg. Their strength upfront provides their backs with lots of ammunition to drill through our centres, which they did within 15 minutes of the 2nd half. A good move confused our defence, and the opposition captain ran strongly to score an unconverted try. The rest of the match really tested us to the end of our ability to remain calm and composed as a team when under pressure. We panicked and rushed in everything we did whilst they built up confidence. As a captain, I have to admit I never managed to get the team’s act back together. People shouting, getting frustrated, losing focus. Things got worse as we never managed to clear ourselves from within our own half for over 20 minutes. Despite our brave defence, Pinner once again found the route to the try line via their captain, again on the right hand side. 10 minutes from the end, and with very few balls to work with, the French side was never to recover. We did benefit from Julien Nuer’s entrance on the pitch, when his freshness and aggressiveness led us over the try line, but the ball was held up. Final score 6-16, and as a consequence, we are no longer in control of our destiny. We now need Ickenham to lose 2 of their last 3 matches (and they are still to play both Pinner and ourselves) in order to hope for the top spot. This was clearly a disappointing 2nd half, I’m sure everybody will agree on that. But the French have always known how to bounce back (we certainly did in the pub afterwards!), and I’ll be looking for all your support and commitment in the coming few weeks to prove it once again! Next step: games against Watford on the 6th.  A special mention to Aymeric de Fougeroux who was unable to play in the end but supported us throughout, and to Clement Vialle who did very well against a strong and technical opposition prop.  Allez les Bleus! Olivier |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 16:55 |