Willpower from Wanderers was the winning attribute against a tough Thomond team in the must win AIL 8th round game in which Wanderers worked very hard to attain a heartening 18-3 victory.
Having been a month since the last AIL game in which we disappointed against Bective there was plenty of motivation to put things back on track against Thomond who had also had an up and down first half of the season. With a very wet week it was pleasing to still have a surface conducive to some positive Rugby even though a light drizzle was present for the majority of the game.
Thomond hit us with exactly what we expected in the initial exchanges with only some desperate defence keeping the try-line clean. They did pick up an early penalty in the 5th minute though to take a 3-0 lead. It wasn’t until we gained some decent field position and were patient with the possession we had that we created a threat. The threat after some good clean phases was completed with a try in the left hand corner to centre Melvin Mc Namara. The conversion missed by Daithi Fitzgerald meant the score stayed at 5-3 until Fitzgerald converted a well taken penalty kick with 8mins remaining in the half. The physical nature of the breakdown exchanges continued with each pack determined to disrupt the quality of the ball presented to the hungry back-lines.
Half-time and the call for individuals to concentrate on what they could control so the collective discipline improved. Thomond had missed several kickable goals and we didn’t want to give them any more chances. We needed to utilize the light breeze behind us and gain confidence with the field position gained. With one of our front rowers in the sin bin for the 1st 10 minutes of the half it was important to play tough smart rugby and shut out any hope Thomond had of gaining an early advantage. We were able to react to our man down situation and pick up another penalty to take an 11-3 lead 8 minutes into the 2nd half. Chances were blown in the right and left corners by not being clinical enough on the line after some quality build-up work with back and forwards linking well. A few heart thumping moments on defence to keep our slender 8 point lead and then finally from an attacking lineout some good mauling led to Captain Bevan Cantrell crashing over for a well earned 5 pointer. Fitzgerald converted from wide out to complete the scoring and the final whistle blew. This was a pleasing effort for so many reasons under huge pressure from all angles. We reacted positively with individuals lifting their standards and together as a group we united to be a lot more effective force.
There is big challenge against Malone up in Belfast this weekend so we need to continue to push ourselves to implement the basics of the game at the highest possible level and bring the same willpower needed to overcome our next challenge.
