And I mean that most sincerely folks...

For a change we had sunshine on a Sunday morning and we took the opportunity to re-visit the content of our “classroom” session a few weeks ago in the pre-match session.

Mold took a while to find us on the furthest pitch from the clubhouse.... but they did get there before Greggo who was welcomed with warm applause from his fellow forwards at 10:45 just in time for the team photo.

We have tried many forms of coaching over the years including drills, break-out sessions, one-to-ones, classroom discussions and more. I now realise that all of these things have been a total waste of everyone’s time and effort. With the benefit of the experience of this match I now know what has to be done to get the optimum performance out of each player in the team, how to delve deep into their psyche and draw out the very best of their instincts. With the benefit of hindsight it is very simple and I’m a bit embarrassed not to have thought of it before. By the very act of booking the club photographer I turned a bunch of Kevin & Perrys into a squad of champagne-rugby-playing stars reminiscent of England’s squad of upcoming heroes. Note to self: Must book photographer for Plate games.

We haven’t played Mold for a good number of years and didn’t really know what to expect. Mold were missing a few players and so only had a squad of 14 on the day and we agreed to play 14 also, Mold having declined our offer of a loan. We started with our usual cast of thousands in the forwards, George back to scrum half, Donny at fly, Cilla inside/outside and Jamie & Conor on the wings with Sean at full-back. The early encounters were watched intently as we had no idea what the sizeable Mold squad were likely to deliver. I think it’s fair to say that, with the photographer on the touchline, Wirral came out on top.

Taylor was the first to go over the whitewash after Wirral stringing together a number of phases (bizarrely just like we’ve coached them – who knew?). With only 14 men on each team there was space to be exploited and Donny and Cilla soon recognised this fact and got the ball out wide to Jamie, who we all know is impossible to catch, for him to run in two in quick succession, both converted by Sean. Just for the sake of fairness they did the same for Conor on the other wing and he ran one in before half time.

Whilst Branchy berated the players for winning, we swapped some of the forwards with Ed going to prop, Jacko into lock and Greggo on at 8 for Harv. Will came on at wing and Woodsy at full back for Sean, Twigs at scrum half for George. Spotting the photo opportunity Will waited patiently on the wing for the ball to come to him and when it did he raced from his own 22, found somebody to deliver a hand-off to, but got tackled 5 metres out. Taylor, for the second time this season, was the benefactor of his support running as he took the pop off the deck from Will to go over under the posts allowing another conversion. Jamie ran in another two fantastic tries with his legendary speed (where’s the jug?) and Woodsy wanted to get in on the photo-shoot too so he scored two as well.

All in all a great team effort with Wirral’s forwards providing an excellent platform for the backs (& Taylor) to exploit. Well done to all. The Chester fixture next week is off so answers on a postcard, in your own handwriting, as to who our next opponents will be.

On the rugby conveyor belt tonight:
- Only one “Morganism” this week as he made an excellent break only to throw the ball 30 yards in front
- Matty wore a Wales shirt and expected to still be selected!
- Cam played half the match as a centre
- Greggo told Harv to pick up at 8 and then did it himself, both were penalised
- Conor confused the opposition by running with the ball behind his back
- We won scrums against the head
- Mold’s parents took the loss in good spirits, at 41-0 down with minutes to go one said “Time to turn it on now lads!”
- Cuddly toy

So, thanks to the players of both teams as the match was played fairly and in good spirit, thanks to the Mold coaches, thanks to John Ayre for reffing, Moggy for running/walking touch, Mike Gibbens for the photos, Ian for Food & Beverage Management and to the parents for their continued support of the clapometer.

And I mean that most sincerely folks!