Back to School for Melbourne

Melbourne travelled down the M1 to Rugby Lions who were fantastic hosts and boasted great facilities ahead of the Midlands 1 clash. Again Rugby Lions boasted a big pack with some top experience in the form of their open side and eight.

It was a similar story to the preceding fixture versus Moseley Oak in the first twenty minutes. Melbourne conceded too many penalties early on conceding precious ground and giving advantage to the larger pack who attempted to sap the energy out of Melbourne with a series of Mauls. To Mebourne's credit they competed fiercely and didn't allow the Lions to score off of their favoured maul. However, Rugby Lions drew first blood using their eight to effectively gain them front foot ball and make a break through a resolute defence for a 7 - 0 lead.

Melbourne took this as a wake up call and began to use their brains as opposed to brawl targeting the wide spaces to seek advantage. It was the green and gold who next scored with the ever present and excellent Chris Stark scoring a lovely score with some great support play. 7 - 5

However, almost immediately after the positive play and score some lax defending (an unusually occurrence for Melbourne) allowed the Lions to score out wide which was well converted 14 - 5. Melbourne were quickly seeking to hit back and pinned the opposition back with strong phase play and game management by Oliver Page and Euan Holden. An infringement by the Lions offered up three points which Holden gladly converted to take the score to 14 -8.

Rugby Lions continued to batter there way up the field and looked to spin wide but Melbourne coped well and began to assert themselves on the game frequently stressing the Lions defence and isolating straggling forwards. The best score of the game was delivered by Melbourne who spotted a mismatch from midfield and flooded the space with Oliver Page delivering quick ball to Tommy Howard to scythe through the Lions Defence and run the score in from wide out to under the posts. Melbourne had a hold of the game and took the lead 14 - 15. The match was well balanced and score reflected this but Melbourne need to learn lessons as they allowed Lions back into the match with the last play of the first half to take the score to 21 - 15.

The players recognised how they needed to manage the game and adapt the play as they set about the half time team talk but a quick score following the break stretched the scoreline further away from Melbourne 26 - 15. Melbourne had the majority of possession in the second half and played some excellent rugby, the issue however, was being that they were not clinical enough as a number of chances went begging. The green and gold were camped in the opposition 22 on a number of occasions but credit to Lions as there defence and breakdown work held out. Melbourne are quickly learning a key lesson, that they cannot afford to be wasteful - if we create a chance to score we must take it - several opportunities presented but went begging. A call from the coach told them to go for broke in the last few minutes of the game and the players duly responded. A wide attack saw a 3 v 2 situation as the players attempted to get a loosing bonus point a mis-pass fell into the pathway of the opposition wing who took a gamble which was richly rewarded and he broke past the Melbourne attack line to 3/4 length of the pitch to score beneath the posts - putting a somewhat glossy appearance on the scoreline 33 - 15.

Lions deserved there win and were fantastic hosts with a very competitive game. Post match Melbourne Head Coach said "we are learning lessons very quickly in this league. The "step up" in terms of quality of rugby is evident, in that if you make a mistake you get punished and if you create an opportunity to you must take it. What is pleasing is that the points we aimed to improve upon from last week were implemented and we looked a much sharper side. Our defence for large parts was strong and our attack play could have created four or five further tries if our decision making or execution had been a little better. We are improving week to week and we have returning players coming back who will add further quality if called upon."