Coaches Corner - Update from Russ Bolton

The first time I am writing to you and we are onto our fourth game of the season, this Saturday we take on Oxford Harlequins 2nd XV.

If I am being completely honest with you and I feel that I can be, I have found the beginning of this season pretty frustrating. Pre-season went fantastically well with record numbers at training, plenty of new faces turning up at the club and our current colts and students getting involved as often as they could.

It would be natural to look at our first three games from the outside and say that it’s been a good start. A narrow loss away from home, followed by 2 victories is a decent start and we have more points at this stage than we did last year. The frustration I feel is that my drive as a coach is to constantly improve the quality of rugby that we produce on a Saturday afternoon however I feel we have been hampered in that mission by a staggeringly long injury and unavailability list. I am proud of how the squad has handled the early games but I also know that we have got nowhere near fielding our strongest XV and that is hard to take.

Back in the summer we talked about what we wanted to achieve as a squad. Having finished 4th last season it is only natural that the players are looking up. Finishing higher than last season and being a contender to win the league were certainly in the aspirations. The reality is that for us to achieve that we need three main elements. 1, a commitment to training and improving which I feel we are in a good place with. 2, a commitment to play and be available; a definite area for improvement, and 3, a good dose of luck which seem to be missing at the moment. Still there is plenty of time in the season for the tide to turn and if we can keep on picking up points we will hopefully be in the mix when players return and if that happens then I know there is nobody in the league we need to fear.

Another part of our aspirations for the squad were for the 2nd XV to really attack their league. They have begun with 2 wins from 2 and arguably the squad we put out for the first league game was one of the strongest Beaconsfield 2nd XV’s in memory. The addition of Kwong Lin into the coaching set up to support the incredible Nick Martin is a serious boon for the squad and the addition of Mark Duffy as team manager means they are one of the best supported 2nd XV’s in the league. They have a real challenge in facing Maidenhead away this weekend. Maidenhead will be one of the favourites for the league along with us and probably Marlow so picking up points will be crucial.

So this weekend’s game is interesting in that it’s the first time we have faced a 2nd XV at level 6. Previously competition regulations prevented 2nd XV’s from moving beyond a certain level but that has now changed. Obviously 2nd XV’s are at the mercy of the availability of their 1st XV and it will be interesting to see how they flex throughout the season where on occasion they will be able to field players that regularly compete for their 1st XV at level 4. Oxford Harlequins have been a seriously impressive club for a number of seasons now. Since they got their revamped ground and artificial pitch they have risen through the leagues and are a really well run outfit. They were very clear with their vision for the club and set about to achieve it, something I hope we can emulate.

By the looks of it we are going to be seriously strong up front this week. That bodes well as we embed a new attacking structure that we launched over at Windsor in our last match. With a 2 week opportunity to hone and refine as well as some returning players I am hoping we can do some serious damage with our power. The backs in contrast have a raft of changes so we hope to see some new partnerships gel quickly and allow players' skillsets to come through. Discipline has been a key word for us recently. We’ve picked up a number of cards in the last few games and it’s a shame as when I watch us I don’t see a cynical team. We do need to be smarter though and losing men for 10 minutes at a time does hamper our ability to compete and certainly fatigues the players left on the field. I want to frame our conversations around discipline in a positive way and look at behaviours that minimise the need for a referee to make a decision. If we can do this around key areas such as the breakdown, the offside line and our tackle height then I think it will allow our excellent defensive systems to come into play and teams will find it very hard to gain territory against us.

Finally a nod to a couple of other Beaconsfield squads. The colts have made a seriously impressive start to the season under the leadership of Rhys Amos. I had the privilege of standing in on a meeting he was leading with them and it was truly inspirational. He has set out a vision for them that is supportive of them as players and challenging in terms of the standards he wants. Freddie Tayler who has been named captain, is a fine young man who will drive them both on and off the pitch and we were delighted when he made his senior debut the other week. We hope many more will follow in his footsteps.

Also our Women’s team are back on the field and enjoyed an excellent pre-season friendly win over Phoenix before their first league fixture this Sunday. With the England World Cup win on Saturday there really is no better time to come and get involved. I see their training sessions on a weekly basis and they are delivered to a really high standard and the girls always appear to be having the best time. If you’d like to give it a try I would highly recommend it.

That’s it from me. I hope to see loads of you on the touchlines this weekend and best of luck to all the minis who kick off their season at the A&C Festival on Sunday.