This weekend Colts take on Sydney University at Fort Forshaw, and we’re all totally aware of the challenge in front of us.

Sydney Uni have dominated Colts rugby for the past 15 years, and there has been 15 years of conjecture and debate on whether the spirit and the fabric of Colts rugby have been eroded by the dominance of one club, and whether players’ careers have been destroyed in the pursuit of winning a 3rd colts competition.

This, however, does not diminish the enormity of the task facing us this Saturday. All three sides will be encountering something similar to the sort of thing that international teams are up against when they play the All Blacks, namely the excitement and anticipation of the game when facing a quality rugby team.

Saturday is going to require a good old-fashioned ‘roll up the sleeves and be prepared to get dirty’ approach to our games. We’ll need 100% focus for the full game, and while Uni deserve to be respected, they don’t wear capes, with their undies on the outside and an S on their chests. They’re just like everyone else and react to pressure, and we need to remember that.

We need a solid Colts group effort and 3rd Grade needs to start the day with a bang and unleash the real rugby team that we all know lies within their group! No more bad reads in defence and no more dropped ball in contact – if you boys can fix these things up, and with plenty of talk, you’ll have Uni under pressure and they’ll make mistakes. Uni like to dominate in the forwards, and now it’s up to all of the Souths forwards to prevent this from happening. And remember, 3rd Grade came away from St Paul’s Oval last season with a win, so we all know it can be done!!

2nd Grade, because of their win last week, are in a difficult position. Without a doubt, last week’s victory was one of the gutsiest efforts I’ve seen, but if the boys don’t back that up with another big performance this week, then last week could be seen as a fluke, with the team going back to square one. It’s a cruel call when you need to beat Uni to keep the credit of a great victory from the week before, but that’s rugby.

As with all games, our defence needs to be spot on – Uni are very well-drilled and their ability to maintain possession is very good. Their game plan generally is to work 7 or 8 phases, taking the play to the middle of the field, then position a big forward to commit the inside back defender – then they send a very quick ball out wide down the left side and force the overlap. They’re very good at this play and it gets them a lot of tries, so our boys need to be ready for it.
1st Grade promises to be a very good game, and even though Eastwood put some points on us last week, overall throughout the season our defence has been an absolute weapon, and if Uni think we might be a bit soft in defence then they’ll be walking into an ambush. Through their style of play, Uni will have the ball longer than us, as they work through their phases, so we need to realise this and not panic – our guys need trust their defence, and trust the next player to make the tackle, and especially trust the hard work that they’ve put into their fitness this year.

There is an enormous amount of heart within this Colts group, and a particularly strong culture of mateship, and pride in the jumper, the club and the Shire, and I see Saturday as a contest between a traditional rugby club and a cashed-up rugby Institute, and no matter what the results are on the scoreboard in the end, the Souths teams will be judged by the courage and intent they put out on the field.

We’ll be making our beds, and bringing our boots, and we’ll let Uni know they’re playing Southern Districts Colts at Forshaw in front of our supporters!

I also want to let you know that this weekend Tom Lane will be making his long-awaited comeback from a crappy 18-month period that saw him suffer 2 shoulder dislocations, and undergo a subsequent shoulder reconstruction. Tom will have to relinquish his leadership of the game day hydration specialists (oh no, I think Wilso’s just had a stroke!), but we all wish Tom all the best in his first match for over 12 months. No doubt after 10 minutes of play, his lungs will be busting and his legs will be burning, but he’ll be the happiest man on the field!
We look forward to seeing as many people as possible at Forshaw to watch what should be a fascinating day’s rugby, and to be loud and proud when they cheer teams on.

Keith Holmes