This weekend sees the Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) Junior Semi Finals hosted at Wyndham City. The U14 Melbourne Unicorns take on the Moorabbin Rams for a place in the Grand Final.
After fourteen rounds Melbourne finished third with a mixed record of seven wins and six losses.
The Unicorns started the season slowly with an unsettled squad initially caused by the late abandonment of the VRU U13 Competition and then on-going availability challenges for half of the squad with the Victorian Schools’ Rugby Union (VSRU) scheduling clashes.
However coach Jurrell, with help from Max and Adrian, kept working hard with the boys and by the start of the third term there was a noticeable ‘esprit de corps’ amongst the squad. From that time the team approach made all the difference to the team’s rugby and the Unicorns finished the season in form with four wins from five games.
The Melbourne Unicorn clashes with Moorabbin Rams typify this season.
Moorabbin are big with one or two quick outside backs. The first meeting between the two teams was in Round 2 and the Unicorns suffered a 34 – 5 loss. At that stage it looked like it was going to be a very long season. To the credit of Jurrell and the boys the team continued to work to improve their game throughout the first half of the season despite frequent loses.
At the next match against Moorabbin mid way through the season, the Unicorns showed some promising team play but were unable to hold Moorabbin for any length of time. The Rams’ backline capitalised and won 34 – 10.
However in the following weeks the boys persevered, continued to work on their team game, and the wins started to outnumber the losses.
The final regular game against Moorabbin was in Round 13; understandably the team took to the field with some trepidation. Moorabbin started as expected with their forwards battering the Unicorn defence.
Melbourne showed some real grit in defence and we were quick to the gain line to close down the Moorabbin backs. Despite the effort, after a punishingly hard fought first half Melbourne were down three tries to one.
The second half started the same way, but Moorabbin were beginning to falter. Melbourne’s superior fitness and mental strength allowed the forwards to thwart Moorabbin and the Unicorn backs took charge. Moorabbin did not score in the second half and Melbourne prevailed 31 – 19
After a tardy start to the season, Melbourne goes into the Semi Final confident that they can match any opposition if they focus on consistency of effort and team play.
Next Match:
