RUGBY 1963-4
FIRST FIFTEEN SCHOOL MATCHES
Played ii. Won 6. Lost 5. Drawn o.
Points For 156. Against 71)
CLUB MATCHES
Played 6. Won 3. Lost 2. Drawn 1.
Points For 64. Against 61.
THE 1st XV this year played some excellent football and were unlucky not to have as flattering a record as last year's team. They scored sixty points more than in 1962-3 against school sides, while conceding four-teen more, and generally played some attractive football. The only exception was the match against Ratcliffe when our forwards evidently decided that they could safely turn into an uninspiring forward tussle what had been an attractive game up to half-time.
Looking back over the two seasons it is quite clear that I. J. Tod's value as a Captain was his ability to size up a situation and issue some clear instructions accordingly. He neglected none of the precautions that make a side competent and look competentthe posting of someone as full-back when the full-back is taking a penalty kick, advice to the wingers on the length of their throw-in, directions to the leader of the forwards, a decision about the kind of penalty-kick lie wanted taken-the list is not exhaustive, merely indicative. His personal game improved on last year. He was quick to launch an attack from any quarter of the field and his passing was a pleasure to watch. (Indeed this is equally true of N. Tasker and D. de Ville in the centre.) Tod was caught with the ball less often than before and his tackling was much better. A fly-half who comes up in defence is worth two who prefer to tackle the winger.
As Vice-Captain, R. A. Duffy, had an enormous amount of work to do in the forwards and he did it very well. In a light pack he did not only most of the catching but most of the pushing as well. With his height and strength we could usually expect a good share of the ball in the line-out and his tackling was exemplary. When Tod left at Christmas, Duffy proved a good Captain of Rugby. He kept the occasional First Club game going well and he led the 1st XV stubbornly against Oscott in the home fixture, rescuing the front row from confusion when I'. Ridley went off with an injury to his eyebrow.
Ridley continued to lead the forwards this year and insisted on the cardinal virtues of tight binding and heeling in the loose. He was handicapped by the light pack of forwards he had to lead and by his own move back from middle of the back to prop forward. He found it a more exhausting task to lead the forwards from there and sometimes he was tied down after a set scrum and unable to give his instructions to his forwards quickly enough in the ensuing maul. To lead a pack is always a difficult task but for two years he has carried it out very well. We can look forward with every confidence to his third year of leadership.
The two centres, de Ville and Tasker, and the left-wing, J. Godwin, were awarded their full colours during the course of the season. They were sometimes brilliant, at other times disappointing, but always worth watching. Some of their handling was unbelievably good and much of their running was well-inspired and hard. Tasker's try against the Moseley Public Schools' side will live for a long time in the memory of those who saw it and he confirmed last year's impression that he has an excellent eye for an opening. de Ville played very well for the first part of the term, running with a rare dash and his handling was