Bolton Make Hard Work of Convincing Victory

Although the team was much changed, with captain Nick “the fat twin” Sandbrook and vice captain/director of second team rugby Rick “the thin twin” Sandbrook both missing from the line up, Bolton managed to field a decent team.

Initially Bolton started the game well, running in a try and putting points on the board. Disappointingly Bolton must have thought the job was done at this point after just one try, and stepped back from the game giving Rochdale the opportunity to attack. Rochdale happily accepted the invitation and ran in a try of their own shortly afterwards.

Bolton were clearly misfiring after a substantial break from playing rugby. Initially there were issues with players trying to force moves which were not there, playing at 150% but not thinking at all about what they were doing. This then led to periods of indiscipline as players got frustrated, with Bolton being repeatedly punished for infringements at the ruck and making too much noise about the referees decisions – neither of which are acceptable.

In the second half things started to change. Bolton finally realised there was a regular overlap which they should be making use of, and with some good interplay between the forwards and backs started to put points on the board. A second yellow card offence by a Rochdale player led to him being sent off the field, and with a 2 man advantage Bolton had no excuse to not run up a decent score. Tries came from both the forwards and backs as Bolton took full advantage of Dale’s missing players. At the same time Bolton discovered the quality of rugby which they have been playing this year as the game went on, seemingly remembering how to string a pass together!

The game ended 55-7 to Bolton, with the Dale never giving up although obviously tiring towards the end.

Tries came from:

Matt “I don’t need a shower after the game, they’re too cold” Hurst
Matthew “it wasn’t jug avoidance I had a try disallowed’ Parrish
Louis “Look, a rainbow” Critchlow
Other people who I can’t remember right now

Bolton travel to De La Salle next week for their second game of the year against a team fighting hard for promotion despite starting the year with a points deficit. A number of lessons need to be learned from this week’s game, however Bolton are more than capable of taking away a victory from De La if they play at their best.