Defence pull off scrappy victory

By HUXLEY LOVAI
In the National Capital District rugby union match of the round, Defence were able to hold off a spirited Western Lagatois outfit and go on to win 20-15.
However, Defence were made to work for their win, with the usually composed side given a scare.
The match was not without handling errors from both sides. Defence were able to capitalise on their chances using their speed out wide, while their forwards made bullocking runs through the middle of the field.
However, it was the Lagatois who had the better of the first half with an early penalty kick followed by a converted try. Defence soon hit back with an unconverted try and penalty of their own to narrow the Lagatois lead 10-8.
As the second half started, the Lagatois proved to be their own enemies, constantly losing the ball in their own scrums and lineouts. Despite this, the Lagatois were able to sustain the pressure on Defence, forcing them into making errors of their own.
The Lagatois, however, were made to pay for the constant turnovers in the scrums and lineouts as Defence began to dominate possession, pulling away with two more tries in the final quarter.
Defence coach Sydney Wesley admitted to The National that the win was scrappy.
“We dominated the game in terms of field position winning their lineouts and scrums,” Wesley said.
“But we didn’t really capitalise on that.
“Our forwards did a lot of work, they laid a good platform for the backs.
“When the ball was shifted to the backs, they were a bit too adventurous, causing a lot of handling errors.
“But our defence was good as seen by a dominance of the scrums.
“Our discipline was off during the match, unlike last week. “With silly infringements especially in the break down. Our backs never clicked today, they didn’t really compensate the hard work that the forwards put in.
“That is one area we need to work on.”