Coventry Rugby 69 Caldy 12 - 10 try Cov overwhelm Caldy to send out clear marker for play offs

Well, the little things you say and do

Make me want to be with you

Rave on, it's a crazy feelin'

And, uh, I know it's got me reelin'

Rave on (diddy-dum, diddy-dum, diddy-diddy-diddy)

Rave On - Buddy Holly

Members of Caldy Rugby Club are fondly referred to as 'Ravers' within the rugby community but yesterday they had little reason to celebrate as Coventry put in one of their best performances of the season to further their expressed hope of finishing in the top two prior to the Champ play offs starting next month.

Indeed, it was the Cov supporters who left the Nick Newbold stadium yesterday raving about a performance that was as ruthless as it was entertaining. At times Caldy's players were left chasing shadows as Cov's backs made the most of plenty of possession and space created for them by another dominant display from their forwards.

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The Rumour Mill

There were rumours before the game that the Caldy team had to travel down to Coventry by car because local coach companies have refused to take them to away games after issues on the return from their last match. Whether this is true or not is unclear, but there wasn't a coach parked in the usual spot, and players seemed to arrive in small groups. If true, they are certainly living up to their nickname. For the record, though, this blog does not condone any type of inappropriate behaviour on a coach (just in case anyone from the Coventry Rugby Supporters' Club reads this post especially as I'm off to Nottingham with them on Friday evening).

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Cov were just too quick and too well organised for Caldy. The visitors had no answer to the home side's pace and power and by half time they already looked well beaten and, indeed, were despite scoring a couple of tries in the second half. This might sound a little harsh, but seldom have I really noticed such an obvious disparity between a side that is fully professional and one that is part-time.

Few Cov players carry any extra weight nowadays, even among the front row, and they are all much more agile than just a few seasons ago. This is one of Cov's key strengths this season and a significant reason why their off-loading game is so successful, with forwards and backs working together to ensure quick possession. It's common now to see a back on the shoulder of a forward to make the break or vice versa.

That's not so with Caldy. The have a little of the old school look about them - especially in the front row where fitness doesn't appear to be their greatest asset to be fair. Cov have a really mobile pack with the second rowers able to play in the back row, such is their mobility around the park. Nayalo, Strong, Ferrie, Shine and Green are all excellent ball carriers, whereas Caldy really didn't have players yesterday who could punch holes in Cov's very well organised defence, or if they did they went AWOL.

Playing away from home on an artificial surface, the odds were always likely to favour Cov. For Caldy to have been competitive, they would have needed to counter Cov's rapid transition from defence to attack and slow down the ball at the ruck much more effectively than they managed to do.

Yes, they disrupted our scrum at times, although it did look like Cov weren't helped by the referee here but elsewhere they were really limited. The week before, Caldy had been within a penalty kick of defeating run away league leaders Ealing but yesterday there wasn't anything in their performance that suggested they were going to even get close to pushing Cov at any point in the afternoon, other than a five minute period early on in the first half when Cov had to defend their lines.

Cov dominated the game from the start, and it quickly became evident that the Caldy backs couldn't handle Bavadra or Reeves when they attacked their defences. Both players are fast and can break through tackles, with Reeves possibly having a bit more speed and physicality.

There's real potential for a very strong three-quarter line next season if Rae can retain most of them. Even with Opoku-Fordjour rumoured to be on his way (if pitch-line chatter is anything to go by!), the prospect of Sullivan and Reeves out wide, Baker or Bacon at 15, Sullivan and Reeves out wide, Bavadra/Morris/Adderly-Jones/Dafydd_Rhys Tuieti at 12 and 13 and Thomas/Mathews at 10 is a mouth-watering one.

Everyone on the team appears to have embraced the attacking, expansive style of play favoured by Rae and his coaching staff. While many supporters, myself included, were worried that losing defence coach James Scaysbrook might negatively impact Coventry's competitiveness at the top of the table, Rae, Ross, and the part-time Boden seem to have filled the void he left with great success whilst at the same time saving the club an additional salary in the process. I, for one, hold my hand up - the coaches deserve plenty of praise for showing faith in both the players and themselves. Certainly far more faith than I did at the time, I'm embarrassed to say.

There was a strong wind blowing towards the city end favouring Cov in the first half. Of the two fly halves, it was Tommy Mathews who made far better use of it. The Caldy 10, Kieran Wilkinson, had a bit of a shocker with the boot if the truth be told, failing to make any distance of note when kicking to touch (this despite his side benefitting from a series of penalties in the first half). Indeed, Cov's third try was the direct result of a mishit penalty that failed to find touch, instead being well caught by the lively McKenzie Graham who quickly fed Tom Bacon whose pace over 50 metres was too much for the chasing Caldy defenders.

Mathews' kicking out of hand was significantly better, even against the wind in the second half. By that time, Cov was in a strong position and didn't rely as much on kicking for territory as they might have otherwise. He successfully kicked only 4 out of his 8 conversion attempts, but given the windy conditions and the challenging angles, that was as bad as it might sound. He received a yellow card at the end of the first half, though the reason for the offence wasn't obvious, and Rae appeared unconcerned, sharing a laugh with him as the players left the field for the break.

As an aside, Kieran Wilkinson played a few games for Cov in the 20/21 season whilst on loan from Leicester before going on to join Falcons. I'm ashamed to say I have no memory of him but perhaps it was at the time Cov were playing behind closed doors during the Covid epidemic - at least that's my excuse, any way. Clearly he's got some pedigree but it certainly wasn't his day yesterday.

Despite being a man down in the second half, Cov kept up their offensive play, scoring just seconds after the kickoff and making sure that even though Caldy responded shortly after, the game was already decided by then. In Mathews' absence, Josh Barton, who I believe had his best performance in a while, took over the kicking duties.

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Despite it being a Bank Holiday weekend, once again the attendance yesterday was mediocre at best, at just 2,483.

Whilst a such a drop in the average gate this season must be of great concern to everyone connected with the club (to put this into some sort of context, the average gate for the whole of last season was over 3700 - albeit skewed a little with the visits of Leicester and Northampton in the Cup), it's hard to see what else the club can do to encourage a wider audience. Social media feeds are constantly plugging the next home game and with offers on food and drink before and after the games, there's not a lot of options left open to the club.

With City playing the day before, wide coverage of the renaming of the ground locally and, most importantly, Cov playing arguably some of the most entertaining rugby in The Champ this season, I'd hoped to see more supporters there. It was really quiet up until perhaps half an hour before kick off at which point the stand did start to fill a little, but the atmosphere wasn't reflective of Cov's current form or the possibility still of a top two finish.

By comparison, Bedford, who have often had similar attendances figures to us, enjoyed a 'bumper' crowd of 3,295 - but still well short of a sell out gate. A difference in 812 is considerable, especially as our positions in the league are 3rd and 4th respectively. Cov are the second highest points scorers in the league behind Ealing (first over the last five games) and are a team that sets it stall out to entertain. There's live music on after the game and whilst the food options aren't to everyone's liking (!), It's much better value these days, so it's surprising that attendance has decreased as much as it has, even considering the need to reduce spending somewhat.

We're still one of the top three best-attended clubs in the league but the decline in footfall from last season is a worry given the ever increasing costs. It will be interesting to see what impact this has one next season's ticket prices; a further increase won't help bring in the punters but the club could hardly be blamed for putting up prices to reflect the current crisis in the cost of fuel and heating.

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The recent return of several players from injury has provided Alex Rae with more options from the bench. He currently appears to be gradually bringing Sam Maunder back into play while rotating players to avoid overuse. On Saturday, Allan Ferrie and Dan Green were given something of a 'break', allowing Jack Shine and McKenzie Graham to join the starting XV. Shine seemed to have sustained an injury when he left the field after just 44 minutes, but Graham remained for the full 80 minutes, shifting to wing for the last 20 minutes (or so).

McKenzie is understandably well-loved by the Cov supporters. A player who was previously on loan (from Bath, in GM's situation) and enjoyed it here enough to commit permanently will always win over the crowd. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is seldom away from the action - he's quick even for a back row and it was no real surprise when he scored late on. He and Tom Ball are really strong lineout practitioners and his ability to play in the second row makes him especially useful.

Cov are currently playing some of the best rugby we've seen in a couple of seasons, since players like Wilson, Rigg, Wand, Pellegrini, and Chudley lighting up the BPA.

In many ways, however, I'm more enthusiastic about this current group of players because it was evident back then that none of them would remain with us for long due to the impact they were all having at the time. I'm not sure the current group of youngsters is ready to move on yet, so I'm hoping we can keep them for at least another season. If that's the case, given how quickly they've matured, they could become a formidable force.

With Rae having said publicly that he expects to keep 75% of the current squad at the NNS next season, then there's every chance that we won't be forced into another rebuild in the first couple of months as was the case back in September. The forwards have grown in stature too and it's rare for these days for sides to get the better of us up front. The loss of Ferrie will be a blow but if we can keep Morgan Strong, his leadership will be really important, together with Poole's of course. Aristot Salomon-Benz' arrival last summer has made a huge difference and with a fit Toby Trinder, there's plenty of depth there now which hasn't always been the case in recent years. Fortunately, we haven't been decimated by injuries in quite the same way and Ma'asi's absence has been partly negated by the rapid rise of Murray Davidson. If he doesn't return, will Rae look to replace him or add Will Dorrell to the senior squad to give us three hookers again?

It won't be long before the club starts announcing players leaving/arriving - always an exciting time for supporters and a chance to promote the club further. Maybe a drip feed of news rather than the blitz approach last year will maintain the focus on the club over the Summer and impact positively on season ticket purchases over the Summer...? A couple of big names might help, too!

Nevertheless, there remains significant interest in the last few weeks of this season.

Next up, Nottingham under the lights at Lady Bay on Friday...

Never easy and often painful...

Here's hoping we can make amends for last season's game there. It was a very uncomfortable 80 minutes if you were a Cov supporter.

Up the Cov...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqefV-dapQc