Taunton Titans Vs Birmingham Moseley

Many people speak of a “game of two halves” and this most certainly was.  For the first 27 minutes Taunton had very little possession, spent most of the time in their own half and when they did have possession, they either knocked the ball on, gave away a penalty or were responsible for some other infringement.  Nothing should be taken away from Moseley who were much hungrier for the ball and for the points which they were rewarded with when their left wing evaded the defence to score in the corner after nine minutes.  The conversion was missed but Moseley had a5-point lead for their endeavours.  Just 5 minutes later and that lead was extended to 12-points when a penalty given away by Taunton took Moseley within10 metres of the Taunton line to set up a lineout with a driving maul for the Moseley second row to score the first of his two tries which was converted to give the visitors a twelve-point lead.  On the half hour Taunton at last were able to gain some possession and their powerful pack drove the ball towards the Moseley line to be rewarded with a try by Sam Prior which the trusty boot of Jordan Gott converted.  From the re-start Taunton took good ball and ran at the Moseley defence and, after only two-minutes from their own try gave away another penalty for not releasing the ball in the tackle and were punished with a similar move of a kick to touch, a driving maul, and a try which was converted. This gave Moseley that twelve-point cushion once more which they took into the half-time break.

Taunton started the second half with more purpose, and it was they who dominated possession and territory pressing the Moseley line.  Moseley defended desperately the driving maul, when the whistle went it was not for the try, but for Mosely illegally stopping the Taunton drive.  This resulted in the Moseley scrum half being given a yellow card and Taunton a scrum.  Moseley re-adjusted their team taking off a wing and bringing on a scrum half, Taunton brought on Chris Francis into the front row.  The resultant scrum saw the power of that front three drive the Moseley pack back for Charlie Wright to score under the posts.  Jordan Gott added the extras and Taunton were within 5-points of Moseley.  With Moseley down to 14 men Taunton really turned on the pressure and looked as though they would punish the Moseley defence, but it was Moseley with their 18-year-old scrum half replacement, in his first game, who punished Taunton.  From with his own half, he ran at the Taunton defence evading 4 tackles to score and restore the Moseley 12-point lead.  With the 10-minute yellow card time up they took him off.  Whilst many criticised the Taunton tackling, nothing should be taken away from the talents, space, and vision this precocious young talent had in scything his way through the Taunton defence.  We are seeing this on a regular basis with 18-year-olds in our Warriors team although it is at a different level.  The power of the Taunton pack then started to wear down the Moseley defence with the front three driving possession at the heart of the Moseley defence.  The ball started to be recycled quicker and this allowed Connor Banks to have quicker ball and space which he exploited to score on 63 minutes.  Jordan Gott converted, and Taunton were within 5-points and in the ascendency.  With the remaining 15-minutes Taunton pressed with Chris Francis driving and laying quick ball back and Will Vaughan who deservedly gained the “man of the match” award in support.  Connor’s quick pass gave Toby East more time and space allowing centres to run on to the ball, the forwards with their “tails up” supporting and driving, it was thought that the Moseley defence must break.  There were opportunities but the Moseley defence held out.  This is the third home game in a row where we have seen the Taunton dominance not turned into points.  Whilst we may have criticism’s we should also give praise for that commitment and determination in the latter stages of those three games and encourage the players to do this at the beginning as well as the end. Encouragement and support goes a long way to keeping morale up.

‍