Player Reviews

Bishops Cup 23

Who are you?

Niki: I’m Niki, 28 years old and play in various back positions. I started playing rugby in 2017. I always loved sports and I like to be active. Since some friends already played for the baboons I also gave it a try. Rugby combines all the assets that I like about sports. Competition, Teamspirit, Fairness and of course a lot of physical and mental challenges.

Kay: Im Kay 27 and playing in the backline as 9,10,12. I think i also started in 2017 (I know, a bit late). I like everything about rugby, just maybe not the beer chugging at the end of the game.

 

What makes Bishops Cup such a great event?

Niki: As the tournament is held at the end of the spring season the atmosphere is really friendly. All the teams want to play some footy and have a good time. But still there are always a couple of international teams so you definitely have to bring your A-Game to secure a win.

Kay: Because we start the tournement on friday with the welcome party and we stay the whole weekend there in a tent. Perfect Rugby Weekend!

 

How do you din the switch between the 7s rugby and playing 10s at Bishops Cup?

Niki: In my opinion this was one of the big challenges of the weekend. We are used to playing 7s rugby where there is a lot of room to play. In 10s Rugby a solid platform of Scrums and Rucks are crucial in order to control the game and follow the game plan.

Kay: I Think the switch wouldnt be that hard when we would be enough people in the training that we can train our gameplan in a real situation with contact and all. So that everyone knows whats his job. Its not the same with no defense.

 

How did you find the teams performance during the tournament?

Niki: I’m really proud of the performance of the team. We stuck together as a team and always kept good attitude. We realized where our game was lacking and adjusted these things during the next games. In our attack we could have been more patient. 10s Rugby just needs a bit more structured attack than 7s. With a little more care for the ball our attack would have been more effective. Our defense was once again top notch! The boys left all they had out on the pitch and made sure that we defend aggressive. For being a „quick Sevens team“ I think we surprised quite a lot of opponents with a really solid defense.

Kay: We did a great Job this weekend, we unluckily lost 2 games, which we could have won but we lost them together as a team. Defense has been great, in attacking we just need to stay a bit more calm. Sometimes we just want too much.

With the summer break starting now, what do you to the achieve as an individual and as a team before the start of the new season?

Niki: As a team I think it is really important to have consistent training appearance. So we can work on our game plan and make sure that newer players get used to it. During the summer break personally I want to work on my right leg which is giving me some problems lately. That includes a lot of stretching and mobility work.

Kay: Would love too see so much players in the training after the break, like we have been at bishops! The more People in the training so it makes more fun!

 

Uri Cup 23

Who are you?

Denis: My name is denis. I'm 26 years old and I've been playing rugby for 9 years now.

We founded the club in 2014, as a group of friends. In the first year I just went to training and played touch. I didn't play at the tournaments because I thought I was going to hurt myself. But I fell in love with the game and started to play contact as well. Best decision ever!

Robin: My Name is Robin, 26 years old, playing mainly Fullback or anything else in the backline. I started playing rugby back in 2017 after I was finished with the Military. I was looking to do sports again and rugby was the best option for me, since I had a few friends that were playing for the Baboons I decided to join them.

 

Why do you like playing the Uri Cup?

Denis: I like to play in uri cause its always a fun time. Cool clubs are there and the uri people are so nice. Just everybody enjoys good rugby.

Robin: The Uri 7s is always a fun tournament because it is mainly based on having a good time playing and getting newer players into rugby.

 

Only letting in two tries over the 4 games shows the defense is working well, what have been the talking points on defense and what do you think can be improved?

Denis: Yeah we did a good job in defense, we shifted together and helped each other if needed.

I think we still can improve on our tackles and goin up as a line.

Robin: Overall I think our defense worked very well but at some point players got a bit lazy and then we ended up having gaps. I think we need to push each other a bit more during games so everybody stays on the same page even when the game style gets a bit messy.

 

Scoring 23 tries is impressive over this amount of games, what makes the team's attack so dangerous?

Denis: Everybody had good hands, ran fast and made good support lines. Also our moves worked quite well.

Robin: I think when we go to our backline moves we're a pretty well coordinated team, each player knows where to go and we don’t end up with 7 players at one place so we can make the game quick and wide again.

 

What areas do you see improving over the next months leading into bigger tournaments?

Denis: Our structure, attacking line and kicks.

Robin: Attendance in training obviously! So we can form an even better team that gets used to playing together