Madrid Lions 15 (10) - 27 (10) Arquitectura Classics

20 October 2007 at Universidad Autonoma

Superb second game of the season against a good Arquitectura Classics side at Autonoma. In beautiful sunshine on a freshly cut pitch, the game got off to a great start with club captain Chris Holloway showing the way with a busting run through the Arquitectura line from the kick off.

Solid straight running lines in the forwards and a well controlled game plan by number 10 Patrick 'el mojito' Batch saw the Lions moving forward with purpose and drive in the first 10 minutes. Excellent forward play by man of the match 'Chabal' (Sebastien) and Gas with great support play from the rest of the pack (special mention to Martin who has found his true vocation in the piggies) saw the Lions keep possession, drive forwards and looking like an early score.

A turnover ball in their 22 saw Arquitectura release their first attack, punching the ball through the middle and spreading it wide. Arquitectura looked like a side that had played together many times before, they were well organised and physically imposing allowing them to move the ball out and use their speed and size to make the metres.

Arquitectura ran it wide following a busting run from their English inside centre who caused the Lions' problems all afternoon. It looked like a certain try in their first attack but for some desperate last minute tackling by the Lions.

A series of mauls ensued with Arquitectura looking to push over for a try. The Lions cleared their lines through some good defensive play with 'el mojito' putting the ball out on the 22. Arquitectura gathered their ball at the line-out and quickly passed the ball to their inside centre who made a punishing run up the middle of the Lions defence to unleash a two man overlap. The Lions defence were stretched, allowing Arquitectura their first score of the day, somewhat against the run of play.

The conversion failed and Lions got straight back into the game with some huge tackles by 'Don Lote' (Australian James) who looked and talked like a Samoan as he tackled and turned the bigger Arquitectura players. Naturally, the Don had an entourage of young females in the stands who went nuts the man got the ball. Arquitectura continued playing their effective and direct game only to find themselves on the receiving end of some solid tackling by the Lions.

The Lions won a line out on the left hand side of the pitch near their 10 metre line. A good maul up the near touchline had the fans on the feet cheering on a committed and organised Lions pack. The Lions were able to sustain some strong defensive work by Arquitectura to push over for their first try of the game. Game on at 5 all.

From the kick off, the Lions attacked again with a great run down the left flank by new player Pierre following some incisive running in the backs. Dragged down metres from the line, it looked all on for a second score to the Lions. The ball was recycled with Don Lote running straight and hard to the line. Some good last gasp defence from Arquitectura looked to hold him out, however in a swift move he managed to place the ball behind his head on the line. What looked like a certain score was denied by the referee who gave a curious penalty decision to Arquitectura.

There began a pattern of questionable refereeing decisions that the Lions struggled to understand for the rest of the game.

Arquitectura were not dropping their heads though and carried on their attacking close to the ruck making good metres from ruck to ruck. Their physicality looked ever more problematic for the Lions both in the forwards and the backs and after a good break just short of the half way line they were able to put more pressure on the Lions defence which held firm after waves of attack.

Frustration gave the Lions a penalty in their 22 that was put to touch by 'el mojito'. A well judged throw by Dave Brown at the lineout straight to Barney got a quick ball to 'el mojito' who let go a perfectly timed chip kick for outside centre 'Gay Homme' to gather and run 60 metres, zigzagging two defenders to score under the posts. The Lions looked good at 10-5.

All the pressure in the last 10 minutes leading up to half time was from Arquitectura. The Lions were again under immense pressure from a very strong Arquitectura side who eventually drove a ball over from short range after some impressive running and good phase-play. 10 all at half time looked like a fair assessment of the game.

After the break, the Lions with a few changes in the forwards kicked off again and immediately showed their attacking intent. Some good straight attacking up the middle of the field allowed the ball to spring wide into a 2 man overlap for the Lions. Some good hands got the ball through the backs to Richard Keen a new player (welcome), scoring a try on debut.

At around the 60 minute mark, the Lions game lost some structure as a number of brand new players were introduced to give them their first game of rugby ever. At this stage, the backline lost shape and defence broke down considerably. However, the new Lions showed courage and attack and some good instinctive counter-attacking. Alberto on the wing looked very composed with some great breaks that caused Arquitectura some problems and Remy made a nice go of his chance when it came down the right hand touchline.

It was Arquitectura however who took advantage of this period running in a further 3 tries, one of which was converted for a final score of 15-27 to Arquitectura.

This was a great display by the Lions who produced a markedly improved performance compared to their first outing against Hortaleza. Notable areas of improvement were the lineout which worked mostly quite well (well done Dave) and defensively the backs were much better though there is still work to be done in defence. Communication and support play around the pitch were better too. 'El mojito' controlled the game nicely with a clear 3 option gameplan that gave the team a lot more structure.

All in all, a superb afternoon of rugby with some good support both from Arquitectura and Lions fans in beautiful sunshine on a great pitch. This was topped off by a great evening at the Beer and Pool pub with the Arquitectura guys supplying food etc. to see England lose the world cup to South Africa.


Positives: - Much better performance across the board, particularly in defence and at the lineout. Our structure was much better. Limited backchat to the ref - (alright I backchatted once but this was a 2000% improvement on our last game and proof that the 'Anger Against Referees and Authority Figures Counselling' is working. I recommend it - very zen.

Negatives: - Need to work on tackling and defence over the next training sessions to improve our technique and work on our defensive patterns.

Man of the Match: 'Chabal' for a great spirited display in attack and defence. All the new players on their first ever game of rugby. Well done boys.

Girl of the match: Yours truly for a new style of tackle that I am about to trademark called the 'go low-get thumped, go high-and gay slap round the chops' as I missed a very obvious tackle by the right touch line. You may laugh but I am very proud of this tackle as it destabilises the opposition mentally.

Special Mention: for those who don´t know, the guy wandering round with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in another with a first aid bag at his feet is our new team medic called Dave Milne. He is an ex-Lions player and is a trained paramedic. Buy the guy a beer at the canteen or Finnegans when you see him next - he might be the guy who sorts you out on the field (and buy me a beer while you are at it for no other reason than it's a nice thing to do). Welcome back Dave.


Madrid Lions