DENIA RUGBY CLUB ARMCHAIR INTERNATIONALS RUGBY UNION SUPPORTERS COSTA BLANCA TUK TUK TOURS

Alzira 20 v 15 Denia RFC

Denia entered this game last Saturday knowing that to win was so important as it would lift them a few points away from the relegation play off positions. Alzira also had to make sure they won their home game to pull them out of the relegation zone, so as you can imagine both sides had a lot pinned on this game. Alzira was the first team to show and right from the kick off they pushed Denia back into their 22. The Denia defence stood firm for 10 minutes when the defence was broken and the Alzira forwards lunged over from a close range tap penalty. (5 v 0) Denia suddenly woke up and it was them who turned the tide and put Alzira on the defensive. Big Denia forwards Ariel, Edu and Alex constantly ran at the Alzera defence but all they could get was a penalty from Santi. (5 v 3) Denia continued to run at the Alzira defence which at times started to creak, however they pulled a penalty back to make the score (8 v 3). Just before half time Denia scored the try they wanted through a good passing move by the three quarters with Andres scoring in the corner beating three Alzira defenders. (8 v 10) Denia straight away ran the ball towards the Alzira line resulting in Denia getting a number of close range penalties Right on the half time whistle Quique looked to score under the posts but the referee said he could not see it. At half time the coach was asking for more of the same and let’s get the early score this half. Alzira must have said the same and they capitalised on a kick deep into the Denia half. Two Denia defenders went for the ball which suddenly bounced back over their heads into the arms of the Alzira player who scored under the posts. With the conversion the score was now 15 v 8. Alzera applied the pressure on Denia and after the referee gave Alzira a number of lose penalties the Denia defence stood still,looking confused as the Alzira scrum half scored in the corner. (20 v 8). Denia did not sit back, they soon got back into their stride and pulled back a converted try by Quique who caught the Alzira team asleep and ran in a quickly taken penalty. (20 v 15) The last ten minutes of this game saw both teams playing as if they were at the other end of the league. Denia still used their big forwards but could not get the score they required. Denia will be playing at home this Sunday v Tatami. Kick off is at 12.00midday and please feel free to come along and support your local rugby team at the Polideportivo in Denia.

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Every week I keep saying that at the moment we are the bridesmaids at a wedding, happened last week against Cau away’. If we had more of our regular players available we would have beaten the opposition. This week we had many people who were injured, working and as usual a few who did not turn up. This many changes to the team at the time when we meet is just demoralising for the lads who want to play. Today we could have won this game but our mistakes were punished quite severely. On the positive side we did play at times to our game plan using pods of players when we get slow ball to make quick ball for the three quarters. We did put Alzira under a lot of pressure with our big forwards running at their defence and at times breaking through. After the game the lads were very disappointed as we had been dumped into the second from bottom position in the league. Next week we are at home on Sunday against Tatami, kick off 12:00. Tatami put 50 points on us at the start of the season so we will be working hard again to make sure we beat them and start crawling back up this league.

Les

Cau Valencia 27 v 5 Denia RFC

Denia entered this game last Sunday with a lot of spirit and after a five week Christmas and Three Kings break they had prepared themselves to go to Valencia and beat Cau. Feelings were good when the players met and the talk was about winning. This soon took a few knocks before the game started, English second row Carl Brown has to get back to England on the day of the game and then in the warm up strong running centre Juan twisted his knee. Suddenly it was all change just before the kick off, but Denia were still ready to try and take points off Cau. Cau who are very experienced started the game with their big forwards driving Denia back well into their own 22. The Denia defence stood firm to start with but within the first five minutes they scored an unconverted try (5 v 0) This was the wake up call Denia needed and the rest of the game saw both sides testing the defences with some open passing rugby. Denia opted to try and keep it tight and take on the big Cau forwards and this at times worked but it was the Cau three quarters who kept running at the Denia three quarters and scored another try just before half time. (10 v 0). At the break the talk was easy for Denia, let’s just lift our game to another level and use the possession to attack the Cau defence. At the start of the second half Cau realised if they did the same they could put more points on the board and this would put the spirited Denia team down. This they did by scoring two tries, one converted, within the first ten minutes of the second half. Denia then made some changes to put more spirit in the team and this did result in Denia pulling back a try by Julian to make the score (27 v 5). Denia continued to press the Cau defence and got close on a few occasions but it was Cau who were defending their line well. That was the final score at the end of the game which left Denia down for losing, but after the after match chat they realised that they all have to improve and it was well within their capabilities to do so. Alzira next week away and Denia will be working hard in training this week.

I have been away in England for the past two weeks doing the family and friends thing but whilst I have been missing the lads have been more than well looked after by Julian and Inaki. Training has been well prepared and also well attended with an average of 28 for each session. All the lads I talked to said the training has been good. This preparation worked well, it prepared the lads to be ready for the game and I could tell this when we met at 9.00am on Sunday morning for a trip to Cau Valencia. Then on the day we had notification from a third party that our big second row Carl Brown had got the early Sunday flight back to the UK. I was shocked as I had met him in the Lancashire Bruja on the lunchtime the day before. Then in the warm up when we split forwards and backs we lost Juan Silva who turned his knee on the hard astro turf surface. This was a big blow to the side but we rearranged and were ready for the game. After the game we had a good chat about what's happening to us and the talk was about we are not securing possession and what we do get is not at a quality you could do anything with. What we are doing is playing as if we should be near the bottom of the league but Cau played as if they were mid table. That is our problem and one we need to address. On the day and at times we were better than Cau, we just need to start playing with confidence despite our inexperience. We can do this and I have left the lads thinking about "We are half way through the league fixtures and we have two home wins to our credit. To get away from a relegation place we need three or more wins". Tall order but if we want to be in a position where we are not looking over our shoulder, we need to do this.

Les

Denia 27 Elche 6

Denia Rugby Club needed to win this game because they are near the bottom of the league with only one win so far this season. This week’s opposition Elche was also in the same position and came to Denia looking to take the points and move them up a few places in the league. Denia started well and the early pressure gave a penalty within three minutes, conversion by Mariano. (3 v 0) Elche suddenly got themselves going and dominated the play. The Denia defence was sound - it had to be because the Elche forwards drove the ball very close to the Denia line. Elche evened the score line with a penalty in the thirteenth minute (3 v 3). Denia then scored two tries just before half time, the first by Inaki who found space in the Elche line, and the second by Jorge who followed a kick, had a favourable bounce and all he had to do was dive over to score. Half time score 13 v 3. Denia knew that if they continued playing and attacking Elche the win would be theirs, so straight from the kick off a well worked three quarter move gave centre Juan a crash ball to drive over the line with three Elche players trying to stop him, conversion by Mariano. (20 v 3). Elche pulled back three points with a penalty on the hour (20 v 6). At this point Denia knew they were close to getting that important second win of the season but they wanted more and a determined Denia scored another try by Juan which also gave them an extra bonus point. Final score 27 v 6

Denia had been working themselves up for a few weeks to ensure they beat fellow strugglers Elche. We had a few lads back from injuries and with Inaki at fly half we are starting to play some decent rugby. Generally the team is now starting to play as a team and this has brought the whole team together more than it was previously. We have a long way to go with our inexperience but everybody is working hard in training. I am averaging about 23 to 28 players each session and we still have many missing. I bet there are many coaches who would relish these numbers to work with each week. We have a long break now and do not play a league fixture until January 21/22nd against Cau in Valencia. I will talk with Nico and see if we can arrange a game in January with Javea or Tavernes, also La Vila play Sale Sharks in the Amlin Cup. Talking about the Amlin Cup we must thank Nico who through his family and friends in France managed to get Brive to pay for a coach and free tickets for Denia’s school of rugby when they played La Vila last week. Anybody know any friends from Sale Sharks who may do the same? After the game on Sunday Denia Rugby Club held their Christmas Fiesta which was attended by 60 adults and more importantly ,13 juniors. Everybody had a good time and the club made 308.44 euros from tickets, raffle and auction. I was very happy to see the juniors win raffle prizes and the smiles on their faces so happy they had won. Also we had eight girls from the Denia Feminino team attend after they had been in a three cornered competition in Valencia, coach Rodrigo was full of praise as some of the girls were 12/13 years old playing against girls of 19. Good to end this year with a win and a whole club fiesta party and let’s hope we can continue this into next year. I would like to wish every one a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the players, coaches, committee members and Armchair Internationals, all associated with Denia Rugby Club.

Les

Armchair Barbecue at Oasis Hotel

On May 29th 2010 we had around 40 people there..who all thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, followed by the Guinness Premiership Final. The bonus was that we managed to raise €297...and have reached our target for the season which will enable us to buy the sun shelters for the Beach Sevens in August. Thank you all for your support....

DENIA OLD BOYS

Matt Cook

Matt Cook, ex Denia Player who now plays Spanish Premier Division Rugby with La Vila is a regular choice for the Spanish National Team. Matt's father Colin is an Armchair International. He started his playing career with Jersey Minis, played for Hampshire at Under 17's and 19's and was taken to Saracens by Kieron Bracken, playing under 20's, moved on to Bedford and played his first premiership game against Richmond on his 21st birthday. Via County Carlow and almost a trial for Munster, he ended up with our club Denia and the rest is history.

Nacho Rouyet

On 28th December 2009 Denia forwards had a chance to talk to Nacho Rouyet, Italian International prop forward and brother of Mariano and Rodrigo. Nacho who has played against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and plays his club rugby for Treviso, passed on some useful tips to the Denia forwards.

Nacho playing against the All Blacks 2009

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