El Capitan...
The game was the most one-sided game I have ever watched live, and in fact I can only recall some of the World Cup pool matches in years gone by, with the likes of the All Blacks taking on Georgia or Romania, that exhibited the same level of hopelessness of cause for the hapless victims.
So, the match report section of this article remains short. Manchester tried what they could within their limited scope, but failed to get out of their own half barring restarts, and Leeds scored their tries with consummate ease. The end result of 57-0 was about right, given the relative merits of both teams.
That being said, I was very impressed with the way in which the Manchester team played the game; they were always bright and looking for chances to take the game to the Leeds players, and despite the inevitability of the result, they never looked like they were going to give in. The players wearing red on that hot Sunday afternoon in Headingley can hold their heads up high and say they played rugby that day.
The Leeds team can also be reasonably pleased with their performance. The regulation two tries in the first ten minutes were duly registered, but then a sleepy period set in once again. I do wonder if this is part of the cunning overall game plan – do the two tries thing, and then change something. I can't understand why you'd want to, but there you are! It was 33 minutes (according to the official stats) before another score was registered, with Pete Wackett going over on his first team debut. The bonus point try was got on the stroke of half-time with a pushover for JD after the sin-binning of the Manchester centre, and after half time, Mike MacDonald got another, followed by tries for Dunbar, Wackett, Lund and finally Brookes during the rest of the half.
As a supporter though, it was a little frustrating to watch a number of further chances go begging, with individuals attempting to gain the try for themselves and eschewing overlaps that make the score certain; the Manchester cover defence was excellent in this regard and saw to it that "white line fever" was regularly punished. To be fair though, the Leeds boys recognised this during the latter part of the second half, and Wackett's second in particular was a masterclass in running straight, drawing the cover and passing along.
57-0 is a good result regardless of circumstances, and Leeds now sit comfortably atop the division, four points clear of anyone else and share with Sale the distinction of being the only two teams in the top divisions to have a 100% winning record this season.
Leeds Carnegie remind me a bit of a precocious teenager. They seem to do everything they need to do, without actually being awe inspiring at any point. They are good at doing enough to get by reasonably comfortably, without engendering the sense that they are destined for the greatest of great things.
And like the parents of said precocious child, we the supporters need to be aware of when to applaud good work, and when to push for that extra 10% that turns a good student into an A** student. We need to recognise where good work is being done, and celebrate that fact, without going overboard on the odd negative factor that might creep in.
So I'll say again, 57-0 is always a good result. Being on top of the league is never bad. Looking invincible will take some time, but there were hopeful signs today that mistakes can be recognised and rectified on the pitch during the game. That last piece of the puzzle may not be too far away…
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