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Head Coach Pale Nonu’s reaction to Redruth’s win against Taunton

Head Coach Pale Nonu’s reaction to Redruth’s win against Taunton

Alan Nettle10 Sep 2018 - 09:29
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By Bill Hooper at the Recreation Ground

Two wins from his side’s opening couple of fixtures was just the start Redruth head coach Pale Nonu would have hoped for his young side, but to take the maximum five points against Taunton who themselves started so well the previous week at home against Worthing was particularly pleasing.

Speaking after the game, won by the Reds 29-27, Nonu gave his thoughts. “It was a great game, two sides that really went for it wanting to play open and expansive rugby, a good game to watch from the spectator’s point of view.

Nonu was pleased with his side’s defence. “We knew they would come down here and look to put pace on the ball. In those opening exchanges they put us under a lot of pressure but all credit to our players who tackled their hearts out and put their bodies on the line.
Nonu felt his side grew as the game went on. “They really took a lot of confidence from their early performance defending and when they had opportunities they looked to play a bit themselves. Having been under the cosh for long periods in the first half to go in at half-time 10-3 up was a huge fillip.

“We had a good chat at half-time and the boys came out flying. Two cracking tries from Dean Bonds and Aaron Simmonds set us on our way, then James Tucker comes on and snaffles a ball in mid-field for a gift of a try. It was our own pressure that made those scores. A lot is said about the youngsters in the side but many of them showed huge maturity today in the way they played.

“I thought Connor Gilbert had a fine game in the centre, he broke the line, stepped well. He combined well with Jack Simmons to help put Simmonds in for our third try. His tackle count was also impressive.

One aspect of the game that has often proved to be an Achilles heels for the Reds is their lineout but today it functioned really well. “We moved things around today varying our lineout options and it seemed to work well, Ed Pascoe coming back in today further increased our options and he, Brad Howe, Ben Fox and Mark Grubb went well, it gave us that attacking edge that led to some of our scores.

With two games on the road coming up at Worthing this Saturday and then Guernsey the following week, Nonu hopes his side can continue to progress with each performance. “We really want to carry on improving our game each week; you’ve seen this gradual improvement from the lads, if we can carry on in that vein then we will see how good we can be as a squad.
“We will train well this week and focus on Worthing who will be eager to get a win on their own turf having played their opening two fixtures on the road. It will certainly be a good test for us.”

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