Stratford 'swung no punches' in defeat to Walsall, says director of rugby Richard Pepperell
DIRECTOR of rugby Richard Pepperell did not mince his words when assessing Stratford’s crushing 36-7 defeat to Walsall on Saturday.
The Black and Whites headed to the Black Country in fine form having won back-to-back league games but any hopes of a third win on the spin were dashed inside the first 40 minutes, as the hosts crashed over four tries in a dominant first-half display
Angus Wightman got Stratford’s solitary try in the first half, with Gwilym Davis kicking the extras as the visitors found themselves 24-7 down at the break.
Walsall scored two more tries in the second period, one of which was converted, to take the score to 36-7 and condemn the Pearcecroft men to a third defeat of the campaign.
Reflecting on the disappointing result, Pepperell told the Herald: “We had two good games prior to Saturday and I was not expecting us to get beaten so heavily.
“We did not put up much of a fight. We did not swing any punches at all. Our defence was pretty lax when normally it is our strongest part of the game.
“Our defence was just letting runners through at will. Our set-piece misfired too which meant we could not get a stronghold in the game.”
The Black and Whites now have a blank weekend before returning to action on 15th October when Whitchurch visit Pearcecroft.
Between now and then, Pepperell told the Herald the players will be going through the video footage from the first five games of the season today (Thursday) to analyse where they can improve.
Filming matches has been a new addition for the team this season and the Black and Whites boss hopes it will prove useful.
“We will watch through the video clips from the first five games to see what we’ve been doing right and what we’ve been doing wrong,” he added.
“Obviously, we need to have more rights than wrongs so after this week, the players will be back in training on Tuesday to prepare for Whitchurch.”
Meanwhile, Stratford 2nds played their first game of the season on Saturday, recording a comprehensive 31-7 success over Nuneaton Old Edwardians.
