Rugby Club CERN – Meyrin – Saint-Genis

This match was undoubtedly the more physical of all out most recent encounters. After last week’s win, we were eager to secure another victory, but a couple of injuries meant we had a slightly reshuffled team and as such may have exposed some weaknesses. Nevertheless, we fought hard and to the end, showing grit and determination.
The match started well enough. From the kick-off the pressure was on and we responded well. Bern however were using the ball well, passing out wide quickly and coming onto the ball with pace. This stretched our defence and soon the broke through on the wing. We responded immediately though with a quickly run line of our own allowing our no. 10 (Tina) to trick their defence with a dummy pass and sneak through for our first try. Soon though, Bern were stepping up the intensity. They used their forwards very well, putting us under real pressure in the srums and breakdowns. Once they secured possession they were quick to reset and run the ball, using quick passing and effective off-loading. By half time, we were a couple of tries down. Score 5- 21.
We wanted to respond quickly in the second half, but suffered an injury to one of our players that saw us having to reshuffle again and perhaps lose some effectiveness. Bern seemed to take advantage of this and sneaked in another couple of tries by  drawing in our defence and then using a quick pass or off-load to push through. We were not to be dismissed though. We scored again from a kick-off, managing to secure the ball on the bounce and rush through to score under the posts. Bern though kept going and we found ourselves trailing further behind after another score. Still, we were determined to fight on til the end. We pushed hard and found oursevles driving forward in their 22. We went through multiple phases before finally grounding the ball for our third try. Bern wanted to have the final word though, and soon managed to charge through ourline, our tiring defence perhaps missing a tackle or two. They score just before the final whistle. Final score 17- 56.