Mudgee Wombats | 10

Mudgee coach Neil McDonald said he is not reaching for the panic button despite the side dropping its first game of the Blowes Clothing Cup season, going down to Cowra by 10 on Saturday. 

After their first-up victory over Forbes in round one, spirits were high it the club ahead of their first round trip. 

But up against a bigger Eagles’ forward pack, the Wombats were made to pay for any defensive lapses they made. 

“They were a big pack and they were well-drilled as well. But not only were they big they were quite mobile for their size which helped them get to the breakdowns and cause us a few problems,” McDonald said. 

“They kept recycling their ball pretty well, and because of their mobility, it helped them get away to a good start.” 

Mudgee found themselves down 10-0 at half-time thanks in part to due to defensive lapses in mid-field with the resulting line-breaks giving the home side forward momentum. 

Then thanks to their well-drilled pack they were able to create space for the Hawks’ backline to score twice, giving them the early advantage. 

Mudgee scored after the break to make it 10-7 with the Wombats rolling forward well with their mid-field work by the forwards getting them over the gain line consistently. 

Thus creating space for the backline to do its thing out wide as the Wombats showed their intent to earn the come-from-behind victory as the rain set in and the Wombats tried to play catch-up  rugby in the slippery conditions. 

Another Cowra try gave them a handy eight-point buffer which was whittled down by a penalty to the Wombats.

However, that would be as close as they would get with another final unconverted try leaving the Mudgee side to wonder what might have been. 

In order to beat sides like Cowra, who are likely to be battling it out with Mudgee for finals places this season, McDonald said the side’s set-pieces much improve. 

“Scrums and line-outs need to improve, they feel down a bit on the weekend, as much as we were missing a couple of players with injury before the game and during it,” he said.  

“James Horsfall, we lost his from the kick-of in the second half from a bit of a high shot, so we took him off as a precaution because he was pretty heavily concussed.”

Mudgee will again be on the road this weekend they travel to take on the students at CSU.