Cambridge 19 Coventry Rugby 33 - back to winning ways and seemingly another Winter of discontent

Stiff all in the collar, fluffy in the face

Chit chat chatter tryin', stuffy in the place

Thank you for the party but I could never stay

Many things is on my mind, words in the way

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Dance to the music

All night long

Thank You - Sly and the Family Stone

In this weekend's edition of The Rugby Paper, reporter Steve Jackson described Coventry as at times 'hanging on for dear life' during the second half of their game against Cambridge yesterday.

Whilst it's certainly true Cambridge took full advantage after the break of a stiff breeze and a slope that probably favoured the home side, scoring three tries after Cov had gone 33-7 up within minutes of the restart, I'm not sure it was ever quite that desperate for a Cov side that fully deserved the win despite Cambridge's improved second half performance

Cambridge's third try came on 70 minutes which meant they still needed to score three tries to win the game in those final 10 minutes, but with a 14 point buffer it wasn't quite as nerve-wracking as the report reads. Cambridge did come at us hard, as we knew they would, and Cov struggled to refind the fluency they'd enjoyed in the first half but it was a comfortable(ish) win in the end.

A much needed one too following the rather indifferent performances against Ampthill and Hartpury in recent weeks.

Cov did what they needed to do, they turned on the style in that first half when the elements were very much in their favour and showed some resilience and defensive nous in the second to ensure they stayed well ahead of a feisty, well drilled opposition who grew in confidence the longer the game went on.

The mani stand at Cambridge. Well, the only stand in fairness.

I've visited Ellgia Fields (Volac Park as was, I think) a few times now and it has to be up there with the best away games on the circuit. It's small and with a very limited seating capacity, it's pretty much standing room only around the main pitch, but what it lacks in shelter from the elements, it more than makes up for in hospitality and a match day experience that is as good as any of the clubs we've visited in recent years.

Okay, there was one faux pas early doors when one of the 'officials' misread the mood of the room, or coach to be more accurate, but that apart, it remains a highly enjoyable place to visit. More on that a bit later.

In estate agent parlance, Cambridge's ground could be described as rather 'bijou'.

In a previous post I've mentioned that I felt the match day experience at the BPA wasn't quite as it used to be in recent weeks. Much of what makes Cambridge's ground such an enjoyable place to visit is lacking these days at Cov and it made for a refreshing change to have a range of places to eat, a hog roast and a pizza tent for starters (and main if you're hungry, I guess...) and several drinks outlets dotted around the ground with next to no queues to prevent you from watching the rugby during the game itself.

Interestingly, there are more outdoor food/drink sales points catering for crowds averaging around 1000 at Cambridge than there are at the BPA for three times that number.

Just sayin'.

I always go by my grandson's sporting culinary recommendations. At the age of just 16, he's already become something of a connoisseur. And the pizza got a straight 10/10, a mark never previously awarded. That's some accolade, Cambridge.

Everyone we spoke to was friendly and welcoming, as has always been the case whenever we've visited Cambridge. When Rowland Winter was at Coventry's helm there were always some very close ties between the two clubs - indeed, the likes of Asiedu, Green and Adams (making his 100th appearance for the home side yesterday) were all a part of the BPA at some point back then, as indeed was Will Priestley who wasn't in yesterday's match day squad.

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Rowland Winter at the game yesterday

It would be remiss of me not to mention RW in this post given the influence he's had in the successes of both clubs over recent years.

I'm not sure Cov would want to endorse much of what I'm going to say here, but I write from a single supporter's perspective, neither representative of the club nor the feelings of Cov fans as a whole.

For me though, the manner in which Rowland Winter left - the on-going silence from the club in the build up to his departure and that curt 21 word announcement the club made over social media ('We would like to inform all stakeholders that Rowland Winter has left the club. We wish him well for the future'.) - prevented many supporters from officially saying their goodbyes and showing appreciation for the success he had brought to the club during his tenure.

I have no idea where the fault lies, whether is with one or both parties, and nor do I want to apportion any culpability and I do get that it quickly became a legal matter and that the club couldn't go into specifics as to why RW had to go. I also appreciate there's a whole heap of stuff of which most of us are unaware and that the club will be responding to external advice.

But, having put in a disclaimer of sorts, I do feel there could and should have been some recognition somewhere of the impact Rowland Winter had on the club's fortunes during his time with us. I also think I understand why most of the Board absented themselves from yesteray's game (either their own decision or on the advice of their legal team depending on who you listened to) and of course part of me does want to be loyal to the club...

...but...

...I do think it's fair to ask the question as to whether Cov would have spent the last 5 years in the Championship had RW not come knocking at Coventry's door. And remember it was RW who approached the club, not the other way around.

Indeed, had RW stayed with Cambridge instead of jumping ship to join Cov, who's to say they wouldn't have beaten us to a place in the second tier of English rugby. Yes, the Cov board deserves massive praise for investing in the club the way it has these past 7 or 8 years, but they might not have been so willing to do so without Winter's vision and his ability to turn a philosophy of rugby and rugby management into the systems that we now have in place.

It's important to emphasise that I'm not in any way whatsoever trying to demean anything Alex Rae has achieved since his promotion to Head Coach and there's a strong argument to say that RW might have taken the club as far as he could at the point he left (although it's not one I would promote myself).

And maybe Alex has done what Rowland wouldn't have been able to do.

All that I totally accept.

But it's almost as if RW's part in the club's recent history has been edited out and, for me, that's not a particularly laudable thing to do. Love him or hate him, the club owes a huge debt of gratitude to Rowland Winter.

Only JS deserves more in recent times and when he does eventually decide to had on the mantle, his will be a name forever shrined in the history of the club. And rightly so..

But it's almost as if we have to speak in whispers if we say anything in public that remotely praises RW's time at Cov, but it was his overhaul of the structures both on and off the pitch that saw such a dramatic turnaround in the club's fortunes. And yet I've not heard anyone from the club or in the media say that publicly these past 12 months or so.

And worse still, I actually feel a degree of disloyalty in posting this, as much to Alex Rae and his staff and this group of players as I do to the club itself. And that shouldn't have to be the case. AR has done a phenomenal job and brought a great deal of pleasure to the Cov faithful, but he has done so because of the foundations laid by RW and those who supported him, not despite them.

Just as Rowland Winter benefitted from the support given to him by the club, so the club benefitted massively from the successes he helped bring to it. And somewhere I think that should have been acknowledged publicly without compromising due process.

I had the opportunity to go over and speak to Rowland Winter yesterday. My insecurities got the better of me but I wish I had in retrospect if only to thank him on a personal level for his involvement in the club and to wish him well for the future.

And mean it.

Hopefully he might get to read this.

Seemingly another Winter of discontent lies ahead.

Here's hoping for a break in the clouds at long last.

I'm not holding my breath though.

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I mentioned earlier that there was a slight misunderstanding between Cambridge and a number of Cov supporters on their arrival at the ground, namely those who had travelled down on the coach. It was all the result of an over zealous Cambridge official who decided the best way to check (or purchase) tickets into the ground was by keeping everyone on the coach outside the main barrier whilst this was being done.

And it wasn't a quick process.

Not a great decision to be fair and one not greeted with any warmth by the majority of supporters on said coach who were either desperate for a) the toilet, b) a drink or c) just to get some ciruclation back into the joints after 2 hours on the coach (including boarding time) or a combination of all three.

When it soon became apparent this would have taken a good while, some supporters took it upon themselves to exit the coach and either pay/show their tickets at the aforementioned barrier despite the protestations of the official. I'm not sure we all entirely covered ourselves in glory really, with a fair few comments expressing some 'slight' frustration, but keeping eveyone on the bus wasn't the wisest of decisions in either.

Fortunately, the CRSC were there to avoid any major diplomatic incident and in the end it all passed off fairly quietly. That said, Cambridge might need to rethink their entry policy for traveling supporters in the future.

There are several match reports available elsewhere so I'll keep comments about the game to a minimum. Fair to say though, the scrum struggled again as it has for much of the season, but with so many injuries it's hardly surprising and those who have been drafted in have done a remarkably good job under such difficult circumstances. It certainly fared better than in some games and there are signs of progress, although there will tougher challenges ahead.

The lineout was pretty solid again and in the first half, time and time again, we caused them huge problems at the break down with Matt Kvesic having another stand out game. He won a fair few turnovers/penalties and was a menace throughout the game.

Pellegrini was sharp and had a couple of outstanding runs, although by his own admission he held on to the ball too long after one stunning break and only some quick hands enabled us to get the ball out wide for Hutler to score the first of our 5 tries. Martin showed he's probably the best finisher we've had for a good long while, managing to dot the ball down when it looked for all the world as if there was no room and Poole had another of those scintillating runs, a mixture of power and pace that created room for Wand to run in unopposed. Hoping to see that one on the hihglights as it looked a corker in real time.

Cov made excellent use of the wind in the first half and Pellegrini slotted over a couple of conversions from the touch line. Second half was a very different story and Cov had to dig deep at times, not helped by a couple of yellow cards amongst the forwards.

It certainly wasn't a vintage Cov performance but after 3 losses in the last four games it was just what was needed. Up to fifth now and with the next game against Nottingham (who are just one place above us), the table could look very different in just a few days time.

Cov hasn't managed to reproduce the kind of form they showed at the back end of last season as yet, but even so they've put themselves in a decent position with less than a third of the games played. If we can get back to something approaching full strength post Christmas, one or two sides could well face the full force of Coventry's early season frustrations.

Personally, I'd like to see it be Ampthill and Hartpury...

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Sly and the Family Stone doing their funky thing...