Donaghy gears up for ‘blockbuster’ games
Cambuslang Rugby Club coach Alex Donaghy will relish a free weekend – because it helps him prepare for two blockbuster games that could save their season.
Donaghy’s side threw away a lead to lose 23-11 at East Kilbride on Saturday, leaving them bottom of Tennent’s West League 1 with minus-one points from six games, following a deduction for failing to fulfil a fixture.
They face eighth-placed Carrick at home on November 27, before hosting a Strathendrick side that sit directly above them in 10th on December 4, and Donaghy says they’re both mustwin games.
He said: “On Saturday it was a good first half, we were winning, and then they scored three tries in the second half.
“It was two stupid tries conceded by us, we gave them to them, so it’s one of those things where we have to learn our lessons and not repeat them.
“We need to get on track and get that win behind us, and hopefully we can get a run going.
“The next two games for us are vital, against Carrick and Strathendrick, two of the teams at the bottom with us, so we have to try and get maximum points from those, if we can.
“It’s two games at home, so hopefully we can get a couple of wins, move up the league, stay in West 1, and build for next season and for the future.
“We’ve got a lot of under-18s coming through next year, which helps the seniors, it gets them motivated to come to training because the young boys are there, and that becomes a vicious circle.
“Rugby’s not their be-all and end-all, so we try and do the best we can, get the players down as often as we can so we can do things, learn and teach them, so we can play the way we want to.
“If they don’t train then the fitness level goes down as well, but we’re getting there, more players are coming back now, and there are some new faces coming in.”
And Donaghy is happy to give his squad the time off to prepare their bodies for the testing times that lie ahead.
He added: I gave them the weekend off because it’s the international weekend so everybody’s going to be away, and we have six sessions before our first big game, so let’s try and make as much of it as we possibly can.
“Let’s get to training, let’s do what we want to do, work on everything we want to, get better at it, and build from there – I can only ask the question.”