Last Saturday's match was in a cold and foggy Neuchâtel against entente Jura 3Lac. Unfortunately our opponents could only field 13 players, while Zug had travelled with a squad of 19, so we offered to match in numbers to try to keep the game competitive.

With 8 players in the scrums this favoured a forwards led game which suited us just fine and an opportunity to put our training focus into practice. This tactic proved successful when after 7 minutes a Zug driving maul from a line-out produced the first try. 7 minutes later a second try was scored by Zug after good work again by the forwards and then a kick exposing space in behind the defence that was chased down by the backs. Zug played a patient game in the first half with the forwards controlling the pace, dominating territory in the opposition half and holding possession. A significant reduction in the penalty count over earlier games was great to see. It wasn't all Zug though as Jura 3Lac created some pressure on the Zug try line, after a couple of mistakes by Zug, and they managed to muscle over for a try on 25 minutes. The half finished 5 - 10 to Zug.

Disappointingly the second half started with the opposition requesting uncontested scrums which the referee accepted. However, this did not dishearten the Zug players and they lifted the intensity higher in response, starting to completely dominate the play. Tries started to roll in after more great work by the forwards carrying well with support and exploiting a line-out that was functioning really well and full of confidence. 4 tries and 3 conversions to Zug before their opponents scored a good try, breaking the zug line in their own half with a long run to the line. Zug finished strongly though and closed the game with another forwards move with only seconds to go.

Overall a good performance, despite playing 13 a-side, with everyone getting lots of game time as we agreed rolling replacements. Great to see the training ground work translated into winning rugby on the pitch, giving us more attacking tools for our future games.