The first league game of the season is always nerve wracking. You think you’ve prepared, and you’re sure everyone is ready, but until you step on that field, you just don’t know.

And we all set our alarm clocks super early to make the drive up to Plano to find out.

The game started as brightly as the winter sunshine, with both teams taking the ball into contact and probing for weaknesses, but tough tackling and indiscipline prevented either side from establishing any kind of rhythm. Rock got an early injury concern when center Michael Garcia had to leave the field to get a head wound attended to, Brewer Dillon-Sauer coming onto the wing as a blood replacement and Jacob Reyes shifting into the center.

Whatever impact this had, the Rock backs were nowhere near as fluid and dangerous as they had been the week before. Even with Garcia’s return, the passing, handling and skill level in the backline was well below what we know they are capable of. Fortunately for them, the Plano backline were also having an off-day. To be fair, this may be partly due to the fact that both backlines were defensively excellent, coming up quickly in the tackle, closing their opponents down and nullifying each other.

Up front, the back row were going well – making their presence felt on both sides of the ball, while the tight 5 were providing a good scrum platform. But while the scrum looked strong, the lineout was uncharacteristically wobbly.

It seemed that it was going to take a mistake to break the deadlock, and that’s exactly what happened. A clearance kick from inside the Rock 22 (11:20 on the video below) resulted in an offside and a penalty from the point of the kick. A quick thinking tap and go from Plano caught Rock napping, and they touched down in the corner for the first try of the game.

The game continued to be scrappy, characterized more by penalties and handling errors from both sides than any quality rugby. So the forwards kept it tight, with dangerous scrum half Matthew Bruce coordinating the waves of attack. After good driving and recycling of ball (16:05) from Ryan Hallenberger, Roman Rodriguez and Logan Hager, Bruce sold a dummy, went through the gap and offloaded to supporting Number 8 Mason Gracian who crashed over for the try, Gavin Richards converting to make it 7-5 to Rock.

Other highlights of the half were a pinpoint touchfinder by scrum half Bruce that ended up literally “in the bin” and brought the biggest cheer of the half (21:07), a searing break from outside half Gavin Richards who reacted first to a loose ball, broke the line and quickly made 50M upfield (36:30), and a well-placed grubber kick (40:40) that varied the play and put Plano under pressure in their 22.

But maybe the best sustained moment of the half came (at 43:45) when captain Marcos Gonzalez turned over possession near the halfway line. The Rock forwards were starting to impose themselves and were quick to take advantage, Nico Regalado to the fore, and Logan Hager and Mason Gracian putting in the hard yards before releasing the backs – Michael Garcia riding the tackle and slipping the offload to fellow center Sebastian Corbo. Ryan Hallenberger, fullback Ian Sadler and wing Ayden Dush took up the attack before the ball was spun wide the other way, giving us a glimpse of what this Rock team can do.

But none of it came to anything, and the half finished 7-5 to Rock. We munched on our half time oranges and hoped for better fair second half.

And we got it with a quite incredible and dramatic second half, winger Ayden Dush getting the chance early to show how dangerous he can be in open play while outside center Sebastian Corbo came into his own – putting in some huge hits in defense, running well and intercepting several Plano passes at key moments.

But while the Rock forwards continued to secure good field position there were still problems at the line-out. And while the backs were showing more dangerous intent with several flowing moves, they were still throwing too many poor passes.

But the Rock fitness was beginning to tell, so it was something of a surprise when Plano powered over after a series of rucks (1:08:10), the try being converted to make it 12-7 Plano.

Rock made a couple of substitutions, bringing Liam Balandran on for Gabe Tanzer at hooker and Kadin Dyess for Ian Sadler, Dyess slotting in at scrumhalf and Matthew Bruce moving to fullback. 

And Rock came right back into it – a long weaving run from strike runner Ayden Dush set up several phases of possession, with Rock looking after the ball well before a power run by Michael Garcia set up a penalty from which captain Gonzalez went close (1:14:00). From the ensuing ruck, Dyess got quick ball and fed second row forward Jackson Bennett on the blindside to cross for the second Rock try in the corner, driven over with the support of Regalado and Gracian. The conversion attempt fell short to leave the scores tied at 12-12.

But Plano hit back immediately. Right from kickoff (1:16:00) they turned the ball over in the ruck for their second row to sprint away on a beautiful run to score under the posts, the conversion making it 19-12 to Plano.

With less than 10 minutes remaining it didn’t look good, but this Rock side is full of guts and determination, and they never give up until the final whistle.

From a lineout just inside the Plano half (1:19:45), pocket rocket scrumhalf Kadin Dyess anticipated the tap and sprinted through the line to steal possession and drive forward, his quick thinking taking play up to the 22, from where Gonzalez picked up from the ruck, broke several tackles and ran it in for the try.

With the conversion going wide, the score was now 19-17 to Plano, but Rock kept coming. A poor kickoff gave them a scrum on halfway, and it was Dyess again (1:22:30) taking the quick heel and thinking and playing in a completely different dimension of time and space to everyone else on the field to break clear and take play back up to the 22 and set the platform. 

The whole game came down to this – could Rock keep possession and punch the ball in? The attack went through phase after phase – forwards hammering away, backs taking it up – but the Plano defense was resolute. Finally the ball was spun wide (1:23:50), a long miss-pass giving Corbo a chance on the outside. He was held but kept the ball alive to Richards on the loop and they almost got Reyes in at the corner. Eventually the ball bobbled into touch, but the referee was playing advantage and called them back for a high tackle on Corbo in the midfield.

Another forward drive spearheaded by the captain, and still Plano held firm. Yet another penalty, and this time Dyess didn’t wait – he took the quick tap and was over the line before either side knew what had happened (1:24:50).

The conversion was good with the final kick of the game, leaving the final score 24-19 to Rock. That final try was double important because it also secured the bonus point for Rock.

To be honest, neither side deserved to lose after such a pulsating final 10 minutes, but I’m glad we won. And the boys just wanted it. This year’s Rock team have such heart, and you can’t coach that. There are a ton of new players who are eager to learn and play for each other, and a core group of experienced players who are excited to welcome them into this wonderful sport, and in Marcos Gonzalez, they have a captain who is the calm within the storm and holds them all together.

Lots to work on, but also lots to be proud of. Well done boys!

Forward of the match was Nico Regalado and back of the match was Matthew Bruce.

Tries: Gracian, Jackson, Gonzalez, Dyess
Conversions: Richards (2)