Scorpions hunt third straight win
South Wales Scorpions skipper Aled James believes his side needs to improve defensively to secure their third win in a row when they take on Workington Town at Caerphilly RFC (kick-off 1pm).
The Scorpions are on a roll at the moment after a 40-20 win over Oldham in Caerphilly three weeks ago before beating Gateshead Thunder 66-32 away from home a week later.
The Welsh side have had a week off and are now ready to take on a tough Workington Town side who will be looking to bounce back after a close 32-34 defeat at home to Doncaster last week.
“We were really happy with the first half against Gateshead,” James said. “The boys played really well and were really smart with the ball. The combination of Christiaan Roets, Lee Williams and Dalton Grant on the wing really worked for us. Dalton could have scored six tries that game instead of four but he just needs to believe in himself a little bit more and back himself as he’s got some really serious pace on him.
“Our focus needs to be upped for the Workington game this Sunday especially around the middle. We need to be tougher on ourselves as we conceded 32 points against Gateshead and even though we won, that wasn’t acceptable by any standard. We need to toughen up and be more ruthless.
“Workington are a really tough side. We won at home against them last year but that won’t mean anything for this time around. They’re a strong side and it’ll be a really good game. We’ll want to build on our win and they’ll want to get back on the wagon after losing last week. If we look after the ball we can play a little bit.”
The Scorpions have special memories of taking on Workington last year in their first ever game – James especially after scoring the club’s first ever try as they went on to beat the Cumbrians 22-20 to kick start the club’s professional career.
They reached the play-offs last year after winning nine games out of 20 but James admits that their second season has been even tougher than their first.
“It’s been tougher for us all round this season,” he said. “Last year we were the new side but this year teams have done a lot more homework on us. Workington don’t want to get bitten twice. They’re coming down to Caerphilly targeting this game as a win for them but we can’t allow that to happen.
“We’re not focussing on reaching the play-offs. It’s one game at a time. There’s no point in looking that far ahead. You lose games and lose track if you look too far into the future. We need to turn up each week and make sure that our attitude is spot on as we’re there to do a job starting Sunday in Caerphilly against Workington.”
