Veni, Vidi, Vici, Then We Found a Peanut!

VENI, VIDI VICI, THEN WE FOUND A PEANUT !

So, the u9’s went on their first ever tour to Cumbria and what a weekend it was. The setting was a 17th century hall steeped in history where the boys enjoyed activities on Saturday, then onto Kendal Rugby Club on Sunday for some challenging games. We fielded two strong teams and the reports are as follows;

Game 1 saw both sides weighing each other up until Freddie caught the ball and drove to the Kendal defence getting pulled up just short of the line, but, somehow he wriggled free of the tackles and popped up over the line to chalk the first try up. This was quickly followed by a try from Ollie Pryce. A fine passing movement from the boys led to Matthew going over in the corner for No3. Try No4 came from a fine long pass from Ollie Smith to Rhys, wrong footing Kendal, and he touched down for his first of the day.

The second half saw Kendal trying to get back into the game but some fantastic defending from all our players stopped them in their tracks. A typical example of this was from George Rooney who, when the ball went loose from a Kendal error, he dived bravely on the ball for a turnover. The next move saw Rhys set up Matthew for his second try seeing him wide on the wing undefended. A long pass and a great catch saw him go over for No 5. Hayden then made the break of the game, running the full length of the pitch, Kendal players bouncing off him, but, just when glory was in sight, he was tackled short of the line. From that tackle the ball was passed quickly down the line to Ollie Pryce who sped towards the line for his 2nd try of the day. Game ended 6-0 to Wirral.

Game 2 had just started as team 1 were finishing so the boys went to cheer on their teammates.

The game started at a frantic pace with Scott receiving the ball wide and running the whole length of the pitch, nearly, to show Kendal we meant business and opened the score. Kendal didn’t take the hint and a few minutes later he did the same again, scoring for his second of the day. Kendal quickly replied with a try of their own before George Morris, made a good run, Gazelle like, to set up Tom Plowman to make the score 3-1. Will would have scored just before half time, but forgot where the line was and touched down 3 yards short. A try was given at first but Kendal complained to the ref who “caved in”to the home pressure and reversed his decision. After the break, Kendal evened the score up, showing they were no pushovers, then George broke through for another long run to touchdown. The game went to 4 all but in the last minute we got a turnover ball with John emerging from the melee to make a cracking run being tackled near to the line but he was ably supported by Will who went over to finish the game 5-4 to Wirral

Game 3 saw Freddie doing his “wriggle free” move again, Kendal couldn’t hold on to him at times, and dropping over the line for the opener. This game was very tight and some superb tackling and running from both sides was on offer. Kendal scored but Aiden made sure we kept the lead by chalking up his first of the day. Just when we thought we had the game in the bag, Kendal applied some pressure and evened the tie up to make for a tense last couple of minutes. Ollie Smith broke free and just when he was in his stride, one of the Kendal players decided to feel his collar, literally, yanking him back with a high tackle. The penalty was passed out to Rhys who kept his head low and scored just in the nick of time to seal the result 3-2 to Wirral.

The boys from team 2 were playing at the same time as team 1 so I couldn’t report on it but we won the game 7-5 giving Wirral a whitewash.
Some great rugby was played during the tour, tough tackling, great passing, supporting each other, running in the right direction, (at last) and some intelligent play on the field.

The whole weekend was a success. The boys behaved impeccably on both days during the leisure activities and on Sunday at Kendal and are a credit to our club. Big thanks must go out to Ange, for organising the trip. Kendal and Borwick Hall for hosting us. Simon, for his Summer Ale and finally, the coaches for their continuing development of the boys. Here’s to next year!