The under 7’s took 3 teams to the Cheshire Cup festival on Sunday. The individual team reports are below and all the smiles, attitude and rugby of every single player was fantastic.

Wirral Warriors:
So to battle went the intrepid band of Under 6s. We were all prepared to have fun and get used to the idea of playing as a team more in preparation for next season than any expectations.

I am delighted to say that the Warriors obviously hadn't read the script. In the group stages they were narrowly beaten by Chester by a single try, lost to Bowdon by the same margin who scored literally as the referee blew for time, but managed a great win over Anselmians by 7 to 5.

They proceeded to the knockout having finished 3rd in the group and came up against a much bigger Lymm team and once again the Warrior mentality was shown as they stuck with them throughout only to be beaten by a single try for the 3rd occasion. I think I can speak on behalf of the parents to say how well they all performed as a team, happy to swap places to give their friends some time and even volunteering to do so (making the coaching decisions much easier).

It was also fantastic to see them grow in confidence as the games progressed, I must thank all the parents for their great support and sportsmanship towards all and also to thank Damien for helping me keep the Warrior 6 prepared. Maybe the coaches pre game team talk promising all of them a £1 a try bonus from their parents helped (out of parental ear shot of course, however this was to back fire as my own son was also playing!!!)

Now for the roundup of the Warrior clan.

All of them listened not only to the coaches but also the referees, they were great at getting back and not being offside I cannot recall a forward pass and I think only 1 or 2 minor handling errors but no knock ons and all showed a great camaraderie.

Edward- played with a smile scored some great tries and was our top team tagger of the day, also acted as captain for most games and was helping to organise the boys, well done.

Max- a pocket rocket again scored some great tries and always made it difficult for the attackers to get past constantly harrying, excellent day.
Rueben- our pocket dynamo just kept going and scoring probably unlucky not to be awarded a try in the knockout as he was tagged right on the line but took 2 steps before grounding (harsh but its the rules) and as ever no complaints from the boys. One to watch!
George- difficult to appraise your own son but possibly scored a couple of the tries of the day with his new technique of skipping over the approaching defenders, maybe a nickname for the future 'Skippy', all I can say is made his Dad proud and cost him (see above re:-team talk!!).
Riaz- my goodness when this boy runs straight there is no stopping him, fantastic to see his confidence grow and I am sure made his Dad Damien proud!
Xavier- last and by no means least, fantastic to see him grow too made some great tags in the later games and was a superb team player. Keep up the good work!!

I had a great time and was so proud of them all especially doing so well competing against the age group above. Thanks to everyone involved.

Daz

Wirral wolves:
Started the day of nervous but gradually got into it! We play three games which we lost one! Draw one and won one! Which meant we came third in our group! However we went on and ended up getting knocked out in the quarter finals! The team play great with Will being injured from the start! So we never had a sub! As a whole we was the best team in our group and until our last game!

Luca: Great player and never gave up tried very hard and scoring tries! In the second game ( I think ) we lost him for about 3 minutes as he took a knock to his face, but came back on and battled on!
Bailey: focused and determined on the game, read the match well and followed instructions. Creating nice runs scoring tries and looking for the pass!
Zac: well what a super star, never gave up and ran rings around a players scoring plenty of tries, great team player not greedy. We gave Zac man of the match.
Chris: was the heart of the team. He start every the game off by passing the ball to one of his team mates to run on with himself backing the player up. He also scored tries!
Will: Poor Will turned up with a sore ankle which he started off as a sub in the first game. Played well and battled through the game!

Coaches: myself and Graham:: I was nervous to ref my first game which I enjoyed. I enjoyed giving instructions and helping the team out. Graham true gent and great as a coach. We worked well together.
Daz: for what I seen I think you have a great bunch of u7s for next season. Good luck. Saved the best for last::
Sarah : girl power and you know what I mean. Thanks for giving advice and taking control at the Cheshire cup. It's been a pleasure! Shame Chris wasn't with us!

Wirral Wasps:
The team won all the games in their group and played some fantastic rugby. Particularly pleasing was a 9-8 win over Wilmslow which had some spectators and coaches struggling with the code of conduct. After lunch it was knockout stages in the Cup competition and an intimidating looking bunch from Lymm awaited. The Wasps were sluggish after lunchtime hotdogs and unfortunately got off to a slow start and found themselves 3:0 down after 2 minutes. The cruel realisation hit that losing possession from handling errors and running into touch gets punished by the best teams. As the game went on the team seemed to adjust to the higher level and showed great skill and spirit to get back into the game and eventually lose 9:5. The Lymm team went on to the final of the cup.

The 6 players in the team were fantastic and special mentions include:

Dan: Showed us all and himself that he can run fast and clever lines, allowing him to run around people and not just through them. Most improved Wasp and starting to deliver on his un-questionable rugby potential.
Dylan: Ran in lots of tries and had great team spirit all day.
Jack: Brilliant ability to be in the right place at the right time. Crucial tags, offloads and line breaks seemed to follow Jack round the pitch.
Libby: Fantastic to see Libby grow in confidence during the tournament. A talented and unselfish player who I don’t think made a mistake all day.
Oliver: Fabulous elusive running and a couple of breath taking runs to score memorable tries.
Will: Fantastic tagging, think he had superglue on his hands. Even better at smiling.

Finally, thank you from all the coaches to the parents, grandparents and spectators. Your spirit and enthusiasm was exemplary and had such a positive and helpful approach all day.

Sarah Jones