Dear All

My sincere apologies that it has taken me so long to get around to this but I was away last week and had to suffer the misfortune of going a whole week without 200 emails from Mr Caplan (bliss!!!)

Now I have returned to my usual mundane life (of receiving such emails), I thought I would send an outline of how the Sharks got on at Surrey B’s.

We were drawn in a group full of opposition we had never played before so had to plan for all eventualities and the boys were going to have to “play it as they saw it”

The boys clearly had “fire in their bellies” as they took to the field for our first game after running at and hitting the contact pads harder than I had ever seen them do before (to the extent that coaches took on the role of bag carriers as it may have caused an injury even before we kicked off if the kids had been hit!)

My thanks to Jo Loten who took on the role of being “Statto” for the day!

Game 1 – Farnham v Chipstead

These guys were much bigger than us so we immediately set a plan to try to avoid getting drawn into the contact and to use quick ball from the base of the ruck and maul to run rings round them. That’s certainly what the sharks did.

Try 1 – Will Barker passed from a ruck to Oliver, who passed to James C, James drew the opposition to commit to the tackle and offloaded to Will L who was able to use his power to brush off tackles and cross the line. What a superb way to start the day!!!!!

Try 2 – Scrum Half got caught in the maul so George stepped up. He took the ball and passed to Charlie. He still had a lot to do but Charlie pinned his ears back and his pace and power didn’t let him down.

Try 3 – Will Hutching “rolled” from a maul and not only gained vital ground but also sucked in a number of opposition. Toby S ripped the ball from the Maul and spotted a gap (which I would have sworn was never there!). He used fantastic footwork to weave through the opposition and cross the line.

Final Score – 3-0 to Farnham

Game 2 – Farnham v Mitcham

Again a big side so we decided to carry on with our game plan of keeping the ball alive and moving it about the team as much as possible. 

Try 1 – Will M received the ball and ran hard and fast to the corner. He was tackled (impressively, I have to say) just metres from the line but William H was supporting all the way. He picked up the ball effortlessly and drove the last few metres over the line.

Try 2 – Will Hutchings in the action again, securing turnover ball from the opposition. He turned and Toby W was there to rip the ball. He popped the ball to Toby S who again went on a superb weaving run to make the try line – a great piece of individual skill on the end of superb team work.

Try 3 – Will B picked up the ball from the base of the scrum, spotted the gap and ran impressively to score from first phase ball.

Try 4 – Again impressive from first phase. George caught the ball at a lineout and reacted super fast to put the opposition on the back foot. The forwards were able to drive over the line. George scored an impressive “forwards try“.

Try 5 – From the base of the scrum the backs called an “orange” switch move. Billy stood very deep so that he could run onto the ball. The ball came out to Oliver who made a pass in front of the oncoming Billy. With his pace, the spectators simply erupted. He still had some distance to go but with the sheer power in Billy’s running. He never looked like not scoring. Another score from first phase ball.

Try 6 – As if not to be outdone, an “Apple” call was made this time with Charlie at Fly Half and Oliver standing deep. Another well weighted pass from Charlie meant that Oliver was able to take the ball at real pace. He beat 3 players to score in the corner.

Final Score – 6-0 to Farnham

Game 3 – Farnham v Warlingham (at this point, I got even more excited)

Try 1 – Another great forwards try with Will H and Toby S linking well yet again so that Toby was able to power over the line.

Try 2 – Will B on another weaving run from the base of the scrum.

Try 3 – Will H stood closer to the scrum than usual to enable us to play the “plum” move (a “crash ball”). Will H received the ball from Will B at the scrum and powered into the opposition to take the tackle and set the ball up. However, he just kept going and going until he had made the line.

Try 4 – It worked at the scrum so the boys tried the same from a penalty after a high tackle. It worked and Will H was on the scoring sheet again.

Try 5 – At the scrum, Toby S stood on the blind side. Will B spotted him and gave him a great pass. Again Toby used fancy footwork to get across the line

Try 6 – Warlingham seemed to find some inspiration from somewhere and suddenly their tackling improved. However, Farnham’s recycling out of the contact was just too good and they could not gain possession. After about 4 phases, the ball was passed out by Toby S to Charlie at Fly half, he beat two men on his way to the line. A superb team try!

At this point the game should have ended because we were 30 points ahead but Warlingham were keen to continue as they had re-grouped somewhat

Try 7 – Probably the best team try of the day. The ball must have been passed at least 20 times with forwards and backs all supporting each other to move forward slowly but keeping the ball alive. Will L received a pass and used a great side step to just beat an opponent. He then gave a sweet pass to Oliver who beat about 4 players to run home the try.

Try 8 – George rolled from the back of the maul to take the ball forward. This sucked in more opponents so that Will B could take the ball and score again.

Final Score – 8-0 to Farnham

Game 4 – Farnham v Old Ruts (Now I was beside myself)

Having watched earlier games it appeared that these may be our strongest opposition. Yet, the simple plan was to carry on doing what we had been doing so well. At this point, my mind went to possible qualification to the semi so my recall of these tries is less extensive.

Try 1 – Will L passed to Billy. Another great run to score

Try 2 – Will H to Will B – great weaving run again.

Try 3 – As if to repay the favour, Will B passed to Will H to score

Try 4 – Another blistering run to the line by Will B from the base of the scrum.

Final Score – 4-0 to Farnham

Although not on the actual score sheet, Toby Warn secured so much possession and epitomised the team spirit by offering others such support. Although he did not score them or make the final pass (which is as far as my stats go – although “Statto” did do a great job!) he contributed massively to a number of the tries. Which allows me to use one of my favourite sayings about Toby yet again – “It’s not the size of the man in the game that matters but the size of the game in the man!!!!!”

GROUP stage results for Farnham

 Semi Final

In the semi-final, we were drawn against Old Cats who had also won their group unbeaten. We had watched earlier games and knew they were a very big and physical side who did a lot of handing off!!!!

Unfortunately, luck seemed to be against us as they played the referee really well and, at one point, one of our players was pinged for telling the ref that they were handing off (a real shame!). One of the “old school” refs who looked for infringements rather than helping players avoid them.

While we were in no way out played (in fact I think we played the better rugby) we were out muscled! They were impressive in the ruck and maul but had little else to their game. Having said this, they did beat us 2-0 and did deserve the win.

At full time, the look on the Kids faces will stay with me for ages! Utter despair!!! While that is hard to witness, it really does show the commitment these boys had for each other and how much they wanted it – something that will stand us in good stead for the future!!!

Finally, I would like to add my own praise of EVERY boy who played for the sharks that day. They played completely as a team and it would be impossible to pick any individual out as player of the day – there were a number of impressive tries scored but also there was impressive work done by others to secure the possession to allow others to score! Although not on the actual score sheet, Toby Warn secured so much possession and epitomised the team spirit by offering others such support.

I was REALLY proud of them all!

Pete

Rugby Continuum U9's