Catch up on all the news from the amateur section:
Minis’ Update:
We hope you’re dusting off your gym gear and doing some stretches, because this coming weekend parents get to scrum it out against their kids.
Okay, not really. But you will have a chance to play bulldog, run drills and maybe even get a fun game of touch rugby in. This Sunday’s training session is your opportunity to leave the sideline and get involved. Its tradition and we hope you’ll join in.
With a bit of luck, the weather this week will be as nice as it was during our last practice. We had a strong turnout (14 players) and played the best touch games of the year. The kids were forming great lines, looking to bring their teammates into the action and thinking hard about passing backwards and staying on side. In the world of under-7s, that’s a big deal! And we are very proud.
The training drills were also great fun this week, with players “squashing worms” and learning to scoop up balls at speed.
Our players of the week are: Bella, Nikolai, Ollie and Arun.
You’ll be pleased to hear that our coach JC made it back from his adventures in Scotland. Apparently, we’ve been spelling whisky all wrong. That pesky “e”. On a serious note, he and the other coaches are doing a tremendous job managing a group of kids who are exhausted from the year and are ready for a break. Thank you!
This week’s training will be the last of the year. We’ll see you there!
John Fletcher – U7s Coach
Juniors’ Update:
The morning was supposed to start at 10am prompt but it quickly became apparent than LS parents do not possess a great deal of skill in map reading (the prize going to Alidod and Davlat who turned up nearly 90 minutes late although their excuse involved a fender bender) and the boys slowly arrived between then and half past.
To be fair, we weren’t helped by the fact that the pitch was so far away from the car park that we were basically half way back to Richmond. After a warm up and fitness session carried out to the backdrop of classic 80s bangers the boys moved onto a training match followed by full on game.
For one of the few games in the year, we probably had the bigger, stronger team and this was certainly evident in the pack as on a number of occasions, the boys were told to stop pushing as Barnes were going backwards at a rate of knots. It also allowed the forwards to pick and drive with great success as evidenced by the fact that the try scorers were nearly all forwards and even the solitary try scored by a back, Mark, came from a charging run through the centre with players bouncing off him left and right.
The pick of our tries was a run by Callum with a delightful offload to Ben who scored in the corner whereas their best try came from a beautifully weighted kick to the left wing that bounced up perfectly and allowed the winger into the corner.
The final score was 7 tries to 4 to LS (scored by Ben (2), Josh G, Callum, Alexs, Mark & A N Other – if the final try scorer would like to claim it!). The team now move onto their next league fixture at home on Fullerians full of confidence.
Graeme Taylor – U14s Parent
Girls Rugby Update:
Off the back of a heavy defeat last weekend the U18 girls squad held an open and honest debrief prior to this Sunday’s home friendly against Harpenden. Fully motivated, the girls warmed up well but with some enforced positional changes there was a need for some good run throughs to get everyone settled in.
As sometimes seems to be a theme for the girls, when the game kicked off, it was a case of a large physical Harpenden pack wanting to play through the middle of us but the Scottish girls all round mobility being able to test them in all areas of the field. With a new 9 – 10 pairing for the game we probably didn’t make best use of all opportunities but were still able to exploit space sufficiently to score four tries in the first half and only concede two for a 24-12 lead.
The second half was more of the same but better defensively by both teams and then a little disrupted by injury breaks and tiredness so there was only one more score for Scottish and none for Harpenden. Final score 29-12. Some good play by both sides, excellent performances by out of position players and as voted by Callum, JoJo was our forward of the match and Lottie was our back of the match – both very deserved.
As we look forward to our final cup pool game is this coming Sunday against Old Alleynians at RAG it is interesting to note that 13 players have got on the score sheet so far this season, 7 backs and 6 forwards. A great whole squad effort.
Tim Lawn – Head of Girls Rugby
Touch Update:
Mixed social touch rugby continues to run at the RAG on a Monday evening from 7.00-8.30pm on pitch 2.
Should you be interested in getting involved then please do join us or email Tim Hardman (tim.hardman@niche.org.uk) for more information.
Tim Hardman – Convener of Touch Rugby
