London Scottish U13s scored six tries today (Sunday) to beat Datchworth 32-5 on a very cold February morning.

We set off early on Sunday morning prepared for the cold and received a warm welcome in the small village of Datchworth.

The pitch was on an exposed slope so it was important for the players to warm up mentally and physically.

Datchworth had initial possession and the defence held but was not as convincing as previous matches.

Once the Scottish players got their hands on the ball it was put to good use.

From the half-way line Thomas bulldozed his way through the opposition and scored.

Three minutes later after a couple of phases, Marcel was released on the half-way line.

His strength took him through the tackles and he too scored.

Neither tries were converted.

For the remainder of the half Datchworth had more possession and on a couple of occasions would have scored if their handling had been better. 
 
The first half ended 10-0.

After some reflection at half-time, the second half started well with Marcel running in tries on the first and eighth minutes.

This secured the bonus point.

Once again, Thomas ran from the halfway line after some good passing through the Scottish hands and went over for his second try.

Soon After, William F nearly added another after an impressive run from half way but was hauled down metres from the line, much to the dismay of the Scottish support.
  
For the next third of the second half, Datchworth dominated possession and were camped out in the Scottish 22.

Scottish defended well, turning over possession a couple of times and holding them up over the line.

But each time Scottish couldn’t clear their lines.

Datchworth were rewarded when their scrum-half picked the ball up from the back of a ruck and whose dummy tricked the Scottish defenders in his way.

But unfortunately for Datchworth, some good passing from the Scottish back resulted in Marcel running in a try from just inside the Scottish half.

Ted’s conversion was very simple and he made no mistake.

The final score was 32-5.

Scottish’s defence was firm – in particular the flankers, George and Kyril, and No 8, William F, tackled well.

The rucking was competitive and the set-piece scrum was dominant, winning a number against the head.

However, there is room for improvement: Scottish gave away penalties at the breakdown, made unforced handling errors and their defensive line speed was slow.