Whilst the weather was gloomy, the mood within the London Scottish camp was positive this weekend. On Friday night, a number of the squad had ball-boyed for the pro-team’s great win against the Cornish Pirates. With that in mind, our U14s were keen to show our friends across the river how they could emulate the first XV with powerful rucking, intelligent running lines and neat offloads to keep the ball alive against bigger opposition.
The game started at a pace and it was evident that the insight gained from our first XV coaches, Paddy and Tinga, was having an effect! Our captain for the day, Henry, hitting rucks like a dervish, ably supported by Ben, Ted and Mikolai with ferocious intent. Our back line was marshalled by Ed, and with some great handling, we were soon camped on the Barnes line after a great break from Devraj and Huck which was a combination that would keep the Barnes defence on their toes all game. After some close quarter work, Mikolai dived over for the first try with a great maul.
Shortly after, the same combination struck again, with Mikolai scoring his second try, which Ed converted impressively from out wide. A lot of credit goes to our other winger, Devan, who gathered the restart and cut a sharp line inside from the left wing to set it all up. This sequence became a blueprint for the remainder of the match.
Halftime saw the boys 12-0 up but it was clear we needed to improve. We were leaving the same players to hit the rucks, and after a chat and some well deserved changes, all of our pack started to hunt and counter ruck to nullify the pressure from Barnes…be that the white cap of Conor, the flowing locks of Zebi, the Red Devil cap of Lucas, the hard hitting 8 Jake or the pace of Ted – we began to build dominance at the breakdown.
This gave our backs the perfect opportunity to break free. Alexandre kicked things off with a clever show-and-go, moving the ball quickly to our 13, Rudy, who launched into one of his signature runs. Rudy sidestepped the defenders, drew them in, and passed to Huck, who found space and made a brilliant finish from fullback, weaving past the last three defenders. With Ed converting the try, the team was well in control.
Credit to Barnes; they stayed in the fight, and we had to dig deep to withstand the pressure. Henry led the way, keeping the team focused and ensuring we stayed on the right side of the laws by communicating effectively with the referee. This began to frustrate Barnes, and soon the penalty count swung in our favour. From a penalty kicked to touch, we secured the lineout, and Freddie and Aleks punching some big holes, opening up space for Jean to launch one of his trademark sniping attacks from scrum-half. A beautiful offload to his fellow Frenchman, Alexandre, led to a try under the posts, which Ed successfully converted, sealing the game at 26-0.
A solid performance, but still room to improve but all were impressed by our boys ability to focus on their game, ignore the noise and attempts to wind them up and just play…
It was a solid performance, though there’s still room to grow. The team’s ability to stay focused, ignore the noise, and just play their game was impressive. They definitely emulated the pros from Friday…we march on!Want to get involved? We’re always keen to welcome new players along to our U12, 13 and 14s. We train on a Wednesday evening (6.30-8pm) and a Sunday (U12 9.30-11.30, U13-14 11.30-13.30) at Kings House Sports Ground in Chiswick. Drop us a line at juniorsconvenor@londonscottish.com.
LS 26 – Barnes 0
Mikolai – 2 tries
Alexandre – 1 try
Huck – 1 try
Ed – 3 conversions
