U13s Win the County Cup

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Sunday, 25 March 2012

The U13 final lived up to expectations as the best two teams in the County fought it out in a nail biting contest that saw 30 players giving their all until the final whistle.

Wallingford kicked off and were immediately put under pressure by Banbury who were clearly out to reverse the 10s final result a fortnight earlier.  Their forwards recycled possession quickly and they advanced relentlessly towards the Wallingford line.  The Wallingford pack, who in general, had an good day, gave away the first of many too many penalties for infringing at the breakdown, allowing Banbury to tap and go for an inevitable score in the corner from their County centre.  5-0 to Banbury.

A quick fight back was called for, and Banbury gifted Wallingford an opportunity with a mix up at the restart which allowed the Wallingford scrummage machine to kick into action.  Throughout the match, in both the scrum and the line out, the forwards dominated.  They pushed forward closer to the Banbury line.   A scrum to Banbury on their 5m line, was put under huge pressure and whilst the ball came back for a Banbury clearance Robert & Will were there with such alacrity that one of them (not sure which) charged down the kick - leaving Frazer the job of catching the ball behind the try line to fall to the ground for the try.  (He made it look easy- but given the pressure of the situation in his first season after defecting from the round ball game, all credit to him for applying TCUP so effectively!) 
 
The restart saw a clean take and a great run from Ollie J to make good ground into the Banbury half, resulting in a Banbury throw near their 22. Wallingford stole the line out to execute a perfect set move allowing Murray to score out wide to take Wallingford into the lead. 5-10 .   However, Banbury were not about to relinquish their lead so easily. The Wallingford pack was a little over zealous at the scrum and forgot the “hold”, so they wasted their strength advantage with a number of scrums having to be reset. On the third (or fourth) attempt, Banbury were able to release their very dangerous backs. Perfectly timed offloads allowed to ball to get into the hands of their wing who had sufficient space to outrun the Wallingford defence to score a very well deserved try!   A good conversion gave Banbury the half time lead – 12-10.

The team talk at half time was a gentle reminder to the boys to stick to the game plan (which they had all had total amnesia about in the first half.). It was a timely reminder and the boys finally did start to dominate through the forwards. All scrums, regardless of whose put in it was, were giving Wallingford the advantage and it was a win against the head that allowed Tom H, who had the match of his life, to pick and go for a strong sprint to the line for the try. 12-15 to Wallingford. Banbury were still looking incredibly dangerous and all watching were acutely aware that such a slight margin was way too thin against a team with the ability to break so fast.    Finally Wallingford managed to convert a long period of pressure into some points when Callum managed to break through on the diagonal after slight mix up off the back of our scrum. 12-20 to Wallingford. Banbury were still fighting and had a very dangerous break in the dying minutes which was won back and cleared by Callum just before the final whistle.

Our thanks to Simon Burnell and his team at Witney for their hard work in making the final’s day happen.

Winning both A&B competition in the County 10s and claiming the County cup makes the current U13s the most successful junior squad in the club’s 45 year history. This is testimony to the hard work and commitment of the boys, their parents and the coaching team whom, over the last 7 years have put in more than their fair share of blood, sweat and tears to keep this group of very talented teenagers together and happy.

Much to be proud of at Marlow

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Sunday, 18 March 2012

Fresh from their victory in the County 10s, the B team travelled to Marlow for pit themselves against one of the best B teams in Buckinghamshire. 

The game was a very close affair, with both teams struggling to get into their flowing style thanks to some staccato referreeing.   Despite a valiant effort, the boys were unable to break the Marlow defense  and conceeded one try in each half to end the match 10-0 down.  

Full match report to follow (when I can find the "safe place" I put my match notes!)

U13s show depth and class to "do the double" at County 10s

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Sunday, 11 March 2012

The U13 squad rampaged to double glory at the Oxfordshire 10s tournament today.  The B team won their competition, scoring 22 tries in 5 matches whilst only conceeding 1 try all day. The A team also won, scoring 28 tries in 6 matches and conceeding 3. 

Firstly - a huge thankyou to Richie Irwin, Craig's dad, for returning safely from his tour of duty in Afganistan to resume his duties as B team match reporter.  We are always thrilled and much relieved to see him home - not least, because Craig always scores bucket loads of tries when dad is on the touchline !.

Why did Wallingford win everything today ?  I would like to tender a hypothesis that it is because we encourage and play inclusive rugby.  We do not suffer prima donnas - but insist that everybody is playing equally for the team - not for themselves.   The quality of support play from both Wallingford U13 teams today was nothing short of superb. 

The B team opened their group matches against Chinnor.  They quickly set out their stall with great attacking runs from Ben Mc to quickly put us 12-0 up. (Ollie S converting). When the ball was lost, the hard lessons of the B team game against Abingdon A's in January were clearly well learned - as every tackle was made.  Harry ran in try three, with Will I Am taking the restart ball straight over for try 4.  22-0 at half time.  The game was quickly wrapped up in the firs ttwo minutes of the second haf with Craig going over, and then a fantastic run from Will and offload to Fin resulting in the match stopping 6th try under the post.  Chinnor never really stood a chance - and Wallingford has laid down the gauntlet for the day.

The second group match was one of those "revenge is a dish best served cold" games.  The lads destroyed the Abingdon defense time after time - to run in six tries for no response.  Abingdon never looked like they had a chance of ever getting close to the Wallingford line.

The final group game for the Bs was against Oxford Quins.  The whole game was played in the Quins half.  Again, the creativity in attack, using the space to allow the pacey backs to run in all five tries.  The fact that four of the five backs scored in this match demonstrates clearly the cohesion and communication between the squad.  The forwards were selfless is securing the ball and spinning it out fast and wide to the pretty boys at the back. 

By dominating the group- Wallingford were then up for the semi final against Oxford.  The lads didn't change their rhythm, and Will H was very quickly showing great vision to see the gap and run through for the first try.  The quality of the handling today was superb - and Ben secured a tough ball to go over for try 2. Harry and Craig got themselves in the action to polish Oxford off in what was a great show of supportive team rugby.

So to the final.  It was, without doubt, the toughest match of the day.   At half time, Wally were 0-5 down.  They dug deep and showed their resiliance.  The first forward try of the day came from a brilliant passage of support play close to the Grove line.  There were multiple phases of play, with the boys battling ever closer, for Felix to finally push over for an equalising try.   The conversion was not straightforward - but Ollie stepped up as cool as a cucumber to slot what would turn out to be the match winning conversion.

Grove surged again from the kick off, and pushed perilously close to the Wallingford line.  However, the boys were not for yielding - and hung on to safeguard the win.  So a full day of rugby - with ONLY ONE TRY CONCEEDED.  This is a great reward for the boys who have had a long season with some tough lessons.

Harry, James F, Felix, Ollie S, Ben, George, Fin, Will H
Henry, Ollie T, Craig, Will L, James S, Fernando

A team

I guess scoring 169 points in 84 minutes for just 15 points in response tells its own story.  To write a long match report would not be a good use of time after such a long day.  Suffice to say that the boys played great team rugby.  The quality of support play was quite simply astounding, with the forwards securing so many scrums against the head we lost count and feeding great ball to the rampaging backs.

The final against Banbury was an interesting encounter given that the teams will meet in the XV County Final in two weeks time.  Banbury struck first due to some sloppy defending, however, Wallingford quickly came  back  with Murray demonstrating clearly the answer to the question's aired recently as to whether he was still one of the fastest backs in the county.   7-7 to Wallingford at half time and everything to play for.  The second half was almost like a different game.  Banbury never looked likely to score - with Wallingford piling on the pressure for wave after wave of attack.  A couple of Wallingford tries, that would have ended the contest early, were not given by the referee - however, that did not really cause any alarm as Wallingford stormed forward to score three great tries for no reply in the second half.

With the U14s also winning both of their competitions  - Wallingford swept the board at Banbury today.  Both the U14 and U13 A teams have a rematch of today's final against Banbury on 25th March.  It should be a good day for quality youth rugby.

Our thanks to Banbury for organising yet another wonderful sunny day in the north of the county. 

Christian, Fraser, Daragh, Stuart, Seb, Ryan, Callum, Tom H, George
Ben S, Tom B, Murray, Will H, Robert, Tom S

U13s Triumph in Gritty Cup Semi Final

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Monday, 27 February 2012

The U13 cup squad secured their place in the County Cup Final with a gritty display of rugby in the Chinnor rain.

Chinnor kicked off and showed that they meant business as they took the game to Wallingford.  The nerves were showing on both sides, and Wallingford showed an uncharacteristic reticence in the early passages of play.  Passes were rushed, and decision making a little suspect as they momentarily forgot the game plan. A early lapse in concentration let the Chinnor number 4 do a great interception, leaving him powering down the centre of the pitch.  It looked like a certain early score for Chinnor, however, they had reckoned without the speed and tackling prowess of Murray, who made up the 20 yrd head start to bring him down just yards from the Chinnor try line. Huge exhalation of held breath from the Wallingford side of the pitch!

The first 7 minutes of the game were the crux of the contest.  Both teams were up for the occassion and both teams showed why they were in the semi-final with quality tackling from all 30 players.   The break came for Wallingford off a scrum deep in our own half.  Quick ball out to the backs enabled Murray to make full use of the large pitch to run away from the Chinnor defense to go over in the corner.  With the first points on the board, the nerves settled a little and Wallingford started to drive more consistently into the Chinnor half.  A number of penalties came against Chinnor for offside, and it was from one of these that Bish did his trade mark snake through the defense to make significant ground.  George was in the perfect place at the perfect time for the perfect off-load, and powered over the line.  Callum converted, 0-12 to Wallingford. 

The Wallingford pack was beginning to dominate, and secured the loose ball quickly to set up the backs.  Another searching run by Callum down the left wing looked like a sure third try before the end of the half, however, the referee did not believe that the ball was grounded with downward pressure and the first half ended with the match still looking very much in the balance. 

All the gruelling fitness work that the boys have endured during the snow break seemed to pay off in the second half, as the Wallingford team went from strength to strength.   The most pleasing aspect of the whole game, that was particularly evident in the 2nd half when the nerves were calmer, was the quality of support play from each and every player.  The forwards were also clearly winning the contest of the big boys, with Tom H breaking through the gain line time and again.  It was off of one such run that the third try was made, with Tom H off-loading to George who drew in the defense before he finally popped the ball out to Tom S to go over in the corner.  0-17.

From the restart, poor handling in the Chinnor line was punished quickly by Callum who kicked the ball through and followed up with the chase.  The ball was just about to pop up for him 2 yrds short of the line, but the Chinnor defender took him out before he took possession of the ball.  It was a clear cut call - and a penalty try was awarded.  Callum then followed up with an easy conversion in front of the sticks. 0-24

With the Wallingford team now rampaging, the coaches suddenly realised that the match was likely to end early.  (The Cup Rules state that the match must stop after any team gets 6 tries clear).  There was a quick scrabble to get the 5 boys who had yet to play on the pitch - which meant wholesale changes to the pack.  Ryan, Fernando, Harry, Toby and Ben had all been incredibly patient, and now they were able to play their part in the last two tries.  These did indeed come very quickly.  George powered over on the right wing, which Callum converted excellently from out wide, followed by a great offload from Rawdie to set Murray loose to score in the same corner.  With the six tries in the bag, the ref stopped the match early. 

The boys should be immensely proud of their performance.  I saw a quote from Will Carling on Saturday saying that "man of the match" awards were devisive in rugby, as, by its very nature, rugby is the team game to end all team games.  Tonight the boys played for each other - and the result was there for all to see.  There was not one stand out player - there were 21 of them. 

The victory sets up a very exciting final for 25th March with the virtually unbeaten Banbury U13s.   If the Wallingford squad show as much team spirit and grit as they did this evening, it promises to be a final to remember.