Under 10Cs v Bishops Stortford RFC - Away Friendly on 17 Oct 2010

We had another successful morning on Sunday as the Cougars travelled to Bishop Stortford and came back with three wins. Unfortunately Harlow did not have an U10 team so we played three matches against Bishop Stortford and put in some very good performances.

Match 1 – Hitchin v Bishops Stortford B (45-0)

After a long drive around rural Hertfordshire, we gathered on the picturesque fields just down the road from BSRFC. Sadly Harlow had not made the journey, but luckily there were masses of Bishops Stortford U10 players awaiting our team. With the players warmed up after a few traditional drills, some ditch jumping, and apple throwing, they were ready for action. The first game was against the Bish B side and really set the tone for the morning, the kids were awake from the start, and set about the game with ‘vim’. Hitchin started well with Hadley making a big run up the middle, good support from Sam B, feeding Connor who cut inside the defender to score for 5-0. The home side had some good possession but found the Hitchin defence to be miserly, with Dylan and Max making some good tackles. A second score quickly followed, when a good turnover led to a big run from Sam B up the right side, he was well supported by Ciaran who looped around to score on the left 10-0. Some good, strong work in the maul from Ethan B, Dylan, Rory & Hadley, created good ball which was recycled by Connor, Ciaran went on a weaving burst, fed Sam B who offloaded to Connor to break through for 15-0. The half finished with more good defence, Connor tackled & Sam B ripped ball out, slick passing by Connor, Ciaran, Sam B to Ethan B who drifted inside his marker to make it 20-0 at half time. Bish start to second half was halted by big tackle from Jack, Alex & Dylan supported at the ruck, quick turnover ball was created and Ciaran spotted a blindside gap to score on left 25-0. The Bish restart was again stopped by some good tackles by Jack, Harry and Max, the scrum was won and Ciaran fed Ethan L on blindside who made a strong run and was unlucky not to score, the ball was recycled, Ciaran fed Sam B who powered through 3 tacklers to make it 30-0. Next from a Hitchin line-out the ball was collected well by Dylan and driven forward, the ball was passed down the backs wide to Ethan L who sped through for 35-0. The next try came as Jack made a big tackle, recollected the ball and ran from the halfway line leaving a trail of defenders in his wake for 40-0. The final Hitchin move saw Alex go on a strong, powerful run forward supported well by Harry and Ethan L, who found Sam B in space to make it 45-0 at the final whistle. A great start to the morning.

Match 2 – Hitchin v Bishops Stortford A (20-5)

This proved to be the toughest physical challenge of the morning. In the first half, Bish had a good share of the ball but great defensive work from Hitchin absorbed the pressure and kept them from breaking the gain line. Jack was first up to tackle the home attackers, followed by good tackles from Hadley & Harry. The big Bish scrum won ball but they were unable to break through successive tackles from both Ethan’s and Alex. A Hitchin line out ball saw Alex drive into the heart of the Bish defence and Hadley also had a good burst, supported by Ethan B. More great defence from Connor, Ciaran & Sam B held up the Bish progress as both teams battled for the upper hand. The first score eventually came after good ruck work from Jack & Hadley, Connor then popped a short pass to Alex who powered through for 5-0. Within a minute the lead had doubled, with Hitchin winning a scrum against the head and Connor making a burst blind seeming to take three tacklers back over the line with Dylan’s help to touch down for a 10-0 lead at the break. The second half started with probing Hitchin attacks from Ethan B and Connor, and some great lineout work from Rory Alex & Dylan. Alex made a dent in the defensive line and Max made a mazy run to pressure the Bish line. Bish were able to score a good breakaway try from deep within their half for 10-5, even though Ethan L was unlucky with a last ditch tackle after chasing back. Hitchin were spurred on by this and soon made it 15-5 when Ethan L made a strong run, he was tackled but offloaded well to Connor who scored. As time was running out Bish attacked but the defence of Sam B and Max kept them out. The game finished with another fine ruck from Dylan, Rory and Alex, with Connor collecting and nipping through to score in the corner and complete a very good win.

Match 3 – Hitchin v Bishops Stortford C (30-0)

The final game of the morning saw Hitchin taking on an inexperienced home side, but we continued to concentrate well, and showed little sign of fatigue (seeing this was our third game of the morning). Alex & Jack blunted a Bish attack, we won quick ruck ball, Alex fed Ethan B who flipped the ball to Harry who darted through a gap to score a fine try for 5-0. Next, an Ethan B run finished in touch just short of try-line. Jack & Rory continued to tackle well, there were a series of line-outs, Dylan made a good tackle Hitchin forwards secured ruck ball, and Connor broke through for 10-0. Bish pressure was absorbed with Ethan L, Connor, Max & Harry defending well. Then a break from Connor was halted close to line, he offloaded to Rory who found Ethan B in space to escape the defenders for 15-0. Soon after Connor was dashing to right side, supported well by Ethan B, who then flipped the ball to Ethan L who steamed past the Bish defenders for a 20-0 lead at half time. The second half started with Rory making a big burst in the middle, Dylan supported well, and Alex collected the ball to force himself over the line to make it 25-0. There was lots of good tackling from Hitchin all over the park, which held back the home side. Max made another dart up the middle, a scrum was won by Hitchin, Connor passed to Rory who made ground and unleashed Sam B to score on right for 30-0. There were no further scores in the game, but encouraging play as Hitchin continued to prevent Bish getting over the gain line, and Hitchin were particularly impressive in the line-outs and scrums.

Hitchin U10’s came through the day unbeaten once again, having conceded just one try in the three games played. This was particularly impressive given that Bishop Stortford had a squad of 30+ players and were able to field 3 fresh teams, against the Hitchin side. Defensive play was again the stand-out feature of the morning’s entertainment, with Hitchin able to exploit gaps when attacks from the home side broke down. Sam B was our player of the week after making a big contribution in attack with lots of gain-line bursting runs, and defending fiercely whenever required.

Tries: Connor (6), Sam (3), Alex (2), Ciaran (2), Ethan B (2), Ethan L (2), Jack & Harry

A very good day, some fine attacking rugby, we scored some good tries and our defence was again 1st class conceding only one breakaway try all morning. The rest of the squad had training at the club and we had a good morning, we worked on our tackling and rucking and also played some 9 v 9 games.

Player of the Week

We gave out two ‘Player of the Week’ awards on Sunday. Firstly well done to Sam Bellinger who won the award at Bishop Stortford. Sam had a very good morning and played well in all three games. He was a strong presence in the centre tackling hard and making some fine runs, he also supported particularly well and was on hand to keep our moves going. He was a constant threat when attacking, he scored three good tries, created others and he led the back line well with some solid defence. The other award was given out at training to Stevie Shaw. Stevie has had a really good start to the season, he has attended nearly all the sessions, has put in a huge amount of effort and I have seen a real improvement in his performances in the matches and training this season. He always gives 100%, is always listening and paying attention to what the coaches are saying and on Sunday had a really good morning. He tackled well in the tackling exercises, showed good technique in the rucking drills and performed well in the matches, especially considering he was playing slightly out of position.

Tackler of the Week

The ‘Tackler of the Week’ award was given out at training to Sam Humphrey. As usual we focused heavily on our tackling and Sam worked hard and tackled well all morning. He showed good tackling technique in all the drills, exercises and matches, he was going low, hard and constantly put players on the ground. He is always committed to the tackle and contact areas and always puts in good tackles on players bigger than him. His whole hearted commitment meant he took a few knocks during the matches as he clattered into players, but he just shrugged it off and got back to his feet. In the tackling competition at the end of the session he also put in two great tackles to bring the player down and score a point for his team! Well done Sam.

Sunday 24 October

This Sunday 24 October we have training at the club for ALL the squad 10-12.00, players to meet at 9.45am.

Sunday 31 October

On Sunday 31 October we have a fixture with Cambridge. As previously mentioned, the U10’s fixture will now be played AWAY at Cambridge, which means we can take all three teams and all players will be involved. The teams and details for this fixture will be posted on the website next week.

Team Alexander Baber-Norris, Sam Bellinger, Ethan Brace, Connor Dudley, Rory Fookes, Dylan Crofton, Harry Hughes, Ethan Lavialle, Jack Petre, Hadley Reed, Max Ward, Ciaran Sale

Scores T: Connor Dudley (6), Sam Bellinger (3), Ethan Brace (2), Ethan Lavialle (2), Alexander Baber-Norris (2), Ciaran Sale (2), Jack Petre (1), Harry Hughes (1)