Windsor Festival Report

U9 Windsor Festival.

After just 4 weeks of contact training Windsor presents a very daunting challenge to U9 teams - pitting them against some of the biggest minis clubs in the South East.
We were a bit apprehensive as to how our teams would fare.
Many of the other teams have very large streamed squads, and with so many players for them to choose from it means that they can put out two very competitive teams.

We split our squad into two teams Rams and Titans. The Rams team was made of what we thought would be the most competitive team we could put out. The Titans team was made up of the remainder of the squad that were available.

Titans

Titans were drawn against Windsor, Maidenhead, Amersham & Chiltern and Roslyn Park.

Our first game against Windsor I think was a baptism of fire for the Titans. Titans lack playing as a team with many of the squad still playing as individuals, trying to take on all the rolls of the team. 4-0 to Windsor.

Our second game was against Maidenhead. We played very well against them but again lacked the team play of the more experienced squad. We held our own against them but the final score was called at 2-0 to Maidenhead.

Third team of the day were a very big Amersham and Chiltern side; it must be something in the water in Buckinghamshire. We lost out again to a well drilled side, the Titans lacked the team play to make a strong defence against them, when we did have the ball we made ground- but when caught Amersham managed to turn the ball over. 4-0 to Amersham.

The last game of the day was against the eventual winners Roslyn Park.
I think this was the best game of the day. The whole team put everything into this and you could see them grow in confidence. Players were making some great tackles and holding Roslyn back in the mauls. Roslyn knew how to play this to their advantage by drawing more of the Titans team into the maul only for them to release the ball out to the wingers to score.
Final score 7-0 to Roslyn. By the end of the game I could see that the players were shattered.

They worked really hard and I am very proud of them. We will all work together and shape this team into a winning team. Over the coming weeks we will turn the Titans into a team that can play together and not a team of individuals who want to take on all the roles. We will work on some game plans together and teach them how to counter other teams mauls, rucks and attacks. All of the team stood up to the strong opposition and as I’m sure they now realise, contact is a very different game to tag.

Four of the team stood out to me during the day, Rhys, he’s only been with us for two weeks but got stuck in, picked a few loose balls and made some good ground only missing out on a couple of trys, one by stepping into touch and one by being bundled in to touch, he just lacks a bit of time and experience and I sure he will become a good squad member. Marcus Lampkin made some great tackles. Matthew and Noah not the largest of the team by any means, but both seem to have no fear in going in for tackles, mauls and rucks, We will over the coming weeks shape the Titans into a winning TEAM.

Rams

Rams were drawn against Windsor, Saracens, Richmond and Worthing.

The day started with the game against Windsor - a team who always do well at their own festival - and the scene was set for the day with the first crunching tackle from Harry Herbert. Windsor showed the benefits of straight running and close support to score mid-way through the first half to make it 1-0 at half time. From then on the Rams defensive machine kicked in and with growing confidence the boys started to turn over more ball - eventually giving Joseph Lockwood the space to run in the first try in U9s. A hard fought game ended with a satisfying 1-1 draw - a great start to U9s.

Next up was the might of Saracens - immediate pressure from the kick-off and kick recycling of the ball gave Joseph more space to run in an early score. From then on the Rams controlled the game - with Saracens never threatening to score, the Rams were unlucky to not add to the score themselves and the game ended 1-0 - a first victory at U9s!

On to Richmond - a very well drilled side that beat us in the U8 3rd/4th play-off last year. Richmond showed-off their skills early on with the best display of passing and support of the day. This lead to an early try to Richmond before they encountered the best defensive performance of the day from a determined Rams side. Defensive pressure lead to a line-out deep in our own half, from which Jacob Watkins drove into the heart of the Richmond forwards, supported by Harrys H and K a quick ruck ball gave Joseph the ball and the space to do what he does best - 1-1. There then followed a period of intense pressure, reminiscent of some of the World Cup games, where the Rams heroically defended a series of 5-metre scrums and penalties before finally holding the ball up over the line and winning a relieving scrum. The game finished 1-1, which meant the team needed a win in the last game against Worthing to progress beyond the group stages.

The Rams started confidently against Worthing and opened up a first half 2-0 lead with good team work in the rucks and mauls opening up the space for Joseph to add to his tally. A try from a strong running Worthing soon after half-time added some tension to the game, but the lead was maintained thanks to some fantastic last-ditch tackles from Luke Orpwood and Marcus Bailey. The Rams saved the best for last - hopefully a taster of what is to come. A classic drive, a quick ruck, the ball passed along the back line to Josh Ede who raced in from half-way for a great winger's try. A 3-1 victory left us joint top of the group with Windsor and our fate was to be decided by try difference...

... 1 try in it - Windsor beat us by 1 try - leaving us in the 3rd / 4th play-off for the 2nd year running.

This time we were facing Amersham and Chiltern - who we had beaten in the final at Weymouth in our last ever Tag game. A&C had some big lads - and they used their extra weight very well in the rucks and mauls. Despite some valiant defending A&C managed to make the most of good rucking to end up 3-0 winners.

Before the tournament we were advised to treat the day as a learning experience, and I was very keen to see how the other teams approached the contact game. What I learned was that the Rams were very comfortably at home amongst some big names in rugby in what was a very closely fought competition; they played as a team and showed no fear of the new contact game. It was great to see Thomas Watkins, Luke Orpwood and Francisco Ribeiro slot into the team after just 4 weeks at the club and look like they had been there for as long as the rest of the boys. What I already knew - was that I was very proud of them as a team - and they have made me even prouder. This is an excellent start to contact rugby and gives us a strong basis from which to develop the whole squad over the coming weeks.

David & Neil