Datchworth Rugby Football Club. Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters,

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1 MINI MATTERS 8 th November 2015 Remembrance Sunday Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, This Remberance weekend we visited local rivals Stevenage for a Mini Fixture. This week a good turn out from both Stevenage and Datchworth enjoyed a good natured local fixture and a well managed, and well observed two minutes silence on Remembrance Sunday. I would like to extend my thanks to Icarus Bryant-Fowler for helping manage this important event. Despite the heavy rain on Saturday the pitches held up fairly well for the Mini Fixture on Sunday and all age groups enjoyed some good match time. The story of this weekend s fixture is told below: U6 Training at Datchworth Many thanks to Pip and the other U6 coaches for a fun, informative well organised session this morning. 20 boys and girls joined the Datchworth U6's, a few new starters and a strong coaching team created a superb session, passing, footwork matches and finishing up with Seaweed Bulldog. Finley deservedly won 'Player of the Week' with stand out performances from Jess, Stanley, Owen,Jacob, Albe. Mini Section Fixture Reports V s Stevenage RFC U7 Stevenage V Datchworth The U7's took 3 teams to Stevenage this weekend. We started the fixture with some join warm up games of stretch, tag thief and then split off into teams for competitive games. Across all the Datchworth teams there was some really strong tagging, support play and communication and try scoring. All three teams remained unbeaten in all the games which was a fantastic effort. We

2 couldn't pick a player of the week as it was a great team effort! We are seeing some fantastic progress with the U7's - well done. U9 Stevenage V Datchworth The Under 9's had a very productive and fun day out at Stevenage. Due to slightly reduced numbers on both sides, we played a series of five matches in a row with rotating substitutes. The games were all competitive and neither side flagged but we continually had the upper hand throughout, winning all five games 7-2, 6-3, 8-4, 9-1, 8-5. Of all the games the second was close throughout the first half and into the second half, until Myles Presence put in a huge effort scoring three tries in a row to seal it. Of note, George King, Ross Christiaans, Myles Presence and Lucian Starks were putting in some particularly effective tackles and also doing some excellent running, with George in particular excelling in the last game. Reece Wannerton also made a fantastic run late on down most of the pitch, almost scoring but being caught but setting up Tom Rutter for another try. It was great to see the try scoring distributed throughout the team. Welcome to William Jones who has just joined and demonstrated how to score simply by running straight through the middle, an excellent start. Our Player of the Week was Sammy Jolly, who you could really see today is now starting to leverage his size in contact rugby to good effect with a flurry of tries towards the end. As a whole we still need to work on spreading our defensive line and awareness but overall it was a great team performance. Well done everyone! U10 Stevenage V Datchworth The U10s had a strong turn-out at Stevenage today with 25 boys pulling on the Datchworth Green shirts. We enjoyed a warm welcome from our Stevenage hosts who were able to field two teams with some new faces since we met at the Letchworth Festival. We played 4 games and the Datchworth boys came out on top in each of the four games. We played two mixed ability games and finished with an A and Development game. There were a number of excellent performances from across the squad today. Notably; James Bedford showed excellent pace to finish a couple of fantastic tries but more pleasingly he made some fantastic tackles in defence. Damian made a couple of tries through well timed running and strong offloads. McKenzie Ellis was a handful today and scored a number of excellent strong tries throughout the morning. Thomas Howard and Kobie Richmond continued to show their strength in defence with some excellent tackles in each game, both secured excellent turnover ball for Datch. Morgan and William Paine both showed strength at the breakdown and secured some good ball for their team in both games and created some good opportunities for others. Harry King not only scored a well deserved try today in the last game but in earlier games he was committed to rucking in the breakdown and to running forward with the ball... well done Harry! Elliot Clifford was excellent in defence today; he has often been the scorer of tries but today was a committed defensive force for his team. An excellent Try scored today by George Reilly is also worthy of mention in the newsletter along with a solid effort from across the rest of the squad. As mentioned above the award winners this week were Damian Murphy and Harry King... well done to you both. Next weekend we have a team playing in the first of the U10 Saracens

3 Festivals before the away fixture with Enfield Ignations on the Sunday morning. Well done to you all... U11 Stevenage V Datchworth Please see the U11 Match Report and scores along with a photo from the very well observed minute s silence. Match 1 Stevenage 1 v 8 Datchworth (Connor 2 / Ieuan 4 / Ruby / Shaun) Datchworth were quick off the mark and into their stride early. The drills on the practice field were taken straight into the match and used to devastating effect. We were quick to support and always looking to make passes to team mates. We were equally as impressive without the ball with some great rucking and tackling. What was great to see was the smiles on our player s faces, lots of compliments from the coaches and the longest/loudest applause from parents I have heard all season! This was a complete team performance and everyone should feel proud of their contribution. Match 2 Datchworth 4 v 1 Old Albanians (Connor / Stanley / Nathan 2) Following the euphoria of match 1 this was always going to be a tougher match due in part to the increase in quality of the opposition. Datchworth however were more than up for the task and with strong tacking and high energy were able to put the scores together and win a highly contested event. U12 Stevenage V Datchworth Datch too strong for a plucky Stevenage in boggy conditions taking 3 wins from 3 games and showing some lovely rugby skills and link play on the way. Game 1 First match of the morning, and our lads were up for it from the opening whistle. Sam Whitby and Josh Staddon opened proceedings with a try apiece in the first half, and then the flood gates opened in the second half with another for Sam, two for William Field, one for Matthew Rates

4 and one for Spencer Bayford. Josh Staddon and Spencer were working well for each other throughout showing great support play, and were unlucky not to get more. A good catch and run from one the restarts from Thomas Paine gained us huge amounts of ground, and William Field showed us what he can do on the wing running three quarters of the pitch and dodging tackle after tackle for his try. Our defence was strong throughout with huge tackles from the likes of Matthew and Josh Staddon to name a few, which meant Stevenage were not able to cross the line at all, and Datch took the win Game 2 After an excellently observed Remembrance Sunday 2 minutes silence from all players and parents on the park, we were up for our second game. It was a closer affair this time, with Stevenage trying their best to break our line, but once again we held strong with typical defensive excellence from Josh Staddon, and some great tackles on the wing from Max Oates. The only try in the first half came from Sam who again powered through the middle to the line. In the second half, the combination of Josh Staddon, William Field and Spencer was working well in particular, with each of them supporting each other superbly. After Josh Staddon won a penalty by jackling for the ball in the breakdown, Thomas Paine took a quick tap, offloaded to William Field who then played a superb 2 on 1 to get Spencer away on the wing for an excellent try. A further well deserved try for William Field with a blistering run secured the second win of the day Game 3 Final game, and once again the boys played well together as a team. Josh Staddon took another try very quickly after the start, and Stevenage s heads were down. A beautiful run up the right wing by Max Oates followed by another 2 on 1 straight from the training field saw him offload to Spencer who was on his shoulder for our second try. Some lovely distribution followed by quick feet from Thomas Paine saw him show a clean pair of heels to Stevenage s defenders twice along the left wing to take a brace of tries, and all this in the first half! Come the second half, and Stevenage finally found a chink in our armour to get their only try of the day, but once again local boy Sam Whitby showed his strength to take another two tries of his own against his old club, and we took the third win Another superb morning of rugby from the entire squad of players this morning. Everyone played their part when they were on the pitch, even if they were not named individually in the reports, and every member of the team should be proud of their contribution to a great morning of rugby. Defensively we were very strong today, and our rucking was MUCH better, and although there will be other opposition to come, and we ll need to continue to improve in this area, the boys should all take credit and enjoy the wins today. Next Weekend Sunday 15 th November- Away Vs Enfield Ignations RFC Next weekend we are looking forward to an away fixture with Enfield Ignations RFC for our U7 to U11 age groups: please meet at 10:00 at Enfield Ignations for a 10:30 Kick Off. Enfield Ignatians Rugby Football Club Donkey Lane Enfield. Middlesex, EN1 3PL

5 Sadly Enfield Ignations RFC have lost their U12 Squad this season but they have kindly invited Hampstead U12s to complete the fixture line up this weekend. The U6 squad will be training at Datchworth. Car Parking Next Sunday 15 th November the U18s are managing Car Parking at Datchworth Photograph Order Forms The first few fund raising Photograph Order forms were received today... please place your orders so we can get a print run arranged. Please speak to your age group managers with any questions. Age group samples are available on request... please support your Club and Order these pictures. Wednesday 11 th - Mid-Week Mini Training at Datchworth Last Wednesday saw another good turn out across the 4 Contact Playing Age groups for mid week training. A split session for the U9s/10s and U11s/ U12s worked very well and we were fortunate to have an excellent turn out of Coaches. Mini Training will continue again this week at 7:30 under the flood lights for any players U9 to U12. Thursday 12th - Coaching Meeting at Datchworth Ian Reid, Reidy who if you don t know is our Senior Coach with the First XV at Datchworth is holding three sessions open to all Coaches in the Club over the coming few weeks. These sessions are aiming to develop some synergy in the coaching structures across our Club. The sessions will be aimed at squad managers, coaching teams and the Officers and Leaders of our Club. The intent is that these sessions will be constructive and open forums to express views on how we can improve the quality of coaching across the Club from 1st XV down to U6s; while also seeking to share the Ethos of our Club with all Coaches who may not fully know or understand our principles and philosophy. The first of these sessions will take place in the Club house on Thursday 19th November starting at 19:30 and will look at... Laying Foundations : Why are we involved in Rugby? Why are players involved in Rugby?

6 Forthcoming Fixture & Events 2015/16 Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section Provisional 15/16 Season Parking Duty Nov U10 (1 Team) - Saracens Allianz Cup Event N/A 15-Nov Away Fixture V Enfield Ignations U7 to U11 U12s V Hampstead (at Enfield Ignations) U18 22-Nov Training at Datchworth U12 29-Nov 06-Dec Home Fixture Vs Luton RFC All Minis at home Home Fixture Vs St Albans RFC U7s / U8s / U9s / U10s (U11s & U12s TBC) U11 U10 Closing Notes This weekend s Stevenage fixture marked week 10 of our season, more than a quarter of the way through the 2015/16 Season... (Unbelievable)...! We have seen a home World Cup come and go and we have enjoyed some fantastic Datchworth Rugby at the Letchworth Festival and at home with Leighton Buzzard and Old Grammarians and this last weekend we enjoyed a good local derby away at Stevenage. Next weekend is a busy one; We have an U10 Team down at Saracens for the U10 Allianz Cup and then we all hit the road again on Sunday as we play Enfield Ignations which is always a decent fixture in our Calender. Thank you all for your enduring commitment to our Club and I look forward to seeing you all next Sunday. I hope you all have good weeks and I will see you either at Mid Week Training or over at Enfield on Sunday Morning. Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section