MINI MATTERS December 15 th 2014

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1 MINI MATTERS December 15 th 2014 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, We approach the festive season in good spirits across the Mini Age Groups! Last Saturday both the U7s and U8s enjoyed success and qualification to the next round of their respective Allianz Park Festivals. On Saturday afternoon another group of Mini s provided vocal support to the First XV for the home game against Grasshoppers and on Sunday most age groups enjoyed some success against Hertford and Saracens Amateurs. Next Sunday we will have complimentary Mince Pies, Mulled Wine and Sausage Rolls in the Club house after training to mark both the half-way point in the Season and the Christmas break! I do hope you can come in after training and join us! Saturday 13 th December First XV (Datchworth Vs Grasshoppers) A very good time was had by all on Saturday afternoon! A small group of hardy Mini Players enjoyed a cold game of mixed age group Touch before the First XV played Grasshoppers. The result went the wrong way for us but the postmatch entertainment was first class! The band were brilliant and enjoyed by all thank you Woody. And the Christmas jumpers were an inspiration from the 1s boys! The Mini s Contingent, (parents), made a significant contribution to the Club bar takings over the course of the afternoon which I am sure can only be a good thing! We are going to do this one more time this Season in the New Year around the Hitchin game on the 7 th February which I hope will see an even bigger turn-out!

2 Match Reports Saturday 13 th & Sunday 14 th December: Match Reports are here from most age groups, if you cannot find a report from your age group please keep an eye on the web site for further updates! U7s at Allianz Park by Elaine Ratcliffe The U7s had a great day at Allianz Park on Saturday. The U7 Green team managed to qualify to the next round and the Blue and Red teams only narrowly missed out. The U7s all had a fantastic day, long and cold but the parents and children all absolutely loved it. Some great rugby played and some wonderful team spirit. U7 Greens at Hertford by Dan Shurety Backing up the Greens success at Allianz Park the U7 children played perhaps their best three back to back matches this season considering the full day at Saracens the day before. The Green team played the three strongest Hertford teams and although there was no official scoring (which in the spirit of the morning was the right thing) we drew one and won two!! The boys played as a team, encouraged each other, defended with gusto and attacked with pace and precision. William Grace perhaps scored the U7 Try of the season! All four boys in the Green Team William G, William S, Finley and Sam were fab! Saturday 13 th December U8s at Allianz Park! The U8s took a while to warm up playing at Allianz Park but once they woke up, focused and smelled the try line they played very well indeed. The results for our U8 Representative side are detailed below, we were close to beating Westcombe Park. Sevenoaks were a very strong side but we played well, and the Chess Valley game could have gone either way. The boys played exceptionaly well against Letchworth with clear direction from the Head Coach and against the odds have qualified for the next round of the Competition! All in all the U8s enjoyed the experience and played some great Rugby despite the bitter cold.

3 1. Datchworth 7-8 Westcombe Park (lost) 2. Datchworth 6-8 Sevenoaks (lost) 3. Datchworth 9-3 Letchworth (Won) 4. Datchworth 8-8 Chess Valley (Draw) Datchworth U8 Allianz Park Match Day Scores: Qualification to next round on Saturday 28 th February!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL! U9 Match Report by Andrew Howard The U9s Squad split into the Green and Blue Match Day Teams for this weekend s challenging away fixture against Hertford and Saracens. Both teams played exceptionally well and came home having played 7 Games winning 6 and losing 1 game by a single last play Try! The U9 Coaching team are immensely proud of the whole squad. In most games our sides were in control and were able to outtackle, out think and out-run the opposition. We still have a lot to work on in training but as we approach the half-way point of the U9s first season of contact rugby we move forward with a lot of excitement and confidence about the potential of this talented and happy squad! Datchworth Blues V Hertford & Saracens Hertford Cheetahs (7) Datchworth Blues (9) WIN Hertford Jaguars (5) Datchworth Blues (8) WIN Saracens Development (6) Datchworth Blues (8) WIN Hertford Cheetahs (8) Datchworth Blues (7) LOST Datchworth Blues: Jack Ingram, Oliver Griffin, Alice Field, Harry King, Matthew McGinty, Fabian Whitfied, Nelson DeWolfe, Alex Van-Wyk, (Ronan Hawes first game), Blues Player of the Week Fabian Whitfield! This week the Blue Team made it very hard for the Coaches to choose Player of the Week. Nelson and Jack both showed great determination in driving the ball forward. Alex was careful to look after the ball in contact and was happy to take the ball into contact time and time again; Oliver G and Alice both showed great skill in running forward with the ball, Oliver scored two very memorable Tries! Matthew McGinty made a fabulous try saving defensive drive, and Harry was time and again in the midst of the action playing Scrum Half. On the day though Fabian showed huge ball carrying strength in every game, breaking tackles and not allowing himself to be stopped. We were very impressed with the whole team! Datchworth Greens V Hertford & Saracens Hertford A (7) Datchworth Greens (10) WIN Hertford Panthers (2 ) Datchworth Greens (4) WIN Saracens A (1) Datchworth Greens (4) WIN Datchworth Greens: Mckenzie Ellis, Thomas Howard, Alick Broster, Max Coltman, Elliot Clifford, Theo Tilley, Ronan Hawes, Kyle Haskett, William Paine, Greens Player of the Week Mckenzie Ellis!

4 The Greens were in a class of their own on Sunday morning, the first game against Hertford A was the tough challenge you would expect against our big local rivals but with the team playing for each other, tackling and passing the ball into space the Greens had the skill to win through. In all three games McKenzie was the ball carrying driving force that put us on the front foot, Elliot, Ronan and Max showed amazing pace coupled to game understanding, Alick, Thomas and William were the heart of the defensive effort creating huge line pressure and making tireless tackles keeping the opposition on the back foot and struggling for any momentum. Kyle and Theo contributed well across the park, Theo made a memorable outside pass to unlock Max for a Try that wouldn t have looked out of place in the 6 Nations! Across the park the Greens stepped up and played at a very high standard indeed. Well done to you all. U10 Match Report keep an eye on the web site! U11 - Match Report by Phil Goff - Datchworth Under 11 s versus Hertford & Saracens Quote of the day - It s not origami boys! Thomas Paine Senior..On a cold and frosty winter s morning, we headed to Hertford RFC for the three way fixture with them and Saracens. With much bigger squads, they were both able to field 2 teams, meaning they only played 3 games each team to our 4 as we had just one team. This was to take its toll later in the morning. First up were Saracens B s, and our lads were on fire. Some superb play making across the pitch, and excellent running, driving and rucking meant we were worthy winners by the final whistle. Two tries came from William Field through some excellent running and side stepping, a powerful try from Aidan who again was showing his strength all morning, and there was a lovely offload from William Goff in the tackle to Issac Byrne for him to power his way through to touch down for his try. The defence was also superb, with tackle after tackle coming in from Joshua Staddon in particular, but all the boys put in their fair share of tackles. After only a couple of minutes rest, we were up again, this time against Hertford A s. This proved to be a matter of us not being able to get any ball at all, as Hertford were excellent in the breakdown, and just rucked over us time and time again. Their speed to get bodies in to clear out our lads, and then spiriting the ball away very quickly was a lesson for us. When we

5 did get the ball we had some nice passages of play making a lot of ground through a mix of welltimed passes and powerful drives, but we just couldn t break their lines at all. In the end, it was a loss this time 4-0 to Hertford A s, with William Field the first injury of the day with a badly twisted ankle. We were then able to have a rest for minutes where we could spend some time on our rucking practice, and then we were up against Hertford B s. This was another great display by our boys as we were able to keep much more ball and do something with it! Joshua Staddon was able to make it over the line for a well-deserved try, as had been tackling solidly all day and warranted a reward! Finlay also made several great runs, and once he remembered that going forwards was better than sideways, he was able to touch down twice for the team with some superb long runs. Defensively we were strong once again with Spike Howard also putting in a fine tackling display as well as several others, and we were able to keep another clean sheet with a 3-0 win. By now the boys were exhausted, but we had one last game against Saracen s A s. We had lost Thomas Beechey to injury in the last game, and Joshua Moffatt had to leave, so we were really running on empty. It was decided to play just one 10 minute half, and unfortunately that meant our lads were also playing up hill for the duration! The boys played with heart and determination, but Saracens A s were just too strong for us by now. Again some big hit tackles went in from Joshua Staddon, Spike Howard, William Goff and Isaac Byrne to name a few, and we lost William Goff through a big tackle which I think will remind him in future to get himself low with a hulking great attacker running at you with pace. At least he stopped the attack though, and got straight back up to keep defending before falling like a sack of spuds once the whistle blew a few seconds later! Sadly it ended 5-0 to Saracens A s and while it was a shame to end on a low, there is absolutely nothing for the boys to be down about, as they gave every game 100%, and played with passion and heart throughout. We were all very proud of their performances as coaches and parents. For showing his impact off the bench including some great runs and tackling skills, Spike Howard took the Player of the Week trophy. U12s Sadly we had to make the decision to call off the U12 Fixture, the bottom, flood lit, pitch that has much less grass covering had frozen much harder than other areas at Datchworth, an 8:30am pitch inspection showed suggested little chance for the ground to soften adequately for the U12s to safely play and hence the decision was made to call this age group off which is always disappointing. Car Parking This Sunday the 21 st December the U9s are on Car Parking Duty at Datchworth. Holt Tour 2015 Please Book Your Places: We are now requesting bookings for this Seasons Mini Section Rugby Tour, we need a deposit of 25 per attendee ASAP. We have been allocated places for two teams in the tournament for U7s, U8s, U9s, and U10s. We have a single slot for each of the U11s and U12s. The cost this year for two nights accommodation, a full day of outward bound activity on Saturday, all meals and the Rugby Festival entry is 115 per head. The Holt Tour is the

6 highlight of the Mini Calendar and I hope as many of you as possible are able to come along so we can give the best possible account of the Club. Photographs Please Collect Remaining Orders The Club photographs have been a great success. Please collect any outstanding orders on Sunday 21 st December, please contact Nicola with any questions (mrsnicolahoward@outlook.com). Datchworth Mini & Youth Twickenham Trip - England V Italy RBS 6 Nations 2015 As has been previously confirmed the Twickenham trip is going ahead for the England V Italy game. The Club has paid the RFU for the tickets and we need to also pay a deposit for the Coach; I would be most grateful if those of you who have requested tickets can make payments as soon as possible. No Mid-Week Mini Training at Datchworth this week U9 U11 Wednesday 17 th December There is NO mid-week training this week. Fixture Planner Looking Forward: The period to Christmas for the Mini Section looks like this: Week 16 Date 20-Dec 21-Dec Datchworth RFC Mini Section Fixture Card Provisional 14/15 Season U10 Saracens Allan Day Development Allianz Park Training at Datchworth (U9s Car Parking Duty) Mince Pies & Mulled Wine after Training in the Club House XX 28-Dec XMAS / New Year Weekend Break No Rugby Closing Notes I hope to see you this weekend after training in the Club House for a complimentary Christmas glass of mulled wine and sausage roll! Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section