MINI MATTERS 11 th October 2015

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1 MINI MATTERS 11 th October 2015 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, Last weekend was the turn of the U9s, U10, U11s and U12s to take part in Letchworth Festival. All of our age groups gave a great account of them-selves and enjoyed an excellent morning of competitive Rugby. This coming Saturday we wish our U11s the best of luck as they take part in the Land Rover Cup at Allianz Park before the Saracens V Sale game and then on Sunday we look forward to welcoming Leighton Buzzard to Datchworth. The Club will be very busy on Sunday morning and if any Datchworth parents can car share this weekend it would be very much appreciated to help manage the large number of people we are expecting to see at the Club. The story of last weekend is told below! U6 Training at Datchworth This week the sun was shining once again and we had a great turn out in both age groups. The U6's split off into groups of 5/6 to concentrate on core skills, passing, running with the ball and scoring tries (staying on their feet). Well done to Tim S who won our player of the week. U7 Training at Datchworth The U7's played a number of skills games including 'Tig Thief', 'Rats & Rabbits', 'Support Passing', then finishing with some mini tag games to finish in readiness for Leighton Buzzard. U9 Letchworth Festival Report Today the teams got stuck into their first taste of competitive contact rugby. We just managed to field two teams, taking on teams from Royston, Welwyn, Hitchin, Letchworth, Stevenage and Tabard. In all the games the whole team really pulled together, which is particularly impressive given both teams had several newer players so a particular well done to Lucien, Reece, Mateo and Oliver G. There was some excellent tackling going in most of the time and really improved team support for our stronger runners. The green team in pool 1 managed to win 3, draw 1 and lost 1 notably including beating Welwyn 6-3, Letchworth 6-4 and a whitewash over Stevenage 6-0. They drew with Royston 4-4 and only lost out to Hitchin 2-3. The blue team in pool 2 held their own against some really strong teams in pool 2, drawing with Royston 2-2, beating Letchworth 3-2 but losing out to Tabard 1-3 and Hitchin 2-4.

2 We didn't award a player of the week given we were all so pleased that the whole squad pulled together to put in great all round performances. It was really impressive to see the fruit of a few weeks training and everyone showed excellent determination and team spirit, including two wins over the hosts. Well done everyone! U10 Letchworth Festival Report The U10s split down into two mixed ability squads for the season opening Letchworth Festival, Pool 1 included teams from Letchworth, Welwyn, St Albans, Hitchin and Royston. Team 1 / Pool 1 Result: Datchworth (1) Royston (6) - Lost Datchworth (3) St Albans (0) Won Datchworth (2) Welwyn (3) Lost Datchworth (1) Hitchin (2) Lost Datchworth (0) Letchworth (4) - Lost It was a tough morning for our Pool 1 side but the results only tell part of the story; for many in the Pool 1 side this was their first taste of tournament rugby and it was a fantastic learning experience enjoyed by all. A number of players really stood out on the day, Damian Murphy scored two excellent tries, George Reilly grabbed a try on his competitive debut, and McKenzie went over for four tries over the course of the morning. Beyond the Try scoring a number of players made an outstanding contribution to the team throughout the morning, William Paine was tenacious at the breakdown, Thomas Moore

3 was tackling magnificently. Theo Tilley, Daniel Rates and Nelson DeWolfe all carried the ball forward with confidence and power in all of our games getting us on the front foot. Joseph Marcou, Samuel Wright, Eben Fraley and Harry King all got stuck into the morning and made positive contributions to the team. Mackenzie Ellis was player of the Week from Team 1. The pool was won by Royston RFC. Well done to all of the Datchworth Players in the Pool 1 Team. The Datchworth Team playing in Pool 2 faced teams from Hitchin, Royston, Letchworth, Tabard and Stevenage. Team 2 / Pool 2 Results: Datchworth (1) Royston (0) Won Datchworth (6) Stevenage (0) Won Datchworth (1) Tabard (0) Won Datchworth (2) Hitchin (0) Won Datchworth (1) Letchworth (1) - Draw The results in Pool 2 were fantastic for Datchworth, all of the players contributed to a brilliant morning which saw us only concede a single try in 5 Games! The Letchworth side matched our achievements and we finished joint top of Pool 2 alongside the hosts. Elliot Clifford was top scorer for the team running in 5 tries; Alick Broster scored 3 tries, with Thomas Howard, Ronan Hawes and James Bedford all scoring a single try. The real story of the morning was the defensive effort put in across the pitch with brilliant try saving tackles being made by Alick and Thomas. Morgan Macgillivray took the role of scrum half and was able to get the team going forward, Max Coltman, Kyle Haskett and Fabian Whitfield all made strong forward runs. Alex Donovan reinforced his growing reputation as a strong tackler. Lucas Viudez got stuck into the games during his debut in Green. All of the children contributed to the success of the team with a number of the new players showing great promise for the future. We were delighted to enjoy such a positive start to this Season. Player of the week for our winning Pool 2 team was Alick Broster. U10 Whole Squad Picture

4 U11s Letchworth Festival Report The U11s started their season with three pool matches against Tabard, Hitchin and St Albans. Tabard proved to be very tough customers and the Datchworth defence wasn't responsive enough to keep them at bay. Outflanked several times Datchworth just couldn't stop the speedy Tabard wingers from scoring out wide. Tabard 3 Datchworth 0. Hitchin were just as strong but Datchworth were learning their lesson and the defence was much better in this second game. Some robust rucking and slick hands kept Datchworth in it for a wellearned draw. Hitchin 2 Datchworth 2. St Albans were plucky but by now Datchworth were fired up and never looked like losing this one - sided affair. Dominating the contact area and ripping the ball several times kept the Datchworth attack supplied with quality ball. St Albans 0 Datchworth 7. Tries from Flynn, Connor, Ruby, Stanley, Sidney, Ieuan. Special mention for James for his off-loads in the tackle - superb. U12s Letchworth Festival Report It was yet another beautiful morning for rugby as we headed to Letchworth for this year s North Herts Festival. Previous years had seen us crowned winners at Under 10 s in 2013, and runners up at Under 11 s in 2014, so we were hopeful of a strong performance once again this year. First up for us this year was Tabard, and it proved a tight game. Our passing drills shone through with some lovely free flowing rugby on display with the ball being delivered well from the break down, and spread down the line excellently. They resulted in some well worked tries from Sam Whitby and Joshua Staddon, but breakaway tries from Tabard in each half meant we ultimately drew the game Second game up after a 30 minute break was against Hitchin 1. After one particular lad s passport was checked since he looked old enough and big enough to be some of our boys Uncle, the game got underway! A great run by Joshua Staddon practically the entire length of the pitch was unfortunate not to lead to a try due to a last minute excellent cover tackle from Hitchin s last man standing. Once again there was some great passages of play from our boys, and some notable defensive tackles were made by Matthew Rates, Spencer Bayford and Sam Whitby to name a few down, we were heading at least for a draw as William Field raced down the left wing, only to be

5 tackled dangerously high from behind to deny him his reward. A penalty try was for some reason not awarded; ultimately meaning we had to accept a loss. Our final game of the morning was against the hosts Letchworth, only they for one were determined NOT to make an early exit from their own tournament. Running in 2 tries early on in the first half, they seemed to be building up for a big final game, but our boys dug deep in defence and played out the rest of the game without letting Letchworth put any more points on the board. Again some excellent tackling from many boys including new recruit Daniel Dickinson, Max Oates, William Field and Joshua Higgins stopped the rot, and we were unfortunate not to get points on the board after a storming run down the right wing by Sam Whitby, who handed off tackle after tackle on his way towards the line, only to be thwarted at the death by being bumped into touch. A closely fought second half in the end, which sadly resulted in a 10-0 loss for our boys. All in all, the coaches and parents were very impressed by the performances the boys put in today, especially as we experimented with several of the players in new positions. Keep your heads up lads you made us proud. Next Weekend at a glance. Next weekend we are looking forward to welcoming Leighton Buzzard to Datchworth in every Mini Section Age Group; we are looking for a prompt 10AM start so please aim to meet at 9:45 in each age group: provisional match locations to be confirmed on Sunday AM U6 Datchworth & Leighton Buzzard(below the First Team Pitch / above the cricket square) U7 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (2 x Pitches adjacent to second team pitch) U8 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (3 x marked pitches below First Team Pitch) U9 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (Near side of Flood Lit Pitch) U10 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (Far side of Flood Lit Pitch) U11 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (Near side of Second Team Pitch) U12 Datchworth V Leighton Buzzard (Far side of Second Team Pitch) This week is the turn of the U8s to Manage Car Parking please help if you can as it will be a busy day at the Club. Datchworth Club Squad Photographs Order Forms for the photographs will be available from the Age Group Managers on Sunday Minis section Tour April 2016 Hilltop, Sherringham and Holt RFC Look out for Tour Information coming soon, this will include the tour details and forms to reserve your place. Last year we completely filled the centre so places are at a premium this year!

6 Mid-Week Mini Training at Datchworth Last Wednesday saw another great 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. Forthcoming Fixture & Events 2015/16 Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section Provisional 15/16 Season Parking Duty 17-Oct U11s Saracens Land Rover Cup Event N/A 7 18-Oct Home Fixture Vs Leighton Buzzard All Minis at home U6 / U7 / U8 / U9 / U10 / U11 / U12 10AM START (meet at 9:45) U Oct Home Fixture Vs Old Grammarians All Minis at home U Nov Training at Datchworth Coach Swap Session U Nov Away Fixture V Stevenage RFC all Mini Section Away U Nov Away Fixture V Enfield Ignations all Mini Section Away U Nov Training at Datchworth U Nov Home Fixture Vs Luton RFC All Minis at home U Dec Home Fixture Vs St Albans RFC U7s / U8s / U9s / U10s (U11s & U12s TBC) U10 Events Come and enjoy an evening of International Rugby at Allianz Park, the home of Aviva Premiership Champions, Saracens, this Thursday 15 th October. The Fire service international England V Wales followed by England legends v World legends XV all at Allianz Park, Thursday October 15th 5pm Kick Off... the Fire Service International is likely to feature two Datchworth Players, (Tom Wood and Watty!!!! For the princely sum of 20 (Adult) 10 (Kids), you can enjoy 2 cracking games of rugby while supporting 2 very worthwhile charities. The J9 Foundation was set up by Ex South African Scrum Half and Motor Neurones Disease (MND) sufferer, Joost Van Der Westheizen, and supports sufferers and their families of this life changing Disease. The Matt Hampson Foundation was set up by Matt Hampson, former England U21 and

7 Leicester Tigers prop. Matt suffered a serious injury during training and is now paralized from the neck down. His charity supports and inspires people seriously injured through sport. The first game kicks of at 5pm with England Fire service taking on the Welsh. The last time these two met was in November at Birkenhead Park where the Welsh, for the first time in 5 years, beat the English by 5 points. There is a massive amount of pride at stake here but only one team can lift the trophy. Closing Notes It was great to see such a great turn-out and performance across the age groups last weekend at Letchworth; in every age group we were holding our own against some bigger clubs and in many cases coming out on top. We have been very fortunate to see a good number of new faces join us in many of our age groups and I sincerely hope they have all enjoyed joining the Datchworth family and playing for the Club. I am looking forward to a good home fixture next weekend and I would reiterate my request to ask everyone to help out with the car parking challenges by car-sharing or walking to the club where ever that option might be possible on Sunday morning. Have a great week and see you all soon. Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section