MINI MATTERS November 16 th 2014

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1 MINI MATTERS November 16 th 2014 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, This week s newsletter reports on the three way fixture we enjoyed with Old Grammarians and Ongar that most of the Mini age groups took part in along with some of the usual news updates. It was also great to hear that the U12s secured a last minute away fixture against Hitchin which went very well as you will see below. You may also note that the First XV secured a cracking away win against Wasps which really consolidates the good run of results this year. The Mini Section can now look forward to two weekends of Training back at Datchworth which I have no doubt everyone will enjoy and appreciate after our recent travels. Hopefully we can sharpen a few things up before our away fixtures at Hertford and Stevenage as we run in towards the half-way point in the Season and the Christmas break. I hope you enjoy this week s Newsletter. See you at mid-week training or Datchworth next Sunday Morning. Old Grammarians RFC / Ongar RFC (& Hitchin) Vs Datchworth RFC: Match Reports The U7s/8s/9s/10s and 11s played a three way Away Fixture at Old Grammarians in Enfield. Datchworth have a long tradition of playing Old Grammarians RFC, (OGs were the first ever team played by Datchworth), the other team in attendance were Ongar RFC. The U12s played a fixture against Hitchin U6 - Training at Datchworth U6 Coaching Team Steve and John took on a lively U6 training session at Datchworth with 17 little ones, working on passing, defence and listening, finishing the session with two fun matches with Louis being awarded player of the day U7 Match Report & Summary The U7 children took on Old Grammarians in a three way tie with Ongar. We had 14 children and managed to field three teams, two established teams and one developmental team, who are relatively new to matches. Our developmental team which consisted of Owen, Niall, Trent and Louis gained a lot of experience and enjoyed it immensely. Our blue team consisting of Sam, Henry, Jessica, Alex and Jack just lost their matches by a single point, some great tries were made as well as lots of passing and getting back to

2 defend. Sam Gore was a little lively with the hand-offs but quick word from Ref sorted that. Alex ran some fantastic figure of 8 tries in, Jessica was all over the pitch tagging and calling for her defence with Henry and Jack supporting them really well. The team are really starting to get the hang of staying onside - although the raised hand with the tag did slow them down a bit as they did award it back to the opposition in a small ceremony! The U7 Green team was as lively as ever, William and Woody never letting an opposition player out of their sight, they really are a force to be reckoned with, as they do hunt the players tags down. Then on attack Sam and Will would make some flying runs down the wing making great tries, Finlay made some good runs and supported the team well. In the last match the opposition was a little bit physical but our children behaved beautifully and let their great rugby stand them apart. They are starting to pass the ball beautifully between each other and just looked to be having a great time. They came away continuing their unbeaten run. A good day was had by all and what all the coaches wanted to highlight was how well behaved the children were both on and off the pitch; they were a credit to the Club. They all worked and encouraged each other and the team ethic was great to see. U8 Match Report & Summary by Brendan Jolly Both Datchworth U8s Blues and Greens were in action again today at a tri-club friendly at the OG's (along with Ongar RFC). Both teams were up against well drilled and organised OG teams as well as a smaller but, none the less enthusiastic and capable Ongar team. Our boys played very well with good performances in passing, tagging and tries. Blues Played 3, Won 3 (9-6 against Ongar with 5-3 and 11-8 against OGs), in each game the Blues led up to half-time and continued their great team work into the second half. The Greens also continued in the same manner, playing 2 games against the OG's winning both 10-4, and their final match a nail-biting event against Ongar coming back from a 3-4 half time deficit to draw the match 7 all, the final try coming in the last few seconds! Another great weekend all round - congratulations guys Datchworth U8 Greens: Played 3 Won 2 /Drew 1 Old Grammarians (A) 4 Old Grammarians (B) 4 Ongar RFC (7) Datchworth Greens (10) Won Datchworth Greens (10) Won Datchworth Greens (7) Draw

3 Datchworth U8 Blues: Played 3 Won 3 Ongar RFC (6) Old Grammarians A (3) Old Grammarians B (8) Datchworth Blues (9) Won Datchworth Blues (5) Won Datchworth Blues (11) Won U9 Match Report & Summary by Andrew Howard This week s three way fixture with Old Grammarians and Ongar provided a fabulous morning of Rugby. The warm up quickly highlighted the significant hill that we were playing on and it was clear that scoring tries up hill was to be a fairly challenging affair! With the Teams split into Match Day Sides, the Green Team got the morning off to a great start with a strong display against a good Old Grammarians side. The First game highlighted the improving understanding of the game and knowledge of defensive pressure and looking after the ball in contact. Through the morning the Greens clicked and the side grew in confidence as the morning went on. The win against Ongar was the first defeat Ongar have suffered this season which really marks out the effort and talent in the side. The last game against Old Grammarians Blues was particularly pleasing as the boys turned round being 2-0 down at half time to come back to win 4-2 which was a big effort. So much so felt it would be wrong to single out any player this week for player of the week and we gave the Green Team a shared Effort award that was taken by Captain Mckenzie.well done to you all! It is also worth highlighting the benefits of Sponsorship. At the end of the first game OGs marked the traditional three cheers with Three Cheers for Kings Group reading off our shirts!!! Datchworth Greens were: Oliver Wheeler, Oliver Griffin, McKenzie Ellis (Capt), Thomas Howard, Elliot Clifford, Alick Broster, Theo Tilley, William Paine and Max Coltman. Datchworth U9 Greens: Played 3 Won 3 Old Grammarians (Whites) (5) Ongar RFC (2) Old Grammarians (Blues) (2) Datchworth Greens (11) Win Datchworth Greens (4) Win Datchworth Greens (4) Win The Blue Side had a confidence boosting win at the start of the Morning which saw the side grow in belief. Strong tackling and commitment across the Blues was heartening to see as the depth and

4 talent of the U9 Squad continues to develop this season. Notable performances included upper body driving strength from Fabian Whitfield and some excellent running and Try scoring from Nelson Dewolfe, (who also worked hard in defence all morning to take away the Player of the Week Award for the Blue Side). Alice Field ran forward with confidence to score a much deserved Try in the first game and Harry King showed a great deal of commitment and determination when running with the ball in hand. Isaac worked hard across the pitch and made a number of key tackles across the morning. The Blues played well all morning and we can look forward with confidence to our upcoming fixtures with Stevenage and Hertford. Datchworth Blues were: Morgan McGillivray (Capt), Kyle Haskett, Alice Field, Harry King, Isaac Oldham, Jack Ingram, Nelson Dewolfe, Fabian Whitfield Datchworth U9 Blues: Played 3 Won 1 / Lost 2 Old Grammarians (Yellows) (2) Old Grammarians (Blues) (8) Ongar RFC (4) Datchworth Blues (5 ) Won Datchworth Blues (1 ) Lost Datchworth Blues (2) Lost U10 Match Report & Summary by Jason Phillips Datchworth U10 Greens: Seb, George, Conner, Flynn, James, Tyler, Harry, William H, Cameron, Sam, Alex Old Grammarians 1s (4) Datchworth Greens (0) Lost Old Grammarians 2s (3) Datchworth Greens (4) Won Ongar RFC (2) Datchworth Greens (3) Won We were warmly met by our hosts OG's and fellow guests Ongar on a dry but chilly Sunday morning. Our hosts had requested that we create two equal ability squads, rather than the traditional A and B. Unfortunately our first game for the Greens found us half asleep and far too slow at the breakdowns and the first game saw us lose 4-0 against an extremely fast and well drilled OG team. A tough talking to from their coach Jason Presence clearly had the desired effect because the next two games saw hard fought wins of 4-3 and 3-2. The squad were very physical in running the ball forward but once into contact we made it difficult for ourselves by slow and sometimes hesitant support. We secured the wins by some heroic tackling resulting in some minor injuries which the squad bravely played through. Once we passed the ball around we began to find the space and secure our wins, well done the Greens!! Datchworth U10 Blues: George/Seb, Barney, Ieuan, Stanley, Sam, Finlay, Rugby (c), William L, HeinOg, Alex Ongar RFC (0) Datchworth Blues (2) Won Old Grammarians 2s (3) Datchworth Blues (3) Draw Old Grammarians 1s (3) Datchworth Blues (0) Lost

5 The Blues by contrast fell the other way, kicking off with a great win then a draw followed by a 3-0 loss. OG's had two well-disciplined and fast squads who were fast into every breakdown turning us over time and again. Ruby played her socks off, tackling player after player and very nearly nicking a try in the final game. She was everywhere, well done. Barney was our mauler of the day, time after time he drove the opposition back with his physical strength. I wonder how far he could have gone with a supporting player! Again this squad lost players to injury due to the physical battle but they played on. Alex and Sam, our new guys, had a fantastic morning. They have really taken to the game at a terrific pace. Lots of great effort shown by all the players but there is much to improve upon. We need to be much quicker in support of colleagues and we must remember to not crowd around the breakdown but get wide and take the ball at pace. U11 Match Report & Summary by Phil Goff : A Tough day at the office for Datchworth Under 11's - 1 win out of 3 not the result we would have hoped for, but a great effort from the boys across the park. Datchworth U11s: Old Grammarians Faith (15) Old Grammarians Duty (10) Ongar RFC (20) Datchworth (5) Lost Datchworth (25) Won Datchworth (10) - Lost This week we headed down to Enfield for a 3-way friendly with Old Grammarians and Essex based team Ongar RFC. As OG s had plenty of players, they formed 2 teams which ensured that we were able to play 3 games during the morning to give everyone plenty of game time. While the weather was dry, the pitches were very wet & muddy underfoot with very long grass, which made for a gruelling morning for the lads. First up was Old Grammarians Faith team, and the story of the match was too many missed tackles on our part unfortunately. Rucking was great and we saw some nice flowing rugby, particularly from Finlay who also popped up a perfectly timed pass to Isaac for him to power his way to the line for our only try of the match. Joshua Staddon s driving into contact, coupled with his and Spencer Bayford s tackling skills saved us from a heavier defeat, but it was disappointing to give OG s some soft tries simply by us not committing to the tackles. Some strong rucking from Matthew and a great

6 run from William Goff was not enough however to make the difference, as the match ended 15-5 to OG s Faith. After a short break we were up again against OG s, this time against the team they decided to call Duty. With some fresh legs on the pitch from Datch, and maybe benefitting from a weaker OG s side than their first, as well as the pep talk from the coaches in-between games, we put on a much more impressive display. With some perfect passages of play by our players drawing in the defender before making a pop pass to the supporting player, we scythed through the opposition defence, crossing the line several times through Finlay (2), William Bacon (1) and Spencer (1). A fantastic jinking run from Thomas Paine virtually the whole length of the pitch saw him cross the line too, making it a win to Datch. He also put in a great display in terms of tackling with some excellent try saving tackles, and the whole team stepped up their tackling effort, including Benjamin and Aidan who are really getting more confident in their games of late. Our final game was against Ongar, who appeared to have some very tall, fast & powerful lads, who made their physical differences count as they went 15-0 up by the half time whistle. Again some sterling tackling went in from many players including Joshua who made a huge impact from the bench, and Spencer, Finlay and William Goff to name a few. Thomas Beechey made some great ground by bouncing off tackles, and Isaac crossed the line twice in his usual driving fashion for our only tries of the game. Final score was to Ongar. Some great rugby from the lads this morning, but as always some areas to work on, in particular making sure we make those tackles, and by keeping hold of the ball in contact. As usual, the parents Player of the Week was very close, but finally it went deservedly to Finlay who made some great runs, some excellent support play, and stayed fresh for all 3 games well done Finlay. U12 Vs Hitchin Match Report & Summary by Phil Barnes & Kieran - Cloudy with a chance of fog This was a hastily arranged fixture, so thanks to Hitchin for fitting us in! Datch played 2 hard fought, closely contested games against Hitchin. Datch started the day by losing 2 players to cuts! This was a real shame as we would have had a full team for the 2nd week running but it was not to be.

7 Datchworth U12 V Hitchin U12s: Hitchin RFC (35) Hitchin RFC (14) Datchworth (35) DRAW Datchworth (28) Win 1st Game v Hitchin Drew Kieran s Comments - We started off slowly but then we woke up and had a good first half. We carried on in the second half trying to put the tries in. Even though they had a strong team we kept at their level and drew the game. Coaches Comments: This was a tight affair with 2 evenly match teams. Datch initially seemed to control the game but Hitchin played themselves back into the game to achieve a deserved draw (as neither team deserved to lose). Our new chap Lewis crossed for the first try after a fine run down the wing, Ollie B added the conversion (and in fact added another 7 conversions!). Ollie B showed his strength to cross from short range and then added another with a searing run. Patrick capped another great performance with some typical strong tackling and a well taken try. Will Ross completed the Datch scoring before going off with a wrist injury which we all hope is not too serious. All the forwards played well and the scrummage in particular went well in all the games. Game 2 v Hitchin Win Kieran s Comments - We started well, even though we were tired from the first match. We kept on pushing and never stopped. Then Paddy had an amazing run and scored a try without stopping. We kept on going to win. The ref blew the whistle and we knew we had won.man of the match goes to Paddy in the second game for the amazing run and try. Great work by the Coaches for organising a couple games for the U12s. Coaches Comments - Datchworth upped their game in the second game and once we had the lead we were not going to let it slip again. Our tackling was again fierce as we drove the opposition back. Will B enjoyed his spell on the wing with some nice tackles. Matt G also played well and continued to grow in confidence. Kieran had a number of strong runs and he opened the scoring with his trademark searching run. Patrick went over twice in this game and his second was an absolute peach of a try where he went around and through most of the Hitchin team to go over after getting the ball deep in his own half. Ollie B completed the Datch scoring showing good speed to go over in the corner. Datch showed real spirit in this game to ensure that we held on for the win despite Hitchin pressure. Summary: Both games were played in exactly the right spirit and Datch U12s again showed fine team spirit against a strong and very tall (!) opposition. It was too close to give an individual man of the match so it went collectively to all the forwards for all the hard work they put in and quality scrummaging. Thanks go to the Hitchin players who kindly volunteered to make our numbers up to a full team (Oscar, Ben and George).

8 Senior Section Update This weekend the First XV were away against Wasps and secured a fantastic Away Win. The boys are now sitting 5 th in the table and have won 4 out of the last 5 games. Brilliant stuff lads, hopefully we can back it up with a home win against Fullerians next Saturday afternoon. Datchworth Vets Rugby! It is fair to say that the response to last week s article about the opportunity for a Vets fixture against Belsize Park has been quite limited! It looks like the backrow and midfield has a couple of good candidates and I think I now have a player earmarked for the second row but beyond that we are still a bit thin on the ground! So in the interests of trying to get this off the ground I will ask one more time if anyone is keen on a run out please drop me a short and if we have sufficient numbers we will work something out. If we do get a game off the ground we will look to play the rules mentioned last week, i.e. Uncontested scrums / 15-a-side / Rolling substitutions (where players are allowed to go off and return later) / Aggressive play not encouraged or acceptable / Not to be taken too seriously. / 35 to 55 age / 1 hour game time. Club House Opening Arrangements A number of people have asked me to include details of the Club House Opening arrangements in the Newsletter. The standard Winter Season, (Rugby), arrangements for the Club House Bar is as below: Saturday 1pm onwards Sunday 11.30am - 6pm (10am start if appropriate) Tuesday 8pm till close Thursday 8pm till close Plus in addition to the regular times above the Bar is open during the winter at other times for many events, the Autumn Internationals and 6 Nations etc. I have also been asked to highlight that the Bar can be open on request if we have a specific request / need e.g. regular Age Group Coach and Managers meetings etc. If you have a request let me know and I will talk to Will Nash to see what we can work out. Pitch Side Advertising@ Datch Further to last week s information about the intent to add some temporary advertising sign boards in front of the hedgerow along one side of the First Team Pitch. I have been asked to provide some provisional guide pricing in this regard. We are still finalising the likely costs but we expect them to be in the order of 250 per advertising board; further details would take into account size / position etc. As per last week if you own a business or know somebody who does or indeed if you think your employer might be interested in

9 taking a sign board at Datchworth please let me know so we can have a more detailed conversation on cost and timings. Holt Tour 2015 Expressions of Interest: We are in the process of firming up planning for this Seasons Mini Section Rugby Tour. As many will know we are planning to play in the Kingswood Festival at Holt RFC on Sunday 19 th April next year. We will be staying at Hill Top outdoor centre on Friday 17 th and Saturday 18 th April in advance of the Rugby Tournament. There is likely to be pressure on available places this year to attend so if you would like to come along to this seasons Rugby Tour then please can you provide an expression of interest to your Age Group Manager so we can start to firm up likely numbers and arrangements. This Season the whole of the Mini Section will be going on tour U7s to U12s. Mid-Week Mini Training at Datchworth this week U9 U11 Wednesday 19 th November 6:30 till 8 Last week we enjoyed a good turn out from the under 10s and 11s in particular under the lights for the mid-week training session; this coming Wednesday 19 th Mid Week Training will take place as usual 6:30 till per child for the external coach and flood lights. Please make every effort to come along if you can. Further Reminder - Xmas First XV Saturday 13 th December - Datchworth Vs Grasshoppers The Christmas Season First XV Mini Supporters Game is now under a month away. With the focus on 1 Club, this Season I really hope we see a big turn out from the Mini Section throughout the afternoon. The Plan for the day is taking shape and provisionally will look like this: 13:15 Mini Players Arrive Hot Soup & Roll Available for All Mini Parents & Supporters 13:30 Mini Mixed Age Group special rules Touch Kicks Off (15 mins each way) 14:00 Guard of Honour / Supporters Group Form to cheer on First XV 14:15 Kick Off Datchworth Vs Grasshoppers 14:20 Hot Dogs / Burgers for all Mini Players / pitch-side or club house (weather dependent) 15:45 End of Game return to Club House 16:30 18:00 (approx) Live Music in the Club House / Player Presentations / Mince Pies & Sausage Rolls / Mulled Wine for all. The Club Bar will be open throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I would appreciate an indication of likely numbers in early December via the age group Managers so we can sort the catering out. As previously said if people only wish to pop down for the music and a Christmas drink later in the afternoon that is absolutely fine and you will be made very welcome. Do try to come if you can.

10 Ongoing Mini Section Team & Player Photographs: Orders are mostly ready for collection and will be available next weekend in the Clubhouse at our full home training session on 23 rd November. We will continue to take orders through-out November so please consider getting your orders in if you are yet to do so. The online galleries remain available and can be accessed via the passwords do let me know if you have any problems. Next Weekend 23 rd November: All Age Groups are Training at Datchworth in a change to the earlier published arrangement Car Parking Duty for 23 rd November is with the U8s Fixture Planner Looking Forward: The period to Christmas for the Mini Section looks like this: Week XX Date 23-Nov 30-Nov 07-Dec 13-Dec 14-Dec 21-Dec 28-Dec Datchworth RFC Mini Section Fixture Card Provisional 14/15 Season Training at Datchworth (U8s Car Parking Duty) Training at Datchworth (U7s Car Parking Duty) Away fixture Stevenage RFC First XV Mini Supporters Lunch & Game Datchworth V Grasshoppers followed by Live Music & Mince Pies Away fixture at Hertford RFC Training at Datchworth (U9s Car Parking Duty) XMAS / New Year Weekend Break No Rugby Summary Notes Another great weekend of Rugby across Datchworth RFC. An Excellent Result from the First XV was mirrored across many of the performances in the Mini Section. It was good to see so many children getting some game time this weekend with the different fixtures against OGs, Ongar and Hitchin. Have a good week and enjoy next weekend at Datchworth.which could in itself be a busy morning with Youth Fixtures also taking place alongside the Mini Training Sessions. Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section