MINI MATTERS Week 22 Sunday 5 th February 2017 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, It was nice to be back at Datchworth this weekend for a relatively quiet and welcome training session after the busy fixtures of recent weeks. The pitches are holding up well although I understand we are not quite done with the winter weather just yet. We have another training weekend next week for most age-groups; although we wish the U8s the best of luck at a trial fixture with Bishops Stortford and we look forward to welcoming Epping Upper Clapton U12s to Datchworth for a single fixture as the U12s start to get ready for their transition to Youth Rugby. The stories of this weekend s training sessions are set out below... U6s Training at Datchworth The U6s converged back in the warmth of Datchworth village hall this week (much to the relief of the parents) and we had a great turn out with 15 boys this week. We started with some stuck in the mud, follow the leader and a game of beans to warm everyone up. We then got into teams for some relays. In the first game, we laid out some cones with a ball at the far end balanced on one. The boys had to spring up from a lying down position run the length of the hall pick up the ball, then run to the nearest cone on top before returning to the back of the line. This worked on an explosive start from a static position and placement of the ball using two hands. We then moved on to one of the kids favourites where one boy sits in a sheet and is dragged along the floor by two others in a relay fashion until all have got to the other end. This works core and body strength and is great fun in the process. The boys have taken a few leaps forward this week and the coaches were particularly impressed with the listening skills, interpreting instructions correctly and importantly, following those instructions. At the end of each relay, to see 5 boys sitting perfectly in a line, cross legged, cheering on the final player was a really special treat for the coaches. We finished with a quick game of bulldog. Player of the week this week goes to Ethan, our newest member who has got right into the spirit of the team and shown great skills at the same
time. Special mention goes to Birthday Boy Freddie, and Harry and Kieran who have both really impressed with their progress on their listening skills. U7s Training at Datchworth Almost 20 U7s joined us for training this Sunday. The session started with various warm up games including the popular 'Country' game. The children practiced their tagging during this game as well as sprinting which they really enjoyed. They then completed a fun obstacle course which focussed on fancy footwork and fitness. The squad were then split into two teams and played a game of tag rugby with a twist. The session finished with the customary game of bull dog. Fun was had by all. It was lovely to see three new faces this Sunday. We really hope they enjoyed the session and hope to see them back at training next week! A massive well done to Owen, our well deserved Player of the Week this week! U8s Training at Datchworth The U8's enjoyed a near full squad turnout this week; 30 players including a first time visit from Freddie who was very welcome and like everyone, got stuck in and gave 100%. This week s session and future training sessions for the rest of this season will start taking the boys and girls through the step change of tagging to tackling. The idea is to build up the player s confidence each week so when next season does arrive it is not such a big step change for them. We structured 3 training areas, a full match on the main pitch, working hard on restarts, Danny ran this and continued tackling drills, concentrating on the safest way to tackle, straight back and using core strength. Martin ran a great training passing drill, working on quick passes, ensuring the players understand the importance of the combined team effort. Evan took the well deserved player of the week award this week; Evan took notice in each drill, showed maximum effort and was supporting his team mates.
We also had a tackle bag drill; small groups were talked through the technique of tackling, body position, head position and how to control the tackle. Starting from just a standing start, to walking in to the bag, trotting in to the bag finishing with running, hitting the bag bouncing up retreating; 5 yards and repeating three times reminding all it was not a race and we were looking for quality. We then invited the children to playback with questions and answers to see what they had learnt. Other observations from this week s U8s session... the boys & girls responded well to the request to not argue about the restart and continually crowd the ball trying to get hold of it (in the main anyway!)... they still got drawn into the ball when defending - the gaps used to good effect by the opposition... and several sat deep in defence despite requests and pleading to push forwards (Alex T, Ollie, Luca) there was plenty of good positive forwards running. Overall it was an excellent and multifaceted session for the U8s. U9s Training at Datchworth It was good to get a training weekend in at Datchworth to work on the children's skills and work on some specific areas. This week we looked to improve the kids perception of space and decision making on the ball. This hopefully should feed through to better use of their passing game to put teammates in space. We had a slight problem with our left and rights which led to some confusion! But we soon got into it and worked very well in our groups. We finished of the session with a structured game to put the theories into practice from the drills. The defence on show was some of the best we have seen with fantastic commitment in the tackle and good technique. We had glimpses of the benefits of the attacking drills but we clearly still need to work on moving the ball to make space for others. Well done to all for a great session and in particular Finlay N who we are very pleased to have back to full fitness and he was awarded the much deserved man of the match. U10s Training at Datchworth We had a good turnout of fifteen under 10's today for a chilly training session at home with a focus on tackling and taking the ball at pace. After a warm up we first practiced defensive line running, then passing down the line with an emphasis on offloading just before contact. Following that we had a bit of deja vu, with the players donning tag belts to practice tackling technique with the aim to tackle low to take the a tag belt off the attacker's rear.
Theo, Charlie and Lucian spent some time with Woody learning the finer points of scrum half passing the ball off the ground under pressure, including some excellent diving passes with the players flying into the mud. Finally we played a short game to put it all together. Despite some cold hands all in all we had a good morning and are looking forward to some more training time next week. U11s Training at Datchworth A good turn-out of 18 boys made for an excellent and much needed training session this week. As promised the focus of training was on ruck-intensity, pressure and keeping shape in the line. The boys responded well to the session and we saw some good play in both the drills and training games. The 4 new bag-men... Barry, Peter, Warren and Alex were much appreciated this week. In all of the drills and during the training game Alex Donovan tackled excellently; it was also great to see Lucas committing to the ruck and taking the ball forward with growing confidence but most importantly he scored an excellent Try!!! This week Alex and Lucas took home the players of the week awards... well done to you both! The session finished with Lucas and Harry being picked up by their team-mates for try scoring and birthday recognition!!!! U12s Training at Datchworth A misty morning saw some 15 boys from the U-12s meet for the first real training session of the New Year. We started with a gentle warm up, before moving into a gentle 3 on 3 contact drill, where the dual aim was to try and get defences and attacking players to look and see what was happening, plan a response, communicate the plan to team mates and execute the plan, all within 10 sec. Not as simple as it seems when written down!! Seriously, the boys need to start thinking for themselves, and playing what is in front of them, and the aim of this first drill was to get then to do just that. The boys need to understand that the drills we get them to do on Training days, and Wednesday evenings, are not about winning or losing, but about carrying out moves that will help them in match situations. Scoring tries during training drills is irrelevant. What coaches want to see is the practice of tackling, rucking and passing that we have talked about all season. For this reason, we then moved onto a game of Turn-over rugby, where the referee would call turnover for poor play, e.g. not passing when pass was available, high tackling, taking the wrong option etc. The boys had to work out why the ref had called turn-over, and adjust their play accordingly. After some 20mins of this game play, we moved, at the boys request to a quick tackling and rucking drill. Once all the boys had been through both drills, we had a quick break and then played a 8 a side game.
All the boys showed great commitment throughout the day, and a good session was enjoyed by all. Next week we entertain the U-12s from Epping and Upper Clapton, whom we played away last year. As I recall, these were a hard, physical team, and Datchworth will have to play to their best to get a result. Youth Rugby (timings subject to change) Sunday 12 th February: U13 Away Friendly vs OGs U14 - Home Training - Village Hall Pitch U15 Home Training - Village Hall Pitch U16 - Away TOUR Weekend U18 - Home Friendly vs Stockwood Park - 11am KO Pitch 1 Senior Rugby There was no First XV Games this weekend so I thought I would offer you the 6 Nations Table in lieu of Club results! RBS Six Nations Championship Week 1: Rank Team P W D L F A B Pts 1 Wales 1 1 0 0 33 7 0 4 2 Scotland 1 1 0 0 27 22 0 4 3 England 1 1 0 0 19 16 0 4 4 France 1 0 0 1 16 19 1 1 5 Ireland 1 0 0 1 22 27 1 1 6 Italy 1 0 0 1 7 33 0 0 Next weekend, Wales host England in Cardiff, Scotland travel to Paris to play France and Ireland are playing Italy. It looks set to be a tight contest this year. On the strength of Week 1 performances Scotland look like they might be contenders... England will need to be an awful lot better to have any chance in Cardiff and Ireland will want to get things on track against Italy. The games will be shown in the Club House and will doubtless have a great atmosphere... Next week s main attraction is Wales V England K/O 4:50PM... please come down to the Club and enjoy a pint or two and the game...!
Mini Mid-Week Training: U9s & U10s 7 till 8 at Datch U11s & U12s 7:30 till 8:30 at Datch (combined this week) U13 - Weds 6.30 to 7.30 pm U14 - Weds 6.30 to 7.30 pm U15 - Thurs 7.00 to 8.30pm U16 - Thurs 7.30 to 8.30 pm U18 - Training with the seniors Next Weekend Car Parking Duty U15s The car park duty will be undertaken by the U15s next Sunday morning: Thanks to Phil Goff and the U13s for looking after the cones and car-parking duty this weekend. There were no reported incidents which was a welcome relief after the challenges of the previous weekend. Next Weekend s Mini Arrangements: Next weekend most of the Mini Section can look forward to a further training session at Datchworth; We will continue at our usual 10AM meet / 10:30 start next Sunday with training finishing at 12 Noon. The U8s are away with a trial fixture with Bishops Stortford and the U12s are hosting Epping Upper Clapton at Datchworth; all other age-groups are training at home. The weather forecast for Sunday is currently ok, (most likely wet); if we do have to cancel due to frozen pitches the decision will be made at 9AM and communicated by the age group head coaches and managers as early as possible on Sunday morning.
Youth Training DATCHWORTH RFC Mini Section 12 th Feb 2017 U18s V Stockwood Park 11AM Other Club News & Event Information Mini & Youth Annual Dinner & Dance Friday 3 rd March now sold out. This Seasons Black Tie Dinner & Dance has sold out. If you have confirmed tickets these now need to be paid for please. We always have one or two people who have to drop out so we are maintaining a waiting list for anyone who hasn t got tickets but would like to come along if seats become available; please email Nicola if you would like to be on this list: mrsnicolahoward@outlook.com We are still looking for Auction items if anyone is able to provide anything suitable for the fundraising Auction. Minis section Tour To Norfolk, April 2017 The 2017 Mini Section Tour take place on the 7 9 th April 2017 @ Hill-Top; outward bound activities on Saturday; the Tour Court on Saturday night and the Kingswood Holt RFC Festival on Sunday; final payment arrangements should be sent out by age group managers to those coming this year. The final deadline for payment this year is the 24 th February. We are still looking for sponsors for the Tour Tops / Shirt if anyone is interested please now email Nicola...mrsnicolahoward@outlook.com Forthcoming Rugby Fixtures & Events Week Date Fixture Parking 6 Nations Rugby Sat 24 11 th Feb Wales V England Clubhouse TV & Bar 4:50PM Kick Off N/A Sun 12-Feb U6, 7, 9, 10, 11, all Training at Datchworth U15
U12 V Epping Upper Clapton at Datchworth U8 only - trial fixture Away with Bishops Stortford 25 Sat 18 th Feb 19-Feb VP Lunch at Datchworth First XV V Hackney Home Fixture V Enfield Ignations RFC all Mini Section N/A U9 26 26-Feb Datchworth RFC V Welwyn RFC CHARLES MORRIS CUP WEEKEND U11 27 Fri 3 rd Mar 5-Mar then...england V Italy - Clubhouse TV & Bar 3PM K/O Mini & Youth Section Dinner & Dance at Brocket Hall 7- PM Confirmed - Away Fixture V Tabard Datchworth Minis @ Tabard N/A U13 (TBC) 28 Sat 11 th Mar 12-Mar 6 Nations Rugby England V Scotland Clubhouse TV & Bar 4PM Home Fixture Vs St Albans RFC N/A U10 29 Sat 18 th Mar 6 Nations Rugby Ireland V England Clubhouse TV & Bar 5PM 19- Mar Home Fixture V Old Grammarians RFC N/A U14(TBC) Closing Notes It was another great weekend for Datchworth Rugby Fans! A narrow win for England against France, a decent result for Saracens against Leicester Tigers in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and a solid turn-out for training at Datchworth! Next weekend we wish the U8s and U12s the best of luck in their fixtures with Stortford and Epping and we hope all other age-groups can enjoy a solid training morning before we take on Enfield Ignations at Datchworth and then welcome Welwyn for this Seasons Charles Morris Cup Day. Do come down to the Club on Saturday afternoon if you can to watch the Wales V England game; it should be a cracker. See you all next Sunday, have a great week, Best wishes, Andrew
Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section