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WIMBORNE
RUGBY CLUB
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U11s
- Season 2007 / 2008
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 U11s
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To Hayle & Back
The Wimborne U11's 2008 Tour To Cornwall |
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This year's tour saw the lads (and of course
the parents) head down to Hayle, (near St Ives) Cornwall, for
the Mini Festival.
This year's theme, as we were heading towards England's surfing coast, was Hawaiian shirts, shorts and anything else, grass skirts were adorned by the brave few in the freezing conditions…. Friday morning and most of us set off from the
home of Dorset rugby, to the tune of the Hawaii 5-0 theme, at
around 11am (make that 20 mins later, as usual Jim Rock was in
a different time zone!) |
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DAY ONE The competition comprised of two pools of four teams, with the top two from each group playing a round-robin on the Sunday. In Wimborne's group were Aylesford (Kent), Ledbury (Herefordshire) and Blackheath (London). Conditions were sunny but with a blustery wind increasing the wind chill factor! |
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The first match was against Aylesford. The lads
started as they have done more often than not, slowly.
Alylesford competed for every ball and after a tight first half with neither side threatening to score, it ended 0-0. For the second half the lads started to improve and spent most of it attacking the Aylesford line, only stout defence keeping us out. Patrick nearly scored the opening try but was agonisingly held up just short of the line. It looked as though the game would end in stalemate. However, from virtually the last play, Ashton broke free from a maul, 20 metres out, niftily beat 3 defenders who had been drawn in to his run and off-loaded to Tate in support who had a clear road in front to score the deciding try. Wimborne 5-0 Aylesford. |
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Next up was Ledbury. The lads were playing much
better now winning most rucks and scrums, producing plenty of
quick ball for the backs to use. Despite the strong forward play
the backs were still looking a but rusty and didn't make the best
use of the possession gained. After several missed opportunities
the deadlock was broken by Peter, after a long run from deep by
Sam Stroud, Ledbury missing tackle after tackle, Sam unable to
evade the last tackle, offloaded to Peter who tracked him all
the way, to score. The second and final try came shortly after
that with Ashton on a typical driving run, going to ground in
the tackle, Peter, quickly dug the ball out and passed to Luis
who cantered in to score.
Wimborne 10-0 Ledbury. |
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The final group game was against Blackheath,
the oldest rugby club in the world, formed in 1858.
Prior to the game, in commemoration of their 150th anniversary, Wimborne were presented with a plaque to mark the occasion. This was a tough, physical game. Wimborne more than held their own though more often than not winning the rucks and scrums, against a much bigger side. Tackling was fierce and committed from both sides. Wimborne were on top pressuring the Blackheath defence. After constant pressure, text book rucking and quick distribution Patrick ran into to score the opening try. Wimborne continued with sustained pressure, good rucking, re-cycling the ball time after time. Finally the referee had had enough and gave Wimborne a penalty after several hands in the ruck and lying on the ball from Blackheath. From the penalty Patrick received the pop-pass from Peter, and Blackheath could not stop the second try. Wimborne 10-0 Blackheath. |
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DAY TWO - Hail in Hayle
Sunday dawned and was the same as Saturday but only colder, if it was possible. The sun shone, the wind blew and the hail hailed. Stuart, looking the worse for wear had realised the error of his ways and managed to locate the Worthing supporter he exchanged shirts with, who was more than happy to exchange back. Sunday's competition would see the lads play Blackheath, Old Colfeians (London) and Worthing. First up was Worthing. The lads were quicker out
of the blocks than the Saturday, playing the game in Worthing's
half throughout. It was only a matter of time before the first
try would be scored after this constant pressure. Worthing could
not hold our scrum and were frequently thrown back at the ruck.
Whilst the forwards ran the game the backs could not convert the
possession as a number of opportunities were missed. Then came
the James Williams double. From a scrum the ball was quickly passed
through the backs to James who weaved his way in. Shortly after
that and a further period of encampment on the Worthing try line,
we were awarded another scrum. Then came the second score, a repeat
of the first. Then came the hail. Our second game would be Old Colfeians, which
was looking likely to be the group decider. In the end it remained
scoreless, although Wimborne were on top, we couldn't make a clear
opportunity. Both sides looked well drilled, tackled strongly
but just couldn't score it was a good game of rugby over in a
flash. Then came more hail. Our final game was a Blackheath rematch. Like
the first match it was a tough physical encounter. Wimborne were
strong and quick in the tackle stifling anything Blackheath tried
to create. The lads continued to press and just before half time
scored the first try. Blackheath 5 metres out kicked to clear,
the kick was poor and charged down by Patrick who gathered up
the loose ball and scored. The second half was more of the same,
drive after drive in the Blackheath half, strong defence keeping
us out. It looked as though there would be no further score. The
last play of the day, a lineout was 'stolen' by Sam Churches,
the ball off-loaded to Olly who made a drive for the line, held
up a ruck formed, Peter dug the ball out saw a gap and nipped
in to score the second, and what turned to be vital, try. |
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So who had won? Thanks to all the players who played so well and made the
trip worthwhile and the parents who made the trip.
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