The U8's had two teams through; the Chess Valley Dragons (Chess Valley 1) and the Chess Valley Eagles (Chess Valley 2),and one team from Stu Miles's U7's, I will let Stu M write something up for his boys.

Both U8 teams were drawn in difficult pools with clubs such as Rosslyn Park, Saracens, Sevenoaks and Datchworth. Despite the rain all the boys were excited about the day that lay ahead and you could see the coaches were nervous and hoping the boys played to their best (some more than others….sorry).

Chess Valley Eagles were up first and started brilliantly playing some fantastic running and passing rugby Ben Cook was stepping and drawing tags before releasing his supporting players Zac Addison, Anthony and Krish to score some fantastic tries, allowing them to win their first game 10 - 7.

Chess Valley Dragons had a Sevenoakes for their first game who are extremely competitive and very well organised, however with some fervent support from the parents the boys turned in one of the best performances I have seen them play their was some outstanding tagging with the dragons tagging Sevenoaks 7 times to turn the ball over on tagging and some strong straight running the boys were victorious 7 - 5.

Next up the Eagles had to face Rosslyn Park a club with over 136 years of history a National League 1 side and 3 teams at the event, just to give you an idea of how strong they are Rosslyn Park 1 played Rosslyn 2 in the final of the Allianz cup on Saturday. This was the one Nigel and Will (Eagles coaches) had been looking forward to all day to see how far we had come on and the boys didn't let them down, they played out of their skins and but for a difficult dropped pass on the line they would have got a well deserved draw out of the game, they were all standouts and played as a real team, supporting and tagging their hearts out. However Rosslyn Park edged the game out 9-8, leave the Eagles knowing they would have to win their last game and hope they could get through as best runner up.

The Dragons were up next against Bancroft knowing a win should be enough to see them through as group winners however Bancroft are a well drilled, aggressive team. The boys started brilliantly and moved the ball brilliantly supporting each other well and scoring with ease, Bancroft had a couple of very quick players and managed to keep level with us all the way through the game in fact nothing could separate them as we came to the last few minutes, however the referee turned the ball over for the Dragons not stopping on the whistle and Bancroft got their speed demon on the ball and seemed lost as he went over for a try. The boys didn't dropped their heads and got quickly to the restart, Little Ollie ran straight and hard taking a tag before passing to, Vikash to Mack to Jack to Liam and to Aled to go over in the corner for the very last play of the game……..wow heart stopper and a brilliant try for the supporters. 8 - 8 draw it would all come down the last game for the Dragons.

The Eagles had to beat Saracens the hosts and one of the biggest clubs in the world at the moment, Nigel and Will huddled the boys and spoke to them about having fun and enjoying the day. Which they duly went out on the pitch and did they blew Saracens away with some fantastic rugby Zac had another fantastic game as did all the Eagles they played their hearts out with some brilliant passing and running rugby. Beating Saracens 10 -7 they gave themselves every chance to get through as best runner up from the groups.

The Dragons last game was against Datchworth and the boys were starting to look tired poor Harvey had turned his ankle but the boys knew they had to win this game if they wanted to play in the Semi's. It didn't start well for the Dragons and they were soon 2 down and chasing the game and although they all played with all the determination we have come to expect however it proved just too much to come back from and lost 10 -7 in the end. The Dragons tournament was over but there was an awful lot to be proud of and the boys had played their hearts out for their coaches Mark and Jaz. A few wet eyes and sad faces were soon cheered up with some Haribos and the news that the Eagles had made it through the the Semi final.

Semi Final - (I write it in bold because I still find it hard to believe that a small club like ours got to not one but two semi finals with the U7's in one too.)
Upminster were the opponents and they had gone undefeated in their group and we were soon to find out that the art of tackling was something Upminster were clearly training on and not tagging. To say their were a few robust challenges is an understatement, poor Krish Mangat got blasted off the pitch in a challenge more akin to American Football than rugby. Upminster were extremely physical and had a couple of very quick players too, the boys kept playing their rugby and despite some of the challenges never complained or moaned to the referee. However unfortunately we did have enough in the tank and lost 8 - 6 to Upminster who went on to win the ADVWDC against Rosslyn park in the finals.

Thank you to everyone involved the coaches were fantastic and did a brilliant job, the parents were awesome supporters and we had a great time watching the boys, but most of all thank you to all the boys. You played some brilliant rugby but most of all you held up our code of ethics so were a credit to the club and we are all very proud of you.