It was a difficult start to the 2014/15 season with the loss of nine players over the summer to a combination of football and house moves. It was always going to be difficult to replace that number of players straight away and a couple of injuries added to the mix saw the 12s reach a low point with a home fixture against Lymm when Manchester could muster just 6 players! That day though was the start of the recovery and showed the strengths of rugby’s junior game as Lymm promptly lent us enough players to complete the fixture, shuffling their squad so there was strength on both sides in a thoroughly enjoyable day, albeit in a losing cause.

Since that day, all the players have been recruiting furiously amongst school friends and we have slowly but surely increased the numbers to a squad of 19 players, many of whom are new to the game but hugely enthusiastic nonetheless.
There’s a real enthusiasm about the Under 12s, and while we are starting from a low base in terms of experience and confidence, the willingness to learn is strong and judging by the vigour and the intent of the tackling as the weeks go by, it won’t be long before they are all up to speed.

We have also introduced midweek training under the floodlights and most of the players make it down on a Thursday night to train, where the presence of the First XV training is extra motivation for our boys. Seeing the level they can attain if they remain committed to playing until senior level if a big incentive for them and you can see them watching and trying to replicate what the senior players can do, especially kicking!

We’ve also had a change on the coaching side with the departure of Pete Clarke who had a big impact in the two years he was involved on the coaching side. His knowledge, experience and above all enthusiasm will be missed. We were pleased to welcome Louaz Hofton to the fold to bring the coaching staff back to full strength.

We realise that circumstances mean we are still in the process of gelling as a team and we know that it's going to be a tough few months to get back to anything close to a team capable of winning fixtures - the important thing is that we have a plan to get there!

John Williamson – Under 12s Coach