M4, then A4

A great new fixture with H and F, well done to all.

Any mum’s that came along to watch their son playing for Camelot Under 13’s on Mothers Day were given a special treat as the lads put in another stunning display on a warm spring day down by the River Thames.

Hammersmith & Fulham were the opponents, which meant an early start for the away fixture with a rare trip into the heart of London for what was always going to be a tough challenge against a ‘Hammers’ squad that boasted considerably more squad members than Camelot.

The official league clash was against Hammersmith & Fulham A side, but with Harlequins in town on the same day to face the B side it provided a perfect opportunity for a tri-fixture to offer more playing time for all players involved.

Camelot warmed up with a match against Hmmersmith & Fulham B’s and, despite a few uncharacteristic handling errors early on, were dominant throughout. The opening try came on the back of some strong rucking, recycling the ball three or four times before creating the space out wide for Dan to run through and open the scoring.

A second try soon followed, Caolan passing the ball out the back of a ruck to Ben who took the ball into contact before feeding out for Thomas to steam his way through with relative ease. 10-0. Before the interval it was 15-0, more strong rucking followed by swift passing movement along the line to Rocket Norman on the wing to outpace the chasing defenders.

Camelot were very much on top now, in particular the scrum showing considerable strength to create space and possession, with one scrum just before the break resulting in the entire front row of the opposition flat on their backs.

After the interval Camelot showed strength in depth with the full squad getting game time, without easing up on the pressure in anyway. It was only a matter of time before George was going to score, and sure enough he put the next try down after a really powerful run that saw defenders brushed aside with ease.

The final try came with the last play of the match, Hammers looked to be on the attack, but a superb tackle by Freddie saw him turn the ball over and set up on his own run from the half way line to score a well-deserved try.

FT: Hammersmith & Fulham B 0-25 Camelot
Tries: Dan, Thomas, James N, George, Freddie

After a short break whilst Hammers A warmed up against Harlequins, it was soon time for the main event and a clash against Hammersmith & Fulham A.

The game was played at a frantic pace with both sides looking for any weaknesses in the opposition to gain an advantage. Again Camelot looked good in the scrum and the opening try came from a scrum close to the right hand touch line, a strong drive enabled Caolan to feed the ball out the back and start a superb attacking move that saw the passed along the line, gaining ground with every move, before eventually reaching Rocket on the right wing who had the easiest of tasks to run the ball home and finish what must be the best try of the day.

Hammers came back with some strong attacks of their own, but met a resilient defence, backed up with some strong pressure releasing runs, Julius in particular showing some Billy Vunipola similarities with some bull-ish yard gaining runs.

The second try also came from a scrum, and again it went Camelot’s way as Caolan picked the ball out of the back and this time created his own space to run past the opposition to score. 10-0.

After the break the game followed a similar pattern, and once again it was a scrum that created the next scoring opportunity. Despite being a Hammers put-in, some strong pushing from the pack allowed Caolan to nip in quicker than his opposing scrum-half to steal the ball, pop it out to James Norman who was off on his way to score before anyone had a chance to do anything about it.

The opposition defence was now under a lot of pressure. A Camelot clearance was hunted down by the Backs, forcing the defence out of play, five metres from their own try line. From the free pass Thomas went on a surging run, thwarted just short of the line, Freddie was in support to receive the pass and dive over the line to complete a superb morning of rugby, with the Camelot defensive tryline untouched all day.

The morning finished with Hammers B taking on Harlequins B, and for Camelot a journey back home across London,. Mission accomplished.

FT: Hamersmith & Fulham A 0-20 Camelot
Tries: Rocket 2, Caolan, Freddie