THE U11S SPREAD THEIR WINGS FURTHER AFIELD AS MEANINGFUL LESSONS ARE TAKEN ON BOARD

The U11s travelled to St. Neots RFC (Cambs) last Sunday (November 21) where they were involved in a three way round robin tournament with fellow visitors Harpenden, and our playing complement of 26 players ensured that we were yet again able to field three teams, which entailed everyone getting maximum game time, writes Graeme Champion.

It was also great to hook up again with former EIRFC minis’ coach Mario Di Gregorio. Now responsible for coaching the St Neots U6s, he also excelled in the hospitality department by laying on ham and cheese croissants for the visiting coaches.

Not everyone, it seems, got their fair share of the culinary delights, and although the finer of suspicion was pointed at coach James, it was but a mere blip in the great scheme of things, as we anticipated a great morning of rugby despite the biting wind.

Although a combination of the elements, which chilled to the bone, and the long drive to Cambs, saw us caught cold in the initial games against two very well drilled Harpenden sides, who look to have come in leaps and bounds since we played them earlier in the season, as we were ruthlessly punished for every dropped ball or missed tackle.

Rugby is certainly a game to be played with your tails up, although the positives for EIRFC came in the form of an important learning curve which, hopefully, will stand the players in good stead for the future.

It also ensured that we were also well warmed up for our assignments against St Neots, and consequently Enfield shone, and fantastic running by James Brady who was always keen to run with the ball.

River Berry also took the cue by running a fantastic line off James Brady before going on to score, and Rosie John was also in a mood to assert herself, and although her ability to reach the try line was never in doubt, coach Leighton Thomas bemoaned the lack of support runners which should have been shadowing her.

Similar gritty determination was shown by William Lawlor, who channelled his frustration against Harpenden the correct way, by taking the game to them with some fantastic direct running which breached a compact defensive line on more than one occasion.

Mattie Yates, Oliver Champion, Archie Thomas and Jack Galea were the heartbeat of the defensive effort with some big tackles, and Adam Kail was also deserving of special praise in this area, following one particularly memorable try-saving tackle

Mollie Doran again gave a 100 per cent to the cause, and her some tremendous straight runs not only sucked in several defenders, but also freed up space for the support runners to successfully execute several try-scoring chances.

Coach Dave Russell said: “A great day was had by all and we take this into Christmas period of matches, and hope that the in-coming cold weather does not affect the progression of these young athletes, and the overall enjoyment the whole youth section is having since our much wanted and needed return to rugby life.”