DAY OF DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW MILTON U11s

It was an opportunity to give some players a run out who have missed the chance owing to the wet winter and cancellations. We also blooded some new players. It took a while for the players to wake up having travelled early on Sunday morning for a 9.30am kick off in Yateley, northeast Hampshire.

Unfortunately the combination of sleepy heads, hard ground and a new team saw the team lose the first two games against Winchester and Reading Abbey. However, in the second half of the second game, the players started to gel and put into practice the game plan. To be fair they only received the game plan 10 minutes before the first match!

The squad started understanding the plan and the way each other played by the third game and ran out comfortable winners against Tadley Tigers. The players soon started supporting each other and using the width of the pitch to stretch the opposition defence and create space. In the last match against Overton they had well and truly got it together and ran out comfortable winners again.

In the end it was a respectable performance. The players learned as the day went on as did the coaches. The parents simply froze on the sidelines, bless them!

It is New Milton rugby club’s policy to provide opportunities for all players to develop and enjoy opportunities to play competitive rugby. In that respect it was job done and we will have more strength in depth in the coming years. Well done to all players for getting up early, braving the cold and working hard to develop as a team during the tournament.

Team: Alex Baker; James Williams; Harvey Jefferies; Ethan Perry West; Thomas Sykes; Jack Lockyer; Thomas Belbin; Filippo Testa Hall; Simon Cooper; George Davies (Capt.); Ralph Mansfield.