The whole U7 group from Old Whitgiftians dealt with everything that the morning threw at them. A bit of organisational ambiguity, a high wind which was bitingly cold at times and some good teams across the pools were all dealt with with good humour and a bit of channelled aggression.

Whitgfitan Warlocks

Coaches - Nick K & Matt

Overall the team played some great rugby, linking up well as a team and scoring lots of tries. A bit of work to be done on their defensive line but that will improve over the next few weeks as they play more competitive matches with different members of the U7 group.

Raaj - made some fantastic runs and scored some blistering tries.

Stephanos - Always in support of his teammates and scored some great tries, some great defence as well.

Boaz - showed great pace running onto the ball and was always committed in defence.

Harry - some lovely jinking runs and committed tagging

William - great link up play and some lovely passing. Always available to his teammates and linked the play well.

Xavier - showed some clever running lines and some great passing (which incidentally is the opposite of how his father plays rugby!!)

Whitgiftian Warriors

Aidan Blewer - good communication & showed resilience to stay on for the final game after taking a stud to the shin. Rewarded with a try immediately afterwards.

Rosie Somers - confidently told teammates where to stand. Loved collecting tags, even with hefty opposition players running right at her.

Edwin Lipscombe - had some nice runs into space, stepping off both feet to score some top tries. Also, good passing of the ball to the chest and hands so that his team mates could carry on the attack.

Isa Zubair - excellent fast and direct runner, scored some tries from deep in our half. A good eye for space and some super tagging.

Tristan White - showed improved awareness of where the opposition was, tiptoeing up the touchline and scoring some good tries.

Kai Kazemi - try machine! Lovely change of direction to wrong-foot defence mixing ballet and rugby to score some great tries. He was excellent in defence, blitzing the ball carrier and causing chaos in the opposition ranks.

All players showed great improvement. Highlights for coach team were we could hear plenty of communication between them on restarts and general calling for the ball. Felt like all understood that passes had to be backwards and running should mainly be forwards. Very rare to see players standing offside, but this is an area for us to work on. Very pleased to see the captaincy move to a new player each match and for the captain to confidently lead the "3 cheers". Tags were handed back to the opposition. Good Teamwork & Sportsmanship & Respect.

The Supporters
Positive words of encouragement from the parents - no complaining heard by me. Horrible conditions of wind and cold weather, but support was constant and helped the players get through what could have been a miserable morning. Good Discipline.

The Coaches
I don't want too be too harsh on the organisers, but their disorganisation in terms of recording we had three teams present; pitch layout not matching the programme; only giving us two teams to play against meant that all coaches had to sort themselves out on the fly. It does show just how slick our tournament was in comparison. Good Teamwork.

In summary, dreadful conditions and fairly poor organisation, however, all came together and ensured Enjoyment was experienced by all.

Whitgiftian Wizards

Coaches - John and Mick.

Team, Cillian, Harry, Yusuf, Eliza, Joshua, Ralph and Jack.

Passing
Most consistently carried ball in two hands and when tagged quickly passed to a team mate. The support play has improved immensely. Identifying space. You can see them looking for and running into space out wide, however we also saw that some players looked for space close to the tagged player and attacked there which was very good.

Defence
Tagging has also really improved and they were all enthusiastic and committed. Forming a defensive wall etc was excellent. However as soon as play started the line broke up and there was space for the opposition everywhere. Going forward we could encourage them to hold the line in the middle of the pitch and the only obvious space would be between the outsides of our wall and the touchline. Offside was often an issue in defence and we must encourage them to get back in front of ball quickly.

The Wizards played really well and we saw many great tries and much exciting running rugby. For me the improvement in support play was most marked. They have all come on so much as individual players and in their teamwork and playing in this festival showed that. They clearly all had fun and enjoyed themselves. Their attitude and sportsmanship was excellent throughout. WELL DONE TO YOU ALL.