Old Colfeians Match Reports

Old Colfe Festival 10th March 2019 – Dragons Match Report

Weather looks iffy… winds were strong….tents were blown away…..Hard to see the pitch lines…..Cones weren’t staying still

But the Dragons (aka the Old Whitgiftian team 2) were ready to go! After a couple of boys couldn’t make it due to sickness and injury we were lucky that a couple of extras turned up (Damian wasn’t happy, you need to respond to Pitchero or face his wrath!).

We had 4 games, 11 players and it wasn’t raining, the excel spreadsheet with subs was useless because the boys had changed slightly so I had to revert to a pen to remember who had been subbed in each game (its pretty hard in the heat of the matches to remember who has played and who hasn’t) as a Team we always try and get all the players on the pitch equally but its not an exact science.

According to the festival guide we had 4 games but as we have learnt from previous outings they don’t always happen, it was a really well organised festival with some of the host club members making sure the teams and ref’s were ready. Our first game was the first on the pitch, and it was nice to have one of the other OW teams on the pitch next to us (and the third less than 100 metres away), the boys like supporting their mates and as always did this without any prompting.

Game 1 – Dragons vs Cranbrook, not a team we had played before (I don’t think) and after a quick start which felt equally matched, the boys got back into competitive play quickly. Its been quite a low festival season so far and I think a few of us coaches weren’t sure how “match ready” the boys would be. I’m glad to say they smashed it! With a 3 – 1 score, Louis, Freddie and Bob all scoring.

Game 2 – Dragons vs Sidcup (a team we have played a few times, including tour last year)
Sidcup are a nice team, and I think have been pretty evenly matched with us in the past. This was a tighter game, but the Dragons weren’t letting Sidcup make any ground even when they had possession. Tries scored by Malachi and Louis final score 2-0

Game 3 –Dragons vs Bromley
Again a strong team who we have played in the past, but the boys were unstoppable. We did not let them make any ground when they had the ball….. Lovely tries from Louis, Destin (aka Mr Unstoppable) and Cyprian – only played rugby for a month!
Game 4 – Dragons vs Beckenham
Matt and I had seen this team play (Matt in fact had ref’d one of their games and they had a good team and two stand out players who were scoring tries all morning. So we thought this would be the toughest game for us). At this stage the sun had come out and we were unstoppable…. With tries from Bob, Tyler (x2), Destin and Cyprien, (Bob did appear to score a second try but he told me that it was disallowed because he went into touch – Ref didn’t see but after he has put the ball down there were comments from the other teams parents so the try wasn’t allowed) – Ref’s decision in final so we’ll have to take this as a 5-0 win.

Matt and I were super proud of the team, they played brilliantly together, tacking like monsters, Cyprien took a fair few boys into touch, Tyler, Finn, Freddie, James, William and Louis didn’t stop…. Tackle, tackle, tackle, tackle… Malachi and Cyprien scored their first Festival tries WOOP WOOP!! Setting the standard high for the future. Harry and William positioned themselves well and passed, with some pivotal tackles. All of the boys, got in the way of the opposition, which is quite different from last year when they were happy to let the other teams score and then just tried to win by scoring more!

Men of the Match – shared between Cyprien and Destin, Cyprien played a big part in the game, scoring tries and doing more than his fair share of tackles, he is a great addition to the u10’s and we are very glad he is in the dragons! Destin also had a great morning, in the first game he was picked up and dumped by a boy at least twice his size and still faced up to him about 2 minutes later. Destin is practically unstoppable, he manages to escape from being tackled by multiple players and then either passes or runs and scores.

As a team we couldn’t have asked for much more from the team, other than stopping that first opposition try ;) they played brilliantly as a team, communicated well, passed, tackled, supported each other and were throughout the day respectful of the ref’s decision and the opposition. Speaking to Malachi’s dad in one of the breaks he mentioned how welcome Malachi felt when he joined the OW’s and I hope that is something all of our new players and parents feel. Of course we want to win, but the most important thing for all of the coaches is that the kids have fun, learn, feel safe and are challenged. As Bob’s dad I hope the friendships he makes now with his rugby mates last his lifetime.

Thanks to all of the boys and parents for being such good sports! If you know of any other boys (or girls) we’d be very happy to welcome them in.
Ps if you have any photos, please can you share them with the coaches, we’d like to put together a calendar at the end of the year and we don’t manage to take photos of all of the kids and games.

Old Colfeians match report - Horsemen of the Apocalype

Squad – Claude, Jayden, Seb, Alfie, Jaxson, Sam, Thomas K, Rhian, Michel, Theo and Daniel.
Coaches (in the loosest sense of the word!)– Damian and Yannick

The Horsemen v Old Elthamians
We ventured out to our first Festival in a very, very long time on Sunday at Old Colfeians. Our appointed kick off time was 10am and at 9.57am we were still short 4 players (and hence short for a full team) and short a Coach. This year’s birthday present suggestion for kids to give to their mums and dads is a giant alarm clock that will awake the dead! In any case we had a team just in time for kick off but were unable to have a team warm up. That proved fatal in our first game.

First up we had our nemesis team, Old Elthamians, who we have had some real battles with in the past season or two having won, lost and drawn against them in prior meetings. We started badly as, although we were making lots of tackles, we were bunching quite a bit in defence. This meant that we relied a lot on Jaxson sweeping up players coming around our defensive line. We did tackle very well with Daniel, Seb, Sam, Claude and Jayden stopping their two big runners in the middle of the pitch and Theo and Thomas K stopping runners coming around the edge of our defensive line. In attack, we made yards with Rhian passing well but when Rhian was not passing our passing was X Certificate stuff with balls passed from scrums or rucks too quickly – we seemed to forget it was wet, the ball was slippy and our hands covered in mud - or aimed at ankles or random points behind the passer. We do need to try to get to the floor rather than trying to make miracle passes and rely on the nearest player to ruck over quickly so we get good, quick ball for Rhian to pass. LEAVE THE BALL FOR RHIAN. On several occasions when we were giving up yards we stole the ball in contact (thanks Theo, Jaxson and Sam). Michel was making a right nuisance of himself forcing Elthamians runners to check and making them an easy target for the follow up tackler. We had a few runs that fell just short of a score from Alfie and Thomas K, with the absence of anything resembling an identifiable side line proving a challenge and costing us turnover ball on a couple of occasions. With 30 seconds to go we looked ok for a hard earned draw against strong opposition but then with our put in to a scrum, we passed the ball too fast and too low in the expectation that Jaxson could perform gymnastics at the speed of light with the result we had a scrum against us near our line, and having bunched in defence after the first run from the scrum, Elthamians found room on the outside to score in the dying seconds.

Moral of the story – Everyone needs to pass the ball sympathetically – we actually want our team mates to catch it not see how fast you can ping the ball in their general direction!

The Horsemen v Gravesend
Poor Gravesend. The Horsemen had to play two games in a row and were still very annoyed about losing the Elthamians game and really made Gravesend pay. Gravesend started with the ball but wished they hadn’t as Michel and Jayden tore into them. Jayden’s tackling was a revelation throughout the Festival. His tackling round the opposition players’ legs was phenomenal and absolutely brilliant – everyone else take note! Anyway, we continued to defend really well with some big tackles and scored regularly through Theo, Alfie, Thomas, Sam and Jaxson. In attack pretty much everyone had a run with Claude making some powerful runs (nice to see) and Daniel bull dozing his way forwards (and not losing the ball in contact – well done you have cracked it). Michel and Rhian were both real pests in this game and made life very hard for Gravesend. Seb’s support play was great and got us a try and all was well with the world. Final score – A lot v 1.

Moral of the story – If we all tackle like Jayden we will be unstoppable!

The Horsemen v Old Alleynians
I had refereed Old Alleynians and they were well drilled and had some big lads together with a couple of quite pacy players. The match was a cracker with us going down a try after missing 5 tackles on one of their big guys who ran diagonally from the middle to the corner brushing off one not quite committed tackle after another. However, we soon got back into the match after Alfie woke up and decided to treat us to one of his mazy stepping runs with some afterburner speed one he had beaten most of the Alleynians players twice. Our defence was getting better but still with too much bunching and too many players being drawn in to tackle the couple of big Alleynians players. Daniel and Rhian were really solid in the middle while Seb’s passing improved and the rucking from Claude and Sam was really good. We then went a second try down before Thomas K got a try back. Highlights of the game were Michel’s non stop chasing, harrying and tackling, Jayden’s leg tackling and Alfie’s block buster tackle on their big player where he stopped him dead and drove him back 5 metres at speed. Jaxson was again excellent as our last line of defence and we earned a good 2-2 draw that except for the absence of side lines could have been a good clean win. Theo was our best player in this game with non stopping hard running forward.

Moral of the story – If you don’t have special glasses with which you can see the invisible side lines then cut back inside.

The Horsemen v Westcombe Park
This was a nice straightforward win despite starting with most of our star players on the bench. We scored straight from the kick off with Jaxson scoring a long range ‘stop me if you think you are hard enough’ direct running try. This annoyed Jaxson as we had agreed before this match that scorers would be substituted. We then scored a second via Sam who also came off. The game then settled into a kind of stalemate with defences on top before Westcombe sneaked one try back. We did score a third try but our players then persuaded the referee to disallow their own try as the ball had been grounded short of the near invisible try line. I love the honesty of the players and fair play to them for the fair play on show. This was a good game from all the players and I cannot single out anyone – Claude, Alfie, Seb, Jayden, Theo, Daniel (still not losing the ball in contact and getting passes away now too!) and Rhian were all great. A nice 2-1 win that was not as close as it looks.

Moral of the story – Seb, Alfie and Michel supported the runner non stop in the last two games and received no passes – we need to pass to the support runners as often they have a great chance to score.

Player of the day – Close to the award were Theo and Jayden but winner for his tackle completion rate, ball stripping and pace in attack was Jaxson.

Warriors Match Report from Old Colfeians Festival

The Old Whits Warriors consisted of:

Malachi B
Noah BM
Tom C
Charles H de C
Max L
Zachariah O
Sam P
Akash R
Ronnie R
Cameron T
Tommy T

As I watched two Old Colfeians tents launched across the rugby pitches and through the fences of the neighbouring gardens I could tell it was a day not to make long passes or use our new tent. Coaching insight at its best.

Game 1- v Old Beccehamians

First up was against a well drilled team who were warmed up and ready from the off and took the one chance they had very well and then defended superbly, well almost..... The pressure of Charles tackling and running well, complimenting the skill sets of Max (both boys are natural athletes) kept the team ticking over as both have good engines and really do the hard yards. When we used the space out wide and actually completed two passes for the first time Noah scored a lovely try. The game was nearly won at the end with Cameron scoring in the corner only for the TMO to rule his foot was in touch. Reminiscent of the 2007 World Cup final England v South Africa Mark Cueto “disallowed try”. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask.

Old Whits 1-1 Old Beccehamians

Game 2- v Old Dartfordians

With the first game under our belt the boys became more confident and remembered how to ruck. Tom C. in the thick of it and relishing every opposition knock-on which meant he could have yet another scrum. Sam really carried the ball well on numerous occasions running straight, taking the contact and laying the ball back so that the speed, strength and angle of Zachariah’s running cut through the opposition and the team (Zachariah) scored three really well worked tries. Akash was a constant threat around the fringes with his low centre of gravity making vital yards when it mattered.

Old Whits 3-0 Old Darfordians

Game 3 - v Tunbridge Wells

I was under the impression that the Guillotine was consigned to history having last been used in 1977. I was clearly mistaken as the opposition and more importantly the referee wasn’t aware of that fact. Unfortunately the oppositions persistent neck tackling upset the boys and we went 2-0 down half way through the game. Although in fairness we didn’t help ourselves by constantly throwing the ball away rather than keeping hold of it. We did score a good try by upping the physicality and running straight, smashing into the competition and continuing to pump our legs in the tackle. As the game neared the end we finished the stronger and it looked like we would get a draw at the very least. Sadly it was not to be and time ran out as did “elite coach Tom” onto the pitch to help Max from the field of play and to politely point out to the referee that the re-start should surely be an Old Whits ball having had yet another OW’s players head removed. All credit goes to the boys who showed great character and discipline in the face of the constant high neck tackles. Good to see Max was ok and got straight back into the fray for our final game having had a visit to the medical centre where his head was successfully re-attached.

Old Whits 1-2 Tonbridge Wells

Game 4 - v Sevenoaks

The boys fresh from the carnage of the Somme were fired up and those left standing were raring to go. Ironically this was probably the best team we played. We were really down to the bare 8 probably more like 7, as injuries, illness and cold had taken their toll. For some I suspect the rot had started a little earlier when bedroom curtains were opened. Solid defensive and destructive tackling as always from Tommy “the iron curtain” T ably assisted by Ronnie “the (ball) ripper” Reeves halted the opposition in their tracks and when we turned the ball over we used it really well and made the most of Cameron and Noah’s speed out wide attacking the space scoring two great tries.

Old Whits 2-0 Sevenoaks

P4 W2 D1 L1 F 7 A 3

All the boys did well and the games were close, although with more game time as a team that will hopefully help restore my finger nail growth. When the boys got the ball out wide and attacked the space we scored on numerous occasions as we have such pace in the squad. The over-riding feeling and observation was that the boys were not battle/match hardened, not their fault and this tournament will be good preparation for next weeks festival. All in all a good day, thank you as ever to the parents and support we receive and encouragement from our fellow team-mates and coaches. A special mention goes to Malachi whose dad drove him up from Portsmouth on Sunday morning and unfortunately Malachi was unable to play as he has been unwell all weekend. We all wish you a speedy recovery Malachi and hope you are able to play next week.

Player of the day:

Zachariah for his pace, strength, angle of running and his ferocious counter-rucking. A man of few words but he plays like we all wish we could and is already an inspiration and talisman for the team. Very well done.

Good things:

Rucking.
Making two passes. Need to make it three then four.
Keeping a fairly straight line in attack and defence.
Excellent tries using the width. Only one try was really “route one”.
Discipline.
Teamwork.
Effort.
Respect.

Things to work on:

Run straight not sideways or backwards (GO FORWARD) if no space then...
Take the tackle and keep pumping the legs (CONTACT)then...
Keep hold of the ball in contact (RETENTION) then...
Support the man with the ball (SUPPORT) then...
Pick up and pass from the back of a ruck quickly (RECYCLE QUICKLY) then...
Pass the ball out wide when running forward (PASS) then...
Attack the space created (RUN INTO SPACE)then....
Score (TRY) then...

Run back and do it all over again with a big smile on your face.

Coaches Simon & Tom

WARM CLOTHES REQUEST. Please all parents, guardians, uncles, aunts, grandparents etc. make sure all the boys have enough warm weather clothing for rugby and especially festivals. On Sunday some of the boys were cold which didn’t help.