Saturday 2nd April saw a gathering of all under 16 Academy teams from the premiership clubs at Warwick University. Four of our Kendal players were represented in the two Falcons teams: Reuben Dyer, Reuben Parsons, Ben O’Halloran and Will Meaden. Each team playing two back-to-back games.
The afternoon began with glorious sunshine for Will’s game against the Leicester Tigers. The Falcons managed to retain most of the possession during the 40 minute game, with Will scoring two tries. The first, after 5 minutes, was scored from a grubber from the scrum half through the Tigers’ line which Will scooped up to score in the corner. In the 24th minute he scored his second equally impressive try when the ball went loose near the half-way line. He took it on the bounce and managed to outpace the Tigers down the right-side wing, running it in from around 60 metres.
The Northampton Saints game was very tough and Falcons did well to notch up their 25 points to the Saints’ 35. The Saints had giants in their pack and did dominate for most of the game but the Falcons played with spirit, keeping the ball alive when they had possession.
By the time our other lads stepped up to play the Exeter Chiefs it had started to snow, but it thankfully eased off as the game began. The game was played with huge intensity and was a fairly even struggle in the opening minutes. Reuben P made a number of dominant tackles and the Chiefs were pushed back by the relentless pressure. Ben O’Halloran showed his pace, scoring a try out wide from a line out. In the last 5 minutes of the game Reuben D managed to score two tries, running good support lines from a tap and go and a line-break following an interception near the half-way line. The Falcons open, expansive rugby and ability to keep the ball alive were reflected in the 40-10 score line.
The sun reappeared for the start of the game against Harlequins but this was the toughest game of the four. Quins were a quality team and they ran in 7 tries, but it wasn’t all one-sided. Falcons managed three tries, including a fantastic finish by Ben, who beat 5 players to score. Final score 35-15.