Harrogate Festival

Team: Luke, Arran, Will N, Will H, Charlie, Ollie, Joe, Travis, Robbie, Barney.
Ties: Arran, Barney and Ollie

Playing an usual festival structure our day was determined by two close losses against well trained opposition in our first two games. After the two games we went straight into a playoff which we didn't win.

The U9 defence all morning was excellent, epitomised by a fantastic Arran tackle that took the breath away from the watching parents, as well as the player that went to ground. Barney and Charlie made a number of very effective tackles, backed up with great contributions from Will H, Luke, Robbie and Ollie. We regularly turned over the ball with the 6 tackle rule.

In attack the defending teams advanced very quickly and we struggled at times to find solutions to play against their line speed. Some strong runs by Ollie, Robbie, Charlie, Barney, Will N, Travis, Joe and Arran put us in good positions, but we need to further improve our support play to open up opportunities and space.

One passage of play between Barney, Charlie, Joe and Arran showed what we are capable of: consecutive offloads made possible with close support which opened up the game.

Narrow pitches were a factor in our bunching and lack of width, but we're far from unique in minis rugby. We'll work on this in training!

Personally I find one of the best parts of these tournaments is the opportunity for the team to to spend time together and get to know each other further.

So a number of positives and we mustn't forget that this is our first season together. Most of the teams we played today have been playing together for nearly 4 years. If we continue to grow as well together as we have done so far this season (from scratch) imagine what the Kendal U12s will be like in 2017 :)

Thank you to all players and parents for making the commitment to play a rugby festival a distance away and on mother’s day.

Player of day: Charlie for an awesome display both in attack and defence.

Good effort everyone and see you for training on Sunday.

Coach Andrew.

P.S Please share your photos from the day!