Year 7 & 8 Rugby – 30.01.18

Just returned from a most pleasant and gratifying afternoon at Lymm High School with the Year 7 and 8 rugby teams.  Both teams lost against strong opposition (Lymm being one of the most renowned and successful rugby schools in the region over a number of years) but did themselves enormous credit.  Student teacher Mr Beaumont was a late stand-in for Mr Higginson and I haven’t as yet had the full de-brief, but from a distance the Year 8 game looked similar to my Year 7 encounter; lots and lots of very positive rugby, particularly the tackling and rucking on this occasion, but some unforced errors costing us at crucial times.

Both teams have the potential to do exceedingly well, even against opponents of this quality, but they need to train together more regularly and in greater numbers.  There is no doubt that we have the potential to compete with schools like Lymm but their boys will train for school and club several times a week.  Inevitably, they will develop a familiarity with each other and a knowledge / experience of the game that we cannot match without greater commitment.  The challenge is there, gents.

It was by far the best performance of the season for my Year 7 team this afternoon.  Had we been able to sustain our outstanding rugby beyond the first 15 minutes of the second half, then it might have been a different outcome.  In the end, we lost a very creditable 7-3.  All 15 boys acquitted themselves well today, it is simply a case of keeping focused for the whole 50 minutes (this, of course, comes with greater levels of fitness, which we need to work on as a squad).  We gifted Lymm at least 3 tries, 2 of which were scored straight from kick-offs after we’d scored ourselves!

Anyway, after a lengthy lay-off over Christmas and cancellations due to unplayable conditions, it was great to finally get our spring term fixtures under-way.  The boys certainly seemed to enjoy their rugby today and there are clear signs of progress.  Well done.  Hopefully, this performance will instil more confidence in the boys and lead to further improvement and more success this term.