Back on track - 7's anyone?

Felsted U16 'A' rugby v Norwich School

Result - won 26-12

Tries - Seager, Hutchinson, Sellers, Paulin

Conversions - Hutchinson

Penalties

Man of the Match -

On Saturday, the season finished with a victory over Norwich, by 26 points to 12.  In truth, we probably should have won by more, but there were some good moments, and it was very satisfying to finish on a winning note.  The frustration of defeat at Wymondham lingered a bit, but ultimately, the side can be very proud of a record that reads Played 10, Won 8, Drawn 1, Lost 1, and with the B team also winning (43-14, with a Marcus Joyce hat trick), the Under 16 club only lost two games out of 17 all season, which is a fantastic record.

The game on Saturday began with us applying pressure to the Norwich line, and after a couple of close calls, James Seager picked up from the base of the scrum, and dummied his way over.  Rory Hutchinson converted, with Mr Bury quicker to get the flag up than last week’s touch judge!  The game became littered with knock ons, and with the error count high on both sides it took another twenty minutes before we added a second try, this time seeing Rory Hutchinson going over, after a dummy switch in the centre, with him also adding the conversion.  One problem that the side has faced has been maintaining the intensity throughout a game, and errors from the kick off created a platform from which Norwich were able to score just before the break, to leave the game still alive at 14-5. 

Straight after the break, a scrum in the centre of the field was used to create space for Miles Singleton, who fed Max Paulin, allowing him to race in under the posts, to put us in a comfortable position again.  With Norwich still playing hard, and a couple of their players having first team experience, it was not easy, and the lack of fluency hampered our attempts to really kill the game off.  When they were then able to capitalise on a quick penalty, and turn over ball, to bring the score back to 21-12, the last ten minutes looked challenging.  However, Adam Sellers picked up his second interception try in consecutive matches, and scored the last try of the season to finish the game at 26-12.  Norwich kept attacking, but this time the defence was secure.

End of term report – it was a pleasure to work with a well motivated, talented squad, both A and B team.  The performance against Gresham’s was definitely the highlight of the season, and the mid-season break did not help our attempts to regain that fluency.  As a group of players, they still have much to learn, but that is what is so encouraging, because there is plenty of room for further development and improvement, as individuals, and as a group, in the coming years. 

Gutted!

Felsted Rugby U16 'A' v Wymondham College

Result - lost 20-22

Tries - Seager, McLaren, Sellers

Conversions - Hutchinson

Penalties - Hutchinson

Unfortunately, the unbeaten run of the Under 16s came to a very narrow end on Saturday at Wymondham.  The final kick of the game was a penalty to give us a 23-22 win, but this time Rory Hutchinson’s boot could not give us the game, and the kick was tantalisingly close to the left hand post.  Some thought it was over, but the referee ruled (rightly, I think) that the kick missed, and Wymondham had hung on for a 22-20 victory. 

It was a very frustrating afternoon, because, despite the obvious talent in their side, we had plenty of opportunity to make the game safe, but a high error count, perhaps reflecting nerves from the players, knowing how much this game would mean, hit us badly.  Also, our discipline cracked, and we were unable to work with the referee.  As the game wore on, this became an increasingly big issue, and key penalties were conceded by players who ignored the fact that commenting on the decision making was not helping our cause.

There were some highlights – a great interception try from Adam Sellers, Angus McLaren getting a score, having come in to replace the promoted James Halfhide, and a very good score from James Seager after we took a scrum against the head near their line.  Also, some of the scrambling defence in the last ten minutes was of the very highest quality, but the fact that we were scrambling shows that we were not quite as controlled in the first phase as we needed to be, and all three of their tries were the result of errors on our part. 

There is much that we can learn from this result, and it is important that the players do see ways to improve.  If they do, Norwich will not know what hit them this Saturday, as the season finishes with a home fixture, 2.15pm kick off.  I hope to see many of you there.

Unfortunately, having been largely injury free as a squad, we have lost Bertie Wells, who has had a really impressive season at centre, after picking up a wrist injury.  We will miss his physical presence next Saturday, but I am sure that the lads will be determined to get a win in their last game regardless.

As usual, a few clips from the game

Line out

Rory's line break

Ruck ball

This is the big one!

Felsted Rugby U16 ‘A’ v Bishops Stortford College

Result: won 21-20

Tries: Seager, J Halfhide, Singleton

Cons: Hutchinson (3)

Pens:

Man of the Match: 

Review

Just a quick update from today’s match – a high quality match, played at great pace.

Felsted piled on the early pressure, but conceded a breakaway try, to trail 5-0 early on. Then James Seager went over from close range, under the posts, converted by Rory Hutchinson. The lead was short-lived, though, as BSC produced their best passage of play ending with their captain, and no 8 going over to put Bishop Stortford College 10-7 ahead. Felsted hit back again, though, as James Halfhide capitalised on a poor line out, to go over, again converted by Rory Hutchinson.

14-10 up at half time, and all to play for. From the restart, a scrum in midfield let Miles Singleton slip away down the blind side, and outstrip the cover. Hutchinson again converted, and Felsted at 21-10 were well on top. Pressure could and perhaps should have led to points, but Stortford kept on going, and it was another long range try that put them back in the game at 21-15. Again, Felsted started to dominate territory, but another loose ball with five minutes to go, and Stortford were away. Their centre completed a hat trick of break-away tries, and with an easy conversion to follow, and time running out, it seemed all over. However, the conversion was missed, and Felsted held onto their lead by the narrowest of margins. A brutal passage of play finished the game, as wave after wave of Stortford attacks was repelled by some brilliant defence.

Felsted hung on for a famous 21-20 victory – deserved, but extremely hard fought.

A few clips from the game are linked here

Knock on

Miles scores

Chance missed

Update

As you may have noticed, things have gone rather quiet on the Under 16 rugby front lately. The majority of the A team players were involved in the House Matches on Saturday, which saw a win for Elwyn’s, and a good number will be involved in the 1st and 2nd team matches against Berkhamsted on Saturday (away). This will allow us to focus on preparation for the B team players on Saturday, before focusing on the A team again on Monday, in readiness for the fixtures against Bishop Stortford College on Tuesday. These are crunch matches, with both schools being unbeaten at under 16 level at this stage of the season. Hopefully injuries and promotions will not hamper our chances too much!

Next fixtures

Tuesday 22nd November 2.15pm, home
Under 16a and b v Bishop Stortford College

RHS are sunk!

Felsted U16 A v RHS Holbrook (A)

Result: Won 10-48

Tries:

Cons:

Pens:

On Tuesday, we travelled down to a windy RHS Holbrook, in the hope of avenging last year’s extraordinary 41-39 loss.  On the back of an outstanding performance on Saturday, the confidence in the squad was very high, and within two minutes, a back row move down the right had put Dan Benson in for the opening try.  Soon after that a cross field kick from Rory Hutchinson was gathered by Max Paulin, and after a couple of phases of play, James Seager crossed on the left.  With Hutchinson on target again, the lead was already 14-0.  Unfortunately, with the game at our mercy, we produced some sloppy play, failing to retain possession, and allowing ourselves to lose the ball out of the back of a 5m scrum, resulting in a long range RHS counter attack.  Having kept this out, we struck back, with full back Miles Singleton breaking through from 30m out, to go under the posts (see video clip below), again converted. From the restart, again we seemed to relax, and allowed RHS to regain possession, and following a sequence of close drives, they crossed our line.  Frustration was growing, as a 21-5 lead, having played with the wind, was not a guarantee of success.  There was just time, though, for us to gather our thoughts, and strike back with a good try from Singleton on the wide right, to give us a 26-5 half time break.  With injury concerns to James Halfhide and Harry Robins, and a strong wind to contend with, we still needed to up our game.  Fortunately, this was achieved, and Adam Sellers scored after a good period of possession.  RHS did come back hard at this point, and scored after we conceded a penalty for handling on the ground.  The scrappy nature of the game (one example in the videos below) was not helped by a lack of clarity over what was allowed at the tackle area, and frustration could have got the better of us, but showing the greater mental steel that has been a feature this year, the boys struck back with three more tries into the wind, with Max Paulin touching down, after good continuity from a tap penalty, and Miles Singleton completing his second consecutive hat trick.  The game finished with a very well worked back row move (video below), which ended with Dan Benson scoring on the right. On reflection, it was a good game to win – away games are always a challenge, and conditions were not suited to fluent rugby.  But, the team was disappointed not to be able to reproduce the sustained excellence of Saturday, and ball retention, coordination in defence, and alertness to the situation are all areas that can be better.

Man of the Match: Ben Warner

It's a long way back to Norfolk!

Felsted U16 A v Greshams (A)

Result: Won 5-52

Tries:

Cons:

Pens:

Despite the long journey, Gresham’s (who had put 70 points on Framlingham last week) came out of the blocks brilliantly.  From the kick off, they attacked, with an intelligent kick, and then moved the ball quickly from the line out, to take an early lead.  However, in the next 15 minutes the boys put together their best rugby of the season to date, with a score from Ben Thompson, and then two tries for Miles Singleton, whose pace caused Gresham’s problems all afternoon.  The pace, and intensity of this period of play was really impressive.  As Gresham’s tried to launch a counter attack, the hostile defence of the Felsted boys forced their captain from the field, and as their attack was just snuffed out on the left, we attacked from our own line.  Hutchinson saw the space, and released Edwards, who in turn fed Singleton, who burst through a gap on the left, and having stepped the full back, seemed to be in under the posts.  Their centre just caught him, but Max Paulin was on hand to finish the try, and with Hutchinson adding his fourth conversion, we turned round 28-5 up. In the second half, the intensity dropped slightly, but the aggressive defence and continuity remained very impressive, and there were further tries for Hutchinson (with a chip and chase), Singleton, completing his hat trick, Thompson, once again in excellent support, and Max Paulin finishing things off.  The whole squad of 21 played their part, and the ferocity of the tackling and scrummaging, along with the desire to keep the ball alive whenever possible made this a torrid afternoon for Gresham’s. I am grateful to George Bentley who has managed to capture some of the key parts of the match on video.  This was filmed on the PE Dept iPad, so I apologise for the lack of zoom.

Man of the Match: Bertie Wells

Still unbeaten - just!

Felsted U16 A v  Bishop's Stortford High School

Result: 17 - 17

Tries:

Cons:

Pens:

The boys did well in a tough fixture, with the added pressure of being away and without two key players (James Seager was injured, James Halfhide selected for the 1st XV).  In fact, when time seemed to be up, two well worked tries for Max Paulin, plus 7 points from the boot of Rory Hutchinson seemed to have done enough for victory at 17-10.  Unfortunately, with Alex Ferguson no doubt smiling somewhere, the clock refused to stop, and in the dying moments, a converted try from Stortford saw them draw level.  This was a real test of character for the entire team, especially when things seemed to go against them at the death.  I have to make special mention of the boys who came on during the second half - Matt Hepburn, Harry Hitchcock and Sam Payne.  Despite these enforced changes the intensity, focus and commitment did not waver.  It is also with regret that I have to report Fergus Rogers' injury looks likely to rule him out until after half term.

Man of the Match:

Felsted U16 B v  Bishop's Stortford High School

Result: Won 37-0

Tries: Hitchcock 2, Payne 2, Hepburn, Seacombe, J Misell

Cons:

Pens:

At the start the match was very close contested with both forwards turning over the ball until we finally broke through the line. After that they started to deteriorate and we were able to put into action some great ambitious moves by backs and forwards alike, including a spectacular dummy that resulted in a try. After half time we clearly had the upper hand with tackles going in left right and centre. It was clear that our endurance won over theirs and in the end we came out with an optimal result. Special mention to Emil Benz, James Jarvis, George Bentley and Matt Hepburn for their spectacular runs.

Man of the Match: Sam Seacombe