Parents/Players/Coaches – Belated entry – Al Ain 7s Tournament – 6-7 Nov 09.
Before I get into this weekend’s activities, I must say it was remiss of me not to mention a significant event that took place at the Al Ain Tournament. Along with the mentions in despatches bestowed upon Molly Maddocks in my last report, her efforts were also noticed, and reported on by the referees of the games that Molly played in. As a result, Molly was voted the “Player of the Tournament”, and was awarded the trophy accordingly. Molly, may I on behalf of, all coaches/parents/players, whole heartedly, congratulate you on this significant achievement, well done.
ADHRC U12 – Tournament – 13-14 Nov 09.
An initial squad of 18 selected, captained by Harry Seward was soon depleted to 16 with 1 late withdrawal and a late bout of illness. In addition to the injuries to Thomas & Tijn last week in Al Ain, we were distinctly lacking in the forward element. This did not in any way deter the players available to contest this tournament, and contest they did.
A competition spread over 2 days, this was another marathon event, in a league of five reduced to four as Sharjah failed to show. First up for us were Hurricanes I, a strong well drilled outfit that produced fairly even match resulting in a 5 all draw, our try scored by Daniel. This is a match we perhaps could have won as there were a couple of squandered chances. The forwards were in most cases a match for the opposition pack; our backs were apprehensive at going forward in attack and allowed the opposition a little too much space in defence. Observations from this game were for all to apply greater pressure on the opposition and contest harder for possession.
Exiles II followed, this was a battle that ended in a no score draw, and to be honest, this was a fair reflection of the game. Strange from the previous week in Al Ain when we were running in tries with confidence, one after the other. Although a no score draw, this was a game full of action at both ends of the pitch. Our boys & girls contested possession with greater passion and were close to breaking the deadlock on more than one occasion. Tackling was the saviour of the day from the usual suspects and there was excellent use of the “Hand-Off”, practiced the previous evening at the Al Yasmina School training session, facilitated by Lesley Henderson.
Against Kuwait, we were beginning to play as a team, dominating in the tight, loose and open. The forwards had a field day in the scrum, line-out, and rampaged through the Kuwait defence almost at will. The game was decided by 2 tries in our favour, scored by Harry & Ben. With confidence growing, we still lacked penetration in the back division, thus resulting in a forward dominated game. This completed the activities for day 1, where we finished in 2nd place in our league, due to play the second place from the B league (Q/Final) early in the afternoon, day 2. Molly picked up a bang on the head whilst being tackled, early concern for the next day.
Arabian Knights were the opponents in the first game of day 2 (Q/Final), again a very tight game well contested by both sides. Our pack had met its match, particularly in the scrum, resulting in a lack of possession on our part. Defensively we were sound in most areas, and strong enough to hold the Knights out. It was in attack we lacked straight running lines, supporting the player with the ball; this made life very difficult for ourselves. This game could have been easily put to bed with cool, calm, well communicated and controlled basic rugby. The final result was a win for us by an individual try, scored by Jacob.
Through to the S/Final, we faced Hurricanes I, who we had played and drawn with the previous day. Our squad beginning to feel the effects of 2 weekends worth of Rugby, began to feel the pace. We were out matched in the set piece (scrum/line-out) and beaten for speed out wide, made worse by missed tackles. Injuries to Jacob, which resulted in him leaving the pitch on a stretcher, Daniel, Harry, Molly & Oakley, severely dented our chances of progressing in the competition. The final result was a defeat by 3 tries to nil.
In summary, the coaches are pleased with progress in most areas, we all still have some hard work ahead, if we want to be in contention for both the league final later this year and contest all other competitions we enter. Be assured, there were some exceptional individual performances over the weekend and you should all be proud of your achievements.
Parish Notices
Essential Reading:
All players to read that attached doc from Jerry.
Fitness Training – Tue 17 Nov 09
Cancelled to allow you to re-charge your batteries, expect a hard session on Thu at Rugby training.
Marshalls:
Marianne Kennedy, Megan Seward, Sybie Van Der Spuy, Desiree & Tijn Reef, Lesley Henderson, Thomas Mason, David Taylor, Lynda Conchie (U16) & Gillian Taylor (U7):
All parents/players/coaches are extremely grateful to you for your efforts, not only for stepping in to the breech and volunteering your services in fairly short order, but to compliment you in the manner that you marshalled all activities of the U12 competition, with the minimum of fuss and with an element of panache and style. In fact, your efforts were commented on by Ian the controller of the event, a big thank you from us all.
Provision of Accommodation for Touring Teams:
Marianne Kennedy & Kelly Duecker.
I am aware that you both provided accommodation for members of the Russian touring side that played in the ADHRC tournament. I know that this did not directly impact on the U12s, but I thought that all should be aware of your generosity in the provision of accommodation for touring players, without which, they may not have been able to attend, thank you.
Medical Cover:
Kelly Duecker
Kelly, I am also aware that you provided medical cover for the whole tournament, I have no doubt that that you have been thanked for your efforts, I just wanted to make sure that all U12 personnel were aware of your contribution to the whole event, and I thank you on their behalf.
Steve Henderson
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