Resilience and Teamwork on Display in Thrilling Rugby Fixtures

U9 Rugby Festival

On Tuesday afternoon the U9 boys competed in their first contact rugby festival of the term at RGS The Grange. The boys worked extremely hard all afternoon and bonded as a team through their hard work and dedication in matches against Winterfold, Blue Coat and The Croft. It was great to see several committed tackles being made by Joshy and Cassian in particular and strong, powerful running and try-scoring from Bruce. Rupert and Isaac contributed well with excellent passing, offloading and decision-making skills in possession whilst Thomas made superb progress throughout the afternoon and carried the ball especially well in the matches with Blue Coat and The Croft. Mr Hodgkins was extremely proud of all of the boys’ efforts and progress in their first experience of contact rugby matches.

Our Under 10 Boys side showed an abundance of resilience and skill this week in their first two fixtures of the term. On Monday, they played a strong Blue Coat side, matching them try for try in the first half. Charles H and Jack J made some penetrating runs, whilst Louis Y and Harry J were regularly winning the ball for their side at the breakdown. A few missed tackles in the second half saw the scoreline widen and the game got away from the boys towards the end.

The match on Wednesday, at home to RGS, was going to be a true test of their ability to bounce back and put into practice the break-down training that they had undertaken between the matches. RGS got off to a good start, scoring a couple of early tries, however, King’s Hawford quickly replied with a brace of their own. The match was truly end-to-end with some combative tackling and contact. The boys deserve a great deal of credit for the style of rugby they played in attack, punching hard into the opposition’s defensive line and looking to find space out wide. The Hawford defensive wall was robust and the whole side played their part in the defensive effort. All the boys played well, but special praise should go to Will G who showed a great deal of promise in his first competitive game of rugby.

U11 Rugby vs Blue Coat and RGS The Grange

On Wednesday afternoon the U11 boys kickstarted their rugby term with some highly competitive fixtures against Blue Coat and RGS The Grange in a triangular event hosted by the latter. Mr Hodgkins’s team played with commitment, hard work and impressive athleticism throughout both matches. In possession, the team looked strong and were able to score several tries thanks to powerful carries from Ben as well as superb speed and clever finishes from Jude, Noah and George PW. Out of possession, Finn, Nayel, Alex, George C and Charles all showed impressive bravery and commitment to win tackles in key areas. One area that was identified for further development was being less hesitant at the breakdown and the boys put this into practice much more consistently in their second match against RGS The Grange. A special mention should go to George PW who, in his school debut (and first-ever rugby match) was truly outstanding in both attack and defence. He demonstrated superb athleticism when carrying the ball and made several try-saving tackles in defence.