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King's St Alban's
13 October
Sports Round Up Autumn Term Week 6
U8 Rugby Festival at King’s Hawford
In the first game, we came up against local side RGS The Grange. There was some excellent attacking rugby on show, with great running and tries from Bertie, George, and Matthew, who scored four! This was a great first game across the board, with everyone in high spirits.
In the second game, we came up against a strong RGS Springfield side. It was a low-scoring game, due to great defensive sets from both teams, especially from Jeramiah, who was quick off the line for those tags, and Rudy, who was seemingly everywhere in defence and working hard!
In the last game against Winterfold it was the opposite, being a high-scoring game due to excellent attacking rugby from both sides. There were amazing solo runs from Bertie and Matthew and Max scored an epic try down the wing, at which the crowd went wild!
U10 Rugby v Monmouth and Bromsgrove
U10A v Monmouth and Bromsgrove
The U10 As were excellent in all of Wednesday’s games, even with the torrential rain arriving halfway through. Louie captained the side in the first game against Bromsgrove Bs and there was great attacking rugby, with some excellent offloads and scores across the team, and Ben and Brody making some great line breaks. Even more pleasing were the defensive sets, with some excellent tackling being seen across the pitch from Harry, Louie, Arlo and Luca. This was transferred into the next game against Bromsgrove As. Great interplay across the team led to two scorching runs from Archie, which was then backed up by the team’s defence, where the boys showed a defensive masterclass, with Will B performing two try-saving tackles. The rain started pouring in the last game, which meant the boys had to work extra hard. There were some great defensive sets and hard work seen across the pitch. However, the rain seemed to favour Monmouth, who put in some great defensive sets of their own. It was a great day of rugby and the boys were in high spirits despite the rain. They continue to show clear improvement from week to week!
U10B v Monmouth and Bromsgrove
The U10Bs enjoyed their afternoon round-robin fixtures against two Bromsgrove teams and a strong Monmouth side. They started off very strongly, scoring a number of early tries through some strong running by Crispin and George, offloading at a good time to set up their teammates. Freddy’s confidence continues to grow on the rugby pitch and he is starting to believe in his own ability and can really drive his legs and use his power to get through the defence. The team continued their run of form into the next game, against a stronger Bromsgrove team. This match was a tough one, but the boys continued to work hard and demonstrate some fabulous rugby: Ché-David ran well with the ball and timed his passes brilliantly. In the last game of the day, the boys played against a very strong Monmouth side and looked like they had started to tire; the Monmouth team spotted a number of gaps in the KSA defence and used these to their advantage. Player of the Day has to be Uriah: he was absolutely everywhere in defence, making some brilliant tackles which saved KSA conceding a number of tries! He also impressed in attack, using his speed to run around the outside of his opposition, which led to some great solo tries. Well done, boys!
U11 Rugby v Monmouth
U11A v Monmouth
Following a good week of training, the boys took to a wet field on Wednesday against a well-drilled and powerful Monmouth team. There is a real strength in depth in this squad and a couple of illnesses and injuries to key players gave opportunities to others, which were grasped and enjoyed. In particular, Ethan, TJ and Henry, all recent newcomers to the School, stepped up, gave their all and played well. The game started at a fierce pace and did not really relent for 40 minutes. Our team, after a lot of coaching, are now starting to move the ball well and ask more questions of the opposition; our tackling has improved and few tackles were missed by both sides throughout the match. The game was played in great spirits and the commitment of our boys was excellent. There is now a real sense of ‘team’ amongst the boys and they are filled with the desire to do well, enjoy it and do it together! Pleasingly, the odd bit of bickering from previous matches was not seen. Captain Monty gave his all and led his troops with aplomb, while Reuben made intelligent decisions and looked dangerous on the ball. The boys went down by the odd try in seven in a superbly-fought game and their coach was very proud of them!
U11B v Monmouth
Mr Williams, Director of Rugby at the Senior School, came across and took the U11Bs for their match against Monmouth. He was super impressed with the standard of rugby, as Joel B led from the front with some strong carries and brilliant tackles in defence. Aaron and Jonas both stood out with their effort levels, being all over the pitch, making a number of great last-ditch tackles to save the opposition from scoring. We have worked on our offloading this week and this showed, with the boys using many offloads to get past their opposition. Joshua also impressed with his pace and determination to break through multiple tackles and get the KSA team up the pitch. It was great for Mr Williams to see the boys who he will be coaching next year and he is excited by the standard of rugby shown on Wednesday afternoon.
U11C v Monmouth
Seven Year Six boys took to the field against a strong C team from Monmouth School on Wednesday. Both teams made a quick start, with some great early tries from the boys. Monmouth quickly levelled the game with a couple of tries of their own, before a powerful run down the right wing led to Humphrey putting St Alban’s back into the lead. Monmouth were quick to respond and went into half time slightly ahead.
After losing a player just before half-time, the St Alban’s boys started to tire in the second half, which allowed Monmouth to score a few tries, thus taking the game out of reach. The boys tried hard as a team and Arslan and Jacob demonstrated fantastic effort, determination and commitment in both attack and defence. George showed good pace with the ball in hand, and Jasper and Isaac also showed that they have made steady progress since their first match of the year. Despite the loss, the match proved to be an excellent opportunity to highlight a couple of areas for development before the boys’ next match, which we will focus on in training.
U11 Rugby IAPS Festival at Rugby School
The boys were full of excitement on Friday morning on the way to Rugby School for the U11 Rugby IAPS festival. First up were a very strong Beachborough side, we started off slowly and conceded a few early tries. They were well organised and we struggled to compete with their strength in defence and we looked like we had ran out of ideas in attack. Next we played St Hugh’s, this is where the boys started to impress, they had forgotten the last game and started fresh. They were all making huge tackles, taking the ball with pace and we looked a real threat. This was one of those games which could have gone either way. Playing the strongest teams in the first two games, meant that we could get some real momentum going into the final play off game. The next two games of the group, we showed what a team we really are. All around the pitch we were fantastic. A slight criticism of the boys at half time in the first of these two games was that we were starting to become a little predictable. As soon as I said this the boys started to try different things that kept the opposition thinking. It came to the final game of the day, where third place from pool A played against third place in pool B. Once again, a brilliant match of rugby, two well organised and strong teams playing impressive rugby. We found ourselves two tries down at half time, the boys huddled round and this is what separates a good team and a great team. The character that all of the boys showed in the second half of the final game was everything I asked for. They turned the game on its head and finished the day with a hard thought win!
Ethan, Tom, Francis, Henry, Theo, Sam, Otto, Reuben, Joel, Monty, TJ you should all be proud of the way you represented the school and the rugby that you displayed. Special mentions to Monty who captained the side and demonstrated every attribute you ask for from a captain. A big well done to Reuben, who was the King’s St Alban’s player of the tournament. He was running great lines, making try saving tackles, very strong when ball carrying and picking good passes at the correct time.
U8 Hockey Festival at Winterfold
The U8 girls had wonderful afternoon over at Winterfold playing many local schools. This was a wonderful opportunity to play lots of hockey. The girls are now gaining an idea of where to go on the pitch and move forwards in a diamond shape. We now need to work on passing before we get tackled. We are back this Tuesday to hone our skills.
U10 & U11 Hockey v The Elms and Berkhampstead
Our girls enjoyed a round robin of games on Wednesday against The Elm’s and Berkhampstead. This was a good practice for the U11’s going to IAPS this week. With every game we see the girls showing progress in all aspects of their game. It was great to hear Lottie shouting ‘press’ to try and get her team organised on the self pass. Some good goals were scored during the afternoon. I was particularly impressed with the goal scored by Skye, good ball pace and from the top of the D.
Both teams won one and lost one. We were pleased with the tenacity of all our girls and the strong tackles that they have been working on.