U11 A Rugby Team Kicks Off Season with Impressive Skill

The Under 11 A team have made an extremely encouraging start to their rugby season with some dominant performances showing a pleasing levels of skill and resilience. 

The term started with a competitive triangular fixture with Blue Coat School and RGS The Grange. For a first competitive fixture the standard was incredibly high. The Hawford boys played some outstanding attacking rugby with Arthur O orchestrating the middle of the field backed up by the power of James B with the finesse and skill of Henry K and Oliver G. The mixture allowed the boys to put the two speed merchants Arthur A and Charles C into space out wide. The commitment of the boys in defense was outstanding but they struggled to maintain their defensive structure which gave us something to work on in future matches.

The next outing for the boys was a trip to compete in the Millfield Prep School Festival. As has been the case for last few years, we combined with King’s St Albans to create two KSW Under 11 teams. The Hawford boys rose to the occasion fantastically, they played with skill and determination throughout. A mention has to be made of the resilience shown by all the King’s Worcester Foundation boys as they coped admirably with the appalling weather conditions and continued to try and play attacking attractive rugby. It is difficult to mention individuals on such a day but two boys did shine. Finn M-P found his tackling boots in the B team festival, defending with impressive physicality and Harry G made huge strides in the A squad, showing great promise both in attack and defence.

The following week saw King’s Hawford take on King’s St Albans in a fiercely competitive fixture. Having played together the week before friendships were briefly forgotten as the two teams competed for King’s School Prep rugby bragging rights. The quality of rugby on offer was sensational with both teams scoring some very impressive tries. Yet again, King’s Hawford were indebted to Athur O who led from the front in all areas of the game. James B’s power around the breakdown was decisive, it allowed Hawford to control the ball and use the skill and pace of Charles C and Jude R to great effect. Finn M-P made his A team debut following his successful trip to Millfield, he made several key contributions and showed promise for the future.

The final match before the much awaited Cardiff Sports Tour was a fixture against Winterfold. This was a very keenly contested contest with both sides looking to move the ball wide to exploit the space out wide. The work done on defence over the first half term was evident as the structure was far better and they maintained their shape in the face of some excellent attacking rugby. Whilst the tries scored were impressive the undoubted highlight of the game was Charles C’s incredible cover tackle that drew praise from both sides of the touchline.

The rugby term will continue to gather pace after half term with a series and fixtures, a festival at Warwick School and the IAPS rugby tournament at Ratcliffe College.