Away in Orkney

Boys did themselves proud today with a terrific performance in a tight, physical game. We travelled with 11 players, with unplaying Stuart joining still having his arm in a cast but an able ball boy; water boy and no shortage of advise; supported by Hugo Freeman (U15s) and Jake Thomson U13’s playing up and with a player from Orkney making it 14-a-side. 13:30 kick off on the main pitch in Kirkwall (where Orkney and played Alloa the day before) playing 4 x– 15 min sessions. Very pleasing to see a strong start (achilles heel for us in the past) and it was a very tight game. Tackling was generally good; rucking improved from last week (if a little late). Both teams were passing the ball well. Archie made an impressive low tackle on their largest player off a penalty but I could highlight a great piece of individual play from each and everyone at some point in the game. Isham at stand off mixed up the game well and certainly did his share of tackling. Adam, Jacob and Joseph have never made such strong positive runs as they did today and hopefully this will encourage them to get more involved in the future. Lewis G distributed well and made good decisions generally. Ryan was strong at centre growing into the game; Alex ran and tackled well. Jake was a master class at wing and deserved more than his 1 try. Hugo was immense – even when charging down a kick with his face! Brodie started slow but got into the game by the last period. We tried Dylan in a new position which offered a few good runs. Lewis positioning was good throughout and made a number of try saving tackles.

Orkney scored their first try after 12 minutes (converted) which was how it stood at the break. Close again in the second period with Orkney scoring first but we pulled 2 tries back in short succession. First driven over after a lineout by Hugo then a super runaway try down the wing from Jake – neither converted. One point in it at half time. We were the better team with the majority of the possession in the 3rd quarter but were caught twice with runaway tries when we had possession 5 m from their line. Small margins in rugby sometimes. Boys knuckled down in the 4th quarter – and tiredness was kicking in and when Hugo crashed over after a great kick to touch from a penalty followed by a lineout all hopes were raised. The comeback didn’t happen with Orkney holding on and indeed scoring their last with 5 mins to go. Final score 17-9 in a physical but well-tempered game. Very little difference between the teams – perhaps they were a little more structured in defence and marginally quicker at the breakdown. They had some big strong runners. Our hosts were very grateful for us coming all the way – few teams travel (which is 9 hours each way for an hour of play time).

What went well: Tackling; passing and commitment. Was pleased how we competed right from the start.
Things to work on: Learning the difference between off-loads and ‘throwing it away’; speed into the ruck and going lower, stronger. Defensive line (position and line speed).

Injuries: none but Jack and Dylan got winded; Hugo almost burst the ball with his nose! They all soldiered on.
Scorers: Hugo(2) and Jake. No conversions. Lewis G desperately unlucky by hitting the upright.
Captain: Dylan
Man of the match: Hugo Freeman

Overall a great weekend away and the boys were impeccably behaved most of the time. Well done to the parents to get everyone to Groats road at 5 in the morning; we actually left 3 minutes early. The 3 teams U13, U14 and U16 got on well, co-ordinating play lists on the bus. Even allowing some ‘sleep time’. We made it to Kirkwall after a fantastic ferry trip from Scrabster to Stromness sailing past the old man of Hoy in time to see the second half of the Orkney seniors game. After checking into the hotel we took a stroll along the high street and past the impressive Magnus Cathedral. Most chose to eat at a sausage n’ chips in preference to the hotel and we didn’t have far to see the 25 minute firework display (which had been delayed a week for our good fortunate). Joseph had an impressive nose bleed which didn’t stop him playing. I had learned some of the boys had never stayed in a hotel room without their parents before which added to the novelty of the weekend. Slow start to the morning, we checked out, walked into town where we all watched the remembrance service outside the cathedral – where the boys were complimented (all 40+ of them) for behaving well by one of the islanders. Then it was walking to the ground, play, shower, eat and start to head back on the bus at 15:15. Big trip seeing new things, with a lot of fun and most hoping they’ll be allowed a long lie in the morning!