U10's

Across the Chichester pitches swept a strong, burning breeze but despite plentiful pluck there wasn't much much luck blown in the direction of determined Warriors’ Under 10 A and B teams at the International Mini Rugby Series festival.
Given the supply of spirit, skill, dedication and pride shown by both sides, they were surely entitled to feel they should have finished higher than third and fifth in their respective tournaments.
Warriors conceded an early try and playing the second half uphill bombarded the Chippenham line, relentlessly forcing the opposition to concede a string of late penalties. Matthew Mason came within a metre of grabbing an equalising score, but the black and white defence managed to stand firm – all be it only just.
That defeat meant the Wimbledonian A team were left to contest the third place play-off against Westcombe Park. Neither side was able to produce a score in a torrid, exciting match that went to extra time. Westcombe began the game stronger, but as the contest wore on Warriors became ever more dominant and by the end seemed the only side likely to break the deadlock.
“We struggled with the starts of too many of our matches,” admitted head coach Roger Brosch, who was nevertheless delighted by the passion his team displayed throughout. Scrum half Jacob Whelan came desperately close to scoring the “golden” winning try in extra time after unrelenting Warriors pressure.
Jacob was over the line but last-ditch defending was enough to dislodge the ball as he sought the winning touch down. Both teams were exhausted at the final whistle, and while it would have been fitting for Warriors to finish the tour with a victory there was some consolation because they were awarded third place because of their superior performances in the group stages.
The A team made a flying start to the weekend with a magical display against Old Colfeians in their first fixture. Warriors were totally dominant in a well deserved 20 pts to 0 victory.
James Stott opened the scoring with a well taken first try and Matthew added a second by wriggling over just before half-time. Warriors’ forwards were always on top, winning at will opposition ball at scrums.
It wasn’t long before Ed Foxley, whose grandfather was a pupil at the Chichester High School where the festival was staged, raced over for Warriors’ third try. Jacob then completed a powerful individual score to secure a convincing victory.
By contrast the Under 10 B team suffered an awful start to the weekend as injuries to scrum half Rory Mortimer and the influential Max Thomas Mayes undermined their effort to beat Chippenham.
Max had given Warriors the perfect opening with an early try, but once the effects of the injuries began to take their toll Chippenham took full advantage. The Old Wimbledonian side made a series of brave try saving tackles before their line was breached and the opposition ran in a succession of tries to inflict a potentially demoralising 25-5 defeat.
Chippenham somehow managed to damage Warriors’ hopes in the A tournament as well. Despite having all the early territory in what proved a high quality contest the A team couldn’t find a way through.
The match finished in a frustrating nil-nil draw, James coming closest to scoring when he nearly went over in the corner for Warriors with the last move of the match. “On reflection our inability to win that match cost us dear because it was one we should have won and would have made it much easier for us to make the final,” said Head Coach Roger.
There was no arguing with the way Warriors finished their next match, a dramatic and vital 5-0 win over Fullerians that was settled by Jacob’s try with the last move of a thrilling match. The score was set up by Oliver Gestrin’s powerful drive after tour player's player award winner Dylan Maas and James made crucial try saving tackles.
The Under 10 B’s, meanwhile, responded magnificently to their opening defeat with a spirited 10-5 victory over Westcombe Park. It should have been a more convincing win because Maxime Berge crossed the poorly marked try line and strayed over the equally poorly marked deadball line before touching down for a well worked but frustratingly disallowed score.
Mark Cronin soon made amends and Ciaran Smith added a second try after half time to secure a richly deserved and morale boosting win for a B team that had Ollie Carter deputising at scrum half in the absence of the injured Rory.
Westcombe’s score came with the last move of the match; too little too late.
Rory, who was the B team's Player's Player award winner, returned for the try-less draw with Old Albanians which was a tough, high quality match in which Ciaran’s inspired running provided the most exciting moments. The B team played back to back matches with Fullerians providing the next opposition.
Understandably Warriors began to run out of steam and eventually fell to a 10-0 defeat against a strong powerful line up. How different it may have proved, though, had the curse of the weakly marked try line not struck again.
Leo Phoenix rounded off a wonderful Warriors move but failed to notice the try line and just as Maxime had done earlier accidentally ran the ball dead after all the hard work for a deserved try had been done.
In the A tournament Warriors fell to their only defeat against a very strong Old Albanian line up that was forced to work exceptionally hard for its 10-0 win. Freddie Goodyear was the hero in defeat having been drafted into the side at the last moment having just played the two successive matches for the B team.
Not only that he gave a strong performance at prop and nearly barged over for a try that would have been a thoroughly well deserved way to end the first day’s action.
Both teams had much to play for heading into the second day. The A’s knew they had to win their final group match against Westcombe by two scores to have any chance of securing a place in the final while third place was still a possibility for the B’s.
Warriors duly delivered a hard earned win in the A tournament despite being starved of first half possession. A decent pep talk did the trick at the interval and they thoroughly dominated the second period.
Oliver capped a fine passing move with the opening try and Matthew came within inches of doubling the lead moments later. In the end James ran over in the corner for the all important second score that kept Warriors’ hopes of a place in the final alive and it came with the last move of the match.
It was that score that gave Warriors their play-off chance against Chippenham after the coaches argued that a place in the final should not be decided by a flip of a coin.
Alas the B’s fell to a 15-0 loss to Old Albanian’s powerful C team. Felix Bound made a try saving tackle to keep Warriors in the game as did George Brosch who superbly denied the opposition a score by holding up the attacker over the line.
But it wasn’t enough and the B team were left to fight for fifth place against Westcombe Park and this final provided their best performance of the Tour. It was a resounding 15-5 win with George and Rory grabbing first half tries and Max, who won the coaches' Player of the Tour award, adding a third with the first move after the break.
“The commitment was absolutely brilliant” said Coach Pete Stokes. “We got better and better after every game and the standard of our tackling was the best of the season. The last game was probably our best performance too.
“Everybody should be proud of what they did,” he added.
Roger was equally proud of his A team that came so close to a place in the final. “Obviously it is frustrating because we could have done better given the passion and effort of the boys,” he said.
“The quality of our passing needs work and we struggled in the scrummages but because of injuries we only had three forwards for most of the time.
“Our rucking was outstanding and though I hate to pick out individuals Thomas Walsh (the A team coaches' award winner) made a couple of great hits.
“Overall our players have come on leaps and bounds. I can’t wait for next season. In the under 11s with bigger pitches, more forwards and an introduction to kicking, I think we will do very well and I’m very excited.”
Author: Iain Carter

U9's

International mini rugby series Chichester, 2011 - U9s
This was the first appearance of this particular squad at the Chichester festival and they were looking forward to it immensely. However, the excitement of being 'on tour' seemed initially to overwhelm them and the first day of the tournament saw them lose one game and draw three. By day two they had rested, re-grouped and re-focused and they managed to win both of their remaining games. As there were only 4 teams in the U9s age group this meant the teams they defeated on Sunday they had already played and lost to or drawn with on Saturday. So, it was testament to Big Rich's skill and motivational techniques that he managed to reverse the previous day's slump and get the team back into the groove. Full match reports are below but suffice to say that the whole squad enjoyed themselves. The weather was great and the team made full use of the camp site facilities, in particular the swimming pool and the arcade! At the Sunday evening Awards' ceremony Paul Wilkinson was a deserving winner of the player's player award and Nick Stoner, who had really put himself on the line for his team mates in Sunday's crucial victories, picked up the Coach's award for best player.
Day 1
Warriors 1 v Chippenham 2
The team was a little slow off the mark and in spite of some good tackling from Iacopo and Ben, Chippenham managed to run free early on and go 1-0 up. Louis then made a good run and was well supported by Jack Toon at the break down but Chippenham applied a lot of pressure and scored again to make it 2-0 at the half time break. In the second half the Warriors looked more like the team they can be and most of the attacking play was directed by us. Nick Stoner made a strong run and was well supported by Ben, winning a scrum. The ball came out from the scrum to Vikram who was put under immediate pressure. Paul Wilkinson made another strong run and Louis Ackland picked it up and drove on when Paul was tackled, nearly getting over the line. Eventually the ball made it out to Ben Sproston who ran it in to make the final score 2-1 to Chippenham.
Warriors 2 v Chippenham A 2
Warriors finally got off the mark, securing a draw against Chippenham A. Having finished their first game strongly the team came out fired up and went 1-0 up. A great phase of play involving Jack Burke, Jack Toon and Sam Dawe saw Louis Ackland get over the try line to score. Disappointingly the Warriors allowed Chippenham A to score straight from the restart, letting one of their opponents run straight through without challenge. This was to be a recurring feature on Day 1! In the second half Chippenham A dominated and in spite of some great running from Joseph Waymouth in particular, Warriors found themselves 2-1 down, once again allowing a runner to come through unchallenged. Thankfully Paul Wilkinson put in a fantastic run, picking it up again after the play broke down and driving over the line to score just before the final whistle and secure the draw.
Warriors 2 v Old Colfeians 7
Warriors went down to a surprising and crushing defeat against these SE London rivals. The first half didn't presage what was to come. Warriors got off to a good start going 1-0 up with another try from Paul. They then conceded but at half time the score was still 1-1. In the second half once again the team failed to even challenge an opposition runner and quickly found itself 2-1 down. A surprising lack of concentration then saw Old Colfeians stretch their lead to 4-1. Encouragingly the Warriors didn't give up and Louis made it 4-2 after a great run from Jack Burke. But after that the team once again seemed to switch off, conceding three more tries before the final whistle. A game that had started so promisingly ended as a 7-2 defeat.
Warriors 2 v Old Colfeians 7
The final game of day 1 saw the Warriors suffer a third defeat. Still shell shocked from the previous game the team went 1-0 down almost immediately and a repeated failure to put in tackles meant that by half time the score was 3-0 in favour of Chippenham. In the second half Warriors did much better, Paul once again scoring to make it 3-1. Disappointingly the team however once again conceded almost immediately from the restart and found itself 4-1 down. Pleasingly the squad didn't give up and ended on a high, Ben scoring to make the final score 4-2 after some great work from Sam Dawe and Paul Wilkinson.
Day 2
Warriors 2 v Chippenham A 1
A more focused and determined Warriors side took to the field of play on the second day of play. Facing Chippenham A, with whom they'd drawn the previous day, the Warriors were keen to get a win on the board. The first half saw some great play with much better organisation and communication. The squad was finally playing as a 'team' with Nick Stoner, Paul, Iacopo and Sam putting in great tackles and supporting the rest of the players. The Warriors first try came just before half time. With a scrum just before the Chippenham try line Paul was given the put in. He tried to drive over himself and was then ably supported by Jack Burke who nipped through the defensive lines before cleverly offloading to Ben who scored.
In the second half the Warriors went 2-0 up with Paul Wilkinson scoring a fantastic try that he made for himself by throwing an exquisite dummy. Chippenham A fought well to get back into it but could only make it 2-1 by the final whistle. Warriors had that all important first win!
Warriors 3 v Old Colfeians 2
The final game of the tournament was against the team that only the day before had beaten the team 7-2. Could the Warriors expunge that memory and restore their pride? Of course they could!
The game didn't get off to a great start with the team going 1-0 down almost from the off but the boys bounced back quickly, with Paul making yet another strong run before Jack Burke picked it up and got over the line to get the team back on level terms. In the second half Joseph Waymouth ran in a try to make it 2-1, which was then added to by Ben to make it 3-1. Just to make everyone on the touchline nervous Old Colfeians were then allowed back into it to make the score 3-2 but some great teamwork and tackling from everyone on the pitch meant the team held on to reverse the previous days defeat. It was a sweet way to finish off the tournament and secure a third place finish.
Author: Nick Toon