Cobham Festival - 5/11/2006

Squad: James Bentley-Fox, Thomas Bywater, Jonathan Carpenter, Oliver Cruddas, James Doyle, Alexander Field, Greiogair Hogg, Aaron Patel, Elliot Proudhon-Smith, Stephen Rac, Thomas Smith, Matthew Timms

Report from Nick Timms:

On a fine day for playing rugby the TRFC Commandos were so nearly victorious, but thwarted on two occasions by the superior ball stealing abilities of a committed and talented Old Reedonians team.

Game 1
Vs Cobham Score: 20-5 Win
Our first pool game against the host team started the day with a superlative display of long range try scoring, with some phases of play reaching double figures! Some committed tackling by Aaron Patel and Stephen Rac and the magical dummy pass of Greiogair Hogg led to all of the play going the way of the Commandos and a final score of 4 tries to 1.
Tries: Hogg (2), Bentley-Fox (1) and Proudham-Smith (1).

Game 2
Vs Old Reedonians Score: 5-10 Loss
Old Reeds proved to be stiffer competition in this, our first meeting of the day. Although both teams were very finely matched with players of equal ability, the first half remained try-less for the Commandos. The second half commenced with the same vigour as the first, both teams locked in a titanic struggle for ball retention until Thomas Bywater crossed the line for our only try of the game. The boys held up superbly to the Old Reeds pressure but succumbed to another try finishing the game 1-2. The game was marred by the strange accusation of “crossing” from the referee, one can only assume that he was on his way to Twickenham later that day and had failed to interpret the continuum correctly.
Try: Bywater (1).

Game 3, Semi-Final
Vs Rosslyn Park Score: 10-5 Win
Finishing second in pool A, our semi-final led to a game against another old rival in the form of Rosslyn Park. In another equally matched competition for control of the ball in the tackle, known by some as ball stealing, Matthew Timms acquitted himself admirably, presumably in an attempt to mimic his Father’s only talent on the pitch (a la Ackford). Again, Greiogair Hogg mystified all comers with his use of a convincing dummy pass and swift change of direction to score our only two tries, pretty much solo efforts, both almost from the half way line.
Tries: Hogg (2).

Game 4, U9 Final
Vs Old Reedonians Score 5-10 Loss
With the defeat of our second pool match still smarting, the Commandos started this game with renewed effort and some outstanding phases of play, but by now tiredness had entered the equation. With 90 minutes rest from the semi-final, in which a tree house had been built from scratch in an adjoining copse, the boys just couldn’t seem to convert the efforts into points and we conceded two tries. Having said that, both teams were so evenly matched that both this game and the pool game could have gone either way.
There was some excellent tackling in this game from all boys, particularly Stephen Rac again who reminds me of a young Brian Moore and James Doyle. Special mention to Jonty Carpenter who made some lovely darting runs from the base of the scrum and Oliver Cruddas for scoring our only try of this game, evading at least three tackles in the process!
Try: Cruddas (1).

All boys played with passion and in the spirit of the game.

RATT Cup - 4/11/2006

Squad: Henry Clark, Myles Deane, Nicolas Furrer, James Gawn, Ben Harrison, Archie Jones, Joshua Nagle, Frederico Pasquali, Callum Sirker, Oliver Skyrme,
Jack Stockham, James Viney

Report for Ratt Cup from David Viney:

What a great afternoon at the Quins! Aside from the lovely sunshine and the Quins recording their first win of the season, Teddington pulled out all the stops in possibly their strongest showing so far in the contact version of the sport. With Carlos Spencer, Ben Cohen and Dean Richards watching in the wings, our boys were inspired enough to build up an eight match unbeaten run (16 tries for and none against!)

Teddington 25 – Tunbridge Wells 0
Quite possibly the best game from the A team since this group first started playing at U6s! Wells are actually a strong team (as their performances against the other group members testified) and we have always enjoyed meeting them and playing them. However, in this game, Teddington simply blew them away. The defence was again awesome. On this occasion, however, the back line really fired - with the ball frequently reaching the centres and wings. Clean line breaks abounded. Good distribution, great quick passing, clean hands and fast feet were all in evidence.

Teddington 5 – Upminster 0
A number of unforced errors by Teddington in the first half handed the initiative to a determined and physical Upminster side. Despite playing most of the game in our own half, we never really looked like conceding a try. In the end, the victory was well deserved (despite some nervy moments) as the Teddington tackle rate literally knocked the stuffing out of brave Upminster (who were grand finalists last year in two age groups). On the few occasions we enjoyed sustained possession, we always made good yardage. The winning try eventually came.

Teddington 10 – Westcombe Park 0
Westcombe Park had a number of very quick and elusive runners out wide and had scored some wonderful tries against other group teams. However, Teddington’s early tackles broke their distribution and neutralized the threat. Some of the tackles were quite brutally hard (sorry about that Westcombe!) and at least two of the opposition players had to be replaced for injuries. It seems much of our improvement this year (which is undoubtedly there) is down to a group of boys who seem to have been waiting for contact - and are relishing it now it’s finally here!

Teddington 15 – Blackheath 0
A notable feature of this game was the improvement in our rucking and loose play generally – with four penalties and three tackle turnovers won (one of which resulted in a try). Again, a back-line growing in confidence frequently found itself taking the ball on the front-foot whilst moving forward. Blackheath had improved with every game of the tournament, so again this scoreline reflects very well on the Teddington attack.

Looking Ahead
A note of caution is required. Whilst this was a strong performance, there will be tough challenges ahead. Last year we had a tough draw, facing two ultimate grand finalists in the Group Stages, and were knocked out early. These same teams (and others traditionally stronger than us in this age group) lie in wait in the semi-finals. However, at our current rate of progress there is nothing to fear. Our boys will simply do their best and this year - perhaps for the first time - this may be enough to carry this team to its first Grand Final.

Grasshoppers Festival - 29/10/2006

Squad - Benjamin Archer, Sam Barton, Jo Beasley, Thomas Bywater,
David Cecil, Joshua Day, Fergus Donaldson, Emmanual Galan,
Jonathan Hammond, Frederico Pasquali, Stephen Rac, Oliver Skyrme

Congratulations - Won Festival

Ist Game - Teddington 30 Finchley 0 - a comprehensive start against a game Finchley team who could have replied with a couple of scores but for poor finishing

2nd Game - Teddington 10 Chobham 5 - a much closer affair but again a
good performance to guarantee qualification to the semis!

Semi Final - Teddington 10 Grasshoppers 5 - a close hard game against the
festival hosts with Josh Day scoring a late winner in the corner.

Final - Teddington 20 Ealing 15 - the best game was saved for the final against always tough opponents Ealing. We charged into a 15-0 lead with some excellent rugby with Ealing replying just before half time. Ealing came out for the 2nd half fired up and played some good rugby to score twice and equalise at 15-15 - our heads could have dropped but we came back strongly again to score 20-15 - the last few minutes (which seemed like 10) saw excellent defence to keep them out and win by one score. The referee praised both teams saying it was one of the best finals he had been in charge of! - Well done to all the players and Ian Barton, David Donaldson and Jose Galan for keeping the boys going!

Chobham A Festival 15/10/2006

WON FESTIVAL !

Squad - Anderson Alexander, Clark Henry, Deane Myles,
Furrer Nicolas, Gawn James, Harrison Ben, Jones Archie
Nagle Joshua, Seddon Benjamin, Sirker Callum,
Stockham Jack, Viney James

1st game: Teddington 5 – Marlow 0
Teddington began the festival as they meant to continue – with an open, free-flowing rugby style. The watchword for the day was passing prior to the tackle. Teddington enjoyed the majority of the possession and were defensively strong. In the end, the score could have been higher, but for a lack of penetration in the last 20 yards.

2nd game: Teddington 15 – Old Albanians 0
This was Old Albanians first outing at the Chobham festival and, despite putting up a brave performance, were somewhat overwhelmed by Teddington’s attacking defence (which saw them pushed back to their own line time and again). The scoreline reflected a fair return for the pressure exerted.

3rd game: Teddington 0 – Guildford 0
This was the crunch game, with Teddington facing the only team that beat them in last year’s festival. Guildford had played every game with a strong mauling style, which saw them occasionally committing up to six players into the loose at any given time. Unfourtunately, they seemed to tire as the festival progressed (possibly due to the energy expended) and, coming up against Teddington, found that the defensive pressure prevented them from matching the large number of tries they had piled on against some of the other teams. Eventually, a draw was a fair result, as Teddington found it equally diificult to find penetration.

4th game: Teddington 5 – Chobham 0
All to play for, with any one of three teams able to win the festival, depending on the outcome of this game. Chobham had showed similar strength to Guildford in their loose play, so it was particularly pleasing to see Teddington adjust their style of play to match – and ultimately overcome – this threat. Some excellent driving rucks and mauls brought Teddington close to a score but in the end, it was a wonderful piece of defence (tackling Chobham behind their own try line) and a piece of snatched opportunism that brought the try.

On the whole, almost all the teams were very evenly matched but Teddington ran out winners due to a willingness to open up the game, an ability to adapt that style to suit circumstances and, above all, a fierce tackling rate that rocked their opposition back in attack. Our first A silverware of the year and an excellent performance all-round.

Cobham B Festival - 8/10/2006

Squad - Benjamin Archer, Thomas Bywater , David Cecil, Henry Clark, James Davies, Fergus Donaldson, Archie Jones, Toby Orchard, Frederico Pasquali, Cameron Petrie, Ben Seddon, Oliver Skyrme.

Results: WON FESTIVAL - HOORAY
Cobham - Won 15-0 (Archie Jones, Ben Archer, Ben Seddon)
Reeds - Won 10-5 ( Ben Seddon, Archie Jones)
Semi Final - Rosslyn Park - Won 10-5 (Archie x2)
Final - Reeds won 15-0 (Oliver Skryme, Archie Jones, Ben Archer)

Started quick out of the blocks (not always with our boys) with a comprehensive win (15-0) over our hosts. We followed this with a close game with Reeds with some excellent defence in the second half. This qualified us for the semis where we met Rosslyn Park - this proved to be our toughest game and was clinched with Archie going over in the corner with the final play of the game! We approached the final against Reeds confident and so it proved with another excellent display with the result never in doubt and ending up 15-0 - Champions

David Donaldson & Richard Davies marshalled the boys excellently - it was a team effort with everyone putting in the tackles and defensively (only conceding 2 trys in 4 games) well organised and committed - well done to all!

October 1st Festivals

Chobham - Squad - Barton Sam, Bentley-Fox James, Cecil David, Day Joshua, Deane Freddie, Donaldson Fergus, Dupree Archie, Griffiths Tom, Pasquali Frederico, Rac Stephen, Smith Thomas, Stahelin Angus

Results: Rosslyn Park L 5-15
T Wells L 0-5
L Irish D 0-0
Chobham L 0-10
Cobham L 0-10
This was our first B festival for contact rugby and showed that we have still a lot to learn about the new style, coaches as well as players. But we are blessed with incredibly hardworking and enthusiastic boys. The rain came down in buckets, keeping us permanently soaked but never bad enough to cancel, unlike others on that day.

There was significant improvement from all players throughout the day and by the end practically every boys had got the idea of tackling, which still needs improvement. Although the results were disappointing, they learned a lot from their first encounter into contact and this will stand them in good stead for later tournaments. We were unfortunate to lose Freddie Deane after the first game with a knock on the head. Thankfully it was a minor scrape but it did put him out for the rest of the festival. The highlight of the day, nay a “champagne moment” was produced by Angus Stahelin’s last gasp touch tackle in the game against L.Irish, which earned us a draw and epitomised the boy’s commitment throughout the afternoon. Nothing summed it up more than, despite the disappointing results, when it came to half-time in the last match, no one wanted to be subbed off. They performed well and never let their heads drop and that spirit will ensure better days to come.

Guildford - Squad - Archer Benjamin, Beasley Joe, Boxall Thomas, Bywater Thomas, Clark Henry, Davies James, Field Alexander, Hammond Jonathan
Hogg Greiogair, Orchard Toby, Petrie Cameron, Seddon Benjamin.

Played 2 & won 2 - the second a very good performance against Reeds 20-5 - stand out was the excellent rucking and ball retention - unfortunately the heavens opened and the festival was abandoned but a very encouraging start.

Cobham - Squad - Anderson Alexander, Deane Myles, Furrer Nicolas, Galan Emmanuel, Gawn James, Harrison Ben, Jones Emily, Nagle Joshua, Rubini Dylan, Sirker Callum, Stockham Jack, Viney James

Played 3 - Won 1, Lost 2 - Festival Abandoned
Report from David Viney as follows:
Thanks for braving the torrential rain. I thought some real positives coming from the festival. The tackling and spirit shown by our boys (and girl!) intruly atrocious conditions was wonderful. After the comfortable win over Camberley, there was not a big gap between ourselves and Sutton & Epsom /Cobham. Bear in mind the former were Ratt Cup winners and runners-up in the last two years respectively and that Cobham make an early start to their season (having also always been strong in our age group). What I particularly liked was that two of our tries were scored from tackling the opposing side back into their try zone - one from a resulting five yard scrum and one from a dive-on. We came very close to beating Cobham - which would have set up a tantalising final against S&E again (who I thought we matched for the last four minutes of our game against them) - had the festival not been stopped for the conditions.

Results

Please check back for reports on all the seasons festivals for the U-9s