EM U10 Lexus

The U10s had to battle against the elements and the opposition on Sunday, where the rugby took a back seat to the atrocious conditions.

Our first game against Towcestians started well. We kept our shape in defence and attack, with everyone putting in strong tackles. Devan, Harry and Johnny made some great good runs into the opposition half and we were rucking well. The opposition then managed a couple of breakaway runs and despite some strong tacking from Liam, Rory, Alfie and Luca their big runners dragged our tackling players across the line to score and win the game.

The second and third games against Old Albanians and Colchester were very tough fixtures. With back to back games and no cover, we tried to keep the kids as warm and dry as possible between games but once soaked through it was hard for them to concentrate and we had to make lots of substitutions just to keep players warm. We lost both games to two very good teams despite some great work in the mauls from Ameer and Jack and a brave effort from a very cold Thomas just to make it onto the field.

By the time we reached the last game against St Ives we had lost about half of the players to the conditions and those that put their hands up to play, stepped onto the field wanting to get the game over and done with. Once the game started however, we rallied and made our way into the opposition half. The move was finished off by a great try from Archie who had had the advantage of being very difficult to see, as he had become virtually transparent from the cold. Oliver made one of his trademark runs through the opposition to get another good try and Johnny burst through to score again. In the second half we kept up the effort but ran out of steam as the cold kicked in again. Only Frank seemed unaffected by the cold as he ran and tackled everything in front of him with the ferocity of a demented polar bear.

It was one of those days just to get through on Sunday and not a particularly enjoyable experience by the end, but it is inspiring to see the real character and bravery shown by all the players in the face or very tough conditions and opposition. Well done to everyone who played and supported on Sunday.