Hitchin v Kettering at Milton Keynes.

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U10's fail to match England's victory V Australia.

MK were unable to put out an U10 team, so we played 3 games against Kettering. Their A team was excellent and far better than any of the N. Herts teams seen at Letchworth last week. Very good flowing rugby with a big pack. In-fact, just like England! -this being the day after we beat Australia and France beat New Zealand, to reach the semi finals of the RWC against all odds. Sadly Fiji could not do it to SA. and Scotland may well lose out to Argentina (13-6 at time of writing. HT)

Squad Aaron, Aless, Andrew, Ashley, Ben, Bradley, Christian, Conor, Frazer, George, Max, Oliver M, Oliver P, Taylor, Tom, William.

Game 1
Hitchin B 4 v 2 Kettering (won)
Aaron, Aless, Andrew, Bradley, Conor, Laurence, Oliver P, Taylor, Tom, William.
Aless, Laurence 2, Tom.
Aless announced her return from a broken arm, with a try in the opening seconds. Laurence was running strongly and he got his reward with the second. Good Kettering pressure was held, with Bradley doing a good impersonation of Ashley with fearless tackling. Tom showed his old jinking skills from Scrum half, to get over. A nice K run made it 3-1 at HT.
Laurence ripped the ball off a girl half his size, then lost it in contact. Good movement of the ball, with newcomer Conor showing well, and William keeping his head, despite a high tackle. Aless’ arm was holding up well but her leg was now a problem, bringing her off the pitch. K got another, before Laurence chose the wrong line to place the ball down, to the bemusement of the ref. He made up for it , with his 2nd try soon after. Taylor stole a good lineout ball near our line and William made good ground, before the ball was lost.

Game 2
Hitchin 0 v 5 Kettering (lost)
Ashley, Ben, Christian, Frazer, George, Max, Oliver M, ??( Flu confusing me)

Was it sleepiness, was it complacency after the first win? This K team were in a different league! Ben started by losing the ball and K pressure was intensified by driving us off the ball at a scrum. Fortunately, K were penalised for offside at the next one. Careless passing led to problems for H and Jack had the ball ripped away from him. Frazer and Oliver M made good tackles and Ben got back to good form, with excellent running and ball placement after the tackle. Lucky to be 0-0 at HT.
A different story after the break, with K running the ball brilliantly. A pass was intercepted on our line for 0-1. (when CAN we kick to touch?!) Better H play followed, with Max and Christian running well, but K got their 2nd. Our passing became more forced and K took advantage, with good support 0-3. Despite some good tackling by Frazer and others, it was 0-5 at FT.

Game 31st Half B team, 2nd half A team
Hitchin 2 v Kettering 3 (lost)Laurence, Tom.

Laurence got his hat-trick for the day, distinctively wearing his Bedford Modern shirt. (Maroon to come this week, as he’s quickly becoming a key part of the squad, with great size and strength) Bradley ran well and Conor showed good pace, once he found his bearings. An optimistic overhead pass did thankfully find a H player. Tom and Ollie P ran well but the ball was lost. A scrum near the K line gave Tom a chance to show good pace and score un-opposed in the corner. Aaron ran well but lost the ball on the line (Tony, we need some super-glue!) 2-0 at HT . Enter the A teams.
K went very close, but he ref ruled “ball lost forward” to a big ironic cheer from the Hedgehogs. I did apologise to the K coach! Their biggest player did get over 2-1. Ashley fearlessly tackled him in the next play, defying physics. Ben threw a huge spin pass, to worried looks from the H crowd, but it found a player. K seemed to roll the ball over the line for 2-2, then with memories of our last second loss last week still fresh, we let the big lad in again, for 2-3 at the death.

A disappointing morning for the A’s, with Kettering playing faster and more accurately than we could manage. Perhaps the training session with Saracens next week will give us some ideas to work with. (Mind you, it would be better from Wasps!) 9.30 at the club for the coach. Book with Tony if you haven’t yet. No other training for U9’s and 10’s next week. Bring on France.
David