Crawley Festival

A great effort for the first festival of the new seasnon with new rules

Heathfield Hurricanes U10s Match Reports

With the gazebo constructed and bleary eyed parents enjoying the second breakfast of the day, the boys and coaches got down to a few last minute drills and plays before embarking on the challenges ahead.

And so with a collective in-take of breath the and with the new rucking, mauling and non-contested scrums instructions taken on the board the boys took to the field for their first pool match against Worthing 1s. Despite producing phenomenal tackling and immense defence a well drilled, physical, street wise Worthing team came out on top by seven tries to zero. An object lesson in rucking and contesting the breakdown had been given by a very good team.

Against Haywards Heath Bears the U10s produced some great forward runs and huge tackling, as the game wore on the injury count increased but the brave boys soldiered on and after a valiant effort went down four tries to zero. Haywards Heath producing an impressive defence display.

Against the hosts Crawley, the boys were determined to learn from the previous two matches and get some scores on the board. After some great phases of play, good work in the rucks, ripping the ball away from the opposition, the boys broke their try duck. A competitive second half saw Crawley score followed by a great rally from the boys to clinch the victory with a winning try to run out 2-1 winners.

With coaches deliberating which teams the Hurricanes would play in the Bronze Group, the boys settled down to a well-earned lunch.

During the interval the coaches highlighted the need to offload the ball before being tackled and being more committed at the rucks and mauls, tactics that were about to provide significant dividends…

The Hurricanes defended and tackled with all their might resulting in regular turnover ball at the rucks. Great direct running and offloading resulted in three trys and superb tackling and defence meant that after all this scintillating play the Hurricanes delivered a hard fought 3-2 win against East Grinstead.

And so to the bronze final against Worthing 2s; awesome forward play, excellent tackling from all the team, superb straight running and offloading resulted in a very competitive game and a score of 2-1 to Worthing with just seconds left on the clock. A big hit in the tackle on the Worthing try line resulted in the loose ball being picked up and a try for Heathfield!!! Extra time was played to try and decide a winner, the intensity increased with the boys giving their all. Unfortunately after a further 5 minutes, it was not to be, despite courageous defence and thumping tackles Worthing managed to get over the line to win 3-2, which after a fine display was an unjust result.

So a rousing end to a good day of festival rugby. The boys finished the tournament a match for any of the teams there and will take important learning from the experience. Well done to the squad and many thanks to the coaches for the great job they did on the day.

Mark & Anna Walley