Sunday 15 November

Chobham u7s at Cobham C Festival

Victory for Pumas – more silverware for the u7s!

With everyone checking the Cobham website for a pitch update on Sunday morning, it was touch and go whether the Pumas would get their first taste of festival rugby at the Cobham Festival.   On arrival the weather turned out to be great – blue sky, warm with a slight breeze.   The set up was four pools of three, the Pumas were in Pool 2 and the first match was against the formidable Reeds.   Despite some excellent tagging and a cracking try from Tom Wyatt, we went down 5 tries to 1, against the team that eventually won the whole tournament.   The Pumas however learnt some valuable defensive lessons, which they put into action in the second pool game against Windsor.   Led by strong tagging by Edward Granshaw and Charlie Parker, the Pumas defence gave them a strong base, and two tries each by Tom W and George Orford produced a 4-1 victory that gave us second place in the pool.



Into the quarter-finals against Wimbledon, the winners of Pool 1, and the Pumas again put on an improved display, going down 5-3 at the end of a game in which they were never in front, but never gave up.   Two more tries by Tom W and one for the newly arrived Oliver Ward, and some excellent running by Zach Tyldesley and Josh Salmons put the team in good heart for the Bowl semi-final against Teddington.   It was a game that needed all the tagging skills we’d learnt, with Jack Mitchell in particular throwing himself around to make try-saving tags.   It was end-to-end stuff with the Pumas making their way into the Bowl final through more tries from George and Tom W.   Tom Hemsworth and Cormac Meaney also got onto the score sheet for the first time, and the Pumas won 4-2.

The final against Ealing ended up being a 20 minute affair – after a pulsating match, the scores were tied at 4 each, with each team having to come from behind.   Ethan Davis scored a popular first try, with George, Oliver and Tom W also scoring.   But after 10 minutes of extra time when, despite the Pumas being camped in Ealing’s half for most of it, the next try just wouldn’t happen.   Players, coaches and spectators were exhausted and an honourable draw was called.   We presented the team with their medals, and the team went up to receive the Bowl trophy, which Tom W has taken home as the Pumas player of the tournament.



The Pumas should be proud of the way they played and behaved throughout the day.   Their rugby improved with every game and they thoroughly deserved their Bowl victory.   Well done boys.



Sunday 11 October

Chobham u7s at Wimbledon Festival





Sunday 4 October

FESTIVAL REPORT

The first of the 2009 u7s home festivals took place on a sunny Sunday 4 October and it was a great day of sport.

The Tigers team was in action and the squad divided into two groups with each playing a half of each game.

For the first game of the festival against Teddington, the Tigers quickly settled down in the first couple of minutes of play.  They went onto win 10 – 5 and drew in their next game against a spirited London Irish team 15 all.  It was evident to all that not only were the players learning and improving but so were the coaches and referees who were busy picking up tips from the other festival teams. 

From then on it was nevertheless a little more tricky as Cobham, Reeds (the eventual festival winners) and Rosslyn Park (second place) were all exceptionally organised and although Tigers went on to score a further 30 points throughout the festival they were unable to find winning form again. 

Overall the team came fourth with the boys and Molly doing brilliantly.  The closeness of the tournament was reflected in the overall positions.  Two of the defeats were by a single try and the other by two tries, a reflection on the excellent defending shown throughout the Tigers.  The eventual unbeaten winners Reeds only managed to win 10-5 and the result could have easily gone our way. 

The photos reveal some really good passing, tagging and superbly free-flowing rugby with significant contributions from all of the team.  Along the way there were a few small injuries, quickly repaired by the excellent first aid support, and even a brief blood sub such was the players commitment. 

Whilst this was a truly team result there are a few standout moments worth further mention.  The impressive Marcus Adams topped both the try and tag counts and showed Richie McCaw like interpretation of the restarts stopping the opposition from getting any momentum.  In attack Marcus and Lachlan Fletcher impressed with mazy runs confusing the opposition, referees and coaches alike.  Jacob Duffin, Mathew Collishaw and Luca Stamford shared second place on the try count, showing that great support play creates tries.  Jacob’s last minute try to tie against London Irish showed true determination and made a dad very proud!  Impressive defensive displays from Tommy Phillips and Theo Lee-Clarke kept Chobham in every game.   

At the end of the tournament Matthew Collishaw collected the Team Trophy on behalf of his team mates and Joseph Trundle was awarded care of the mascot following a fine display of effort throughout the day.  

All in all some great sport against some strong sides and the Tigers can feel proud of their successes in their first outing.  

Rob, u7s Manager

Sunday 4 October

Chobham u7s at Cobham Festival
 

First of all, a big thank you to all the players and parents who turned up today to support the first Lions squad festival.  All the boys did very well and their 3^rd place victory to win the silver plate award was much deserved.

We played 2 matches in our pool, both of which were quite overwhelming for our players. The parents watched some stunning tagging from Danny, Ewen, Alistair, Alex and Laurens, which was complemented by some equally great try scoring by Daniel, Douglas, Matthew and Harry.  Despite the boy’s best endeavours both matches ended up in 2 -5 losses to our opponents, Brighton and Camberley.

Not to be disheartened the boys tucked into their Krispy Kreme donuts, chocolate brownies and Halloween muffins and came back fighting to win the plate semi-final and final.  Again the scores were 5 - 2, against maidenhead and Leatherhead & Effingham, but in our favour this time! 

A special mention goes to Henry who played a few halves today, despite being sick this morning, and a really big well done to our two star players of the day Douglas and Laurens who between them managed to score all 10 tries and 13 tags over the last two games.

Well done boys and have a great week.

 

Emma and Lennaert

U7 Manager