U10s v Daventry / Kettering

8th JANUARY
U10s Triangular vs KETTERING & DAVENTRY @ DAVENTRY
This was the first rugby of any form, either match or training since the extended Christmas / New year break for the boys and a chance to run off all that chocolate consumed in the last couple of weeks.
The day started with Kettering beating Daventry. This gave the boys and coaches a chance to suss out the opposition with both teams appearing to have some big, strong runners and good driving forwards.

Match 1 : Scouts 9 Kettering 1
Scouts started the match in promising fashion and some good, driving play resulted in the first try for Rhys to start what subsequently became a very one-sided encounter. The second try came soon after when Lawrenze scored following a scrum won close to the Kettering line. However, Kettering responded almost immediately when the Scouts defence momentarily went to sleep resulting in a couple of missed tackles. Normal service was soon resumed though as Kettering appeared to have no answer to the Scouts running game specifically from Sam, Rhys and Ruaridh. This again paid off with two more excellent tries from Lawrenze and Sam and some more good driving play from the forwards and strong tackling which saw Scouts ending the half with a 4-1 lead.

The second half began rather scrappily, however it didn't take long for Scouts to resume control of the game with further tries from Ruaridh and a second by Sam. Lawrenze had a hat-trick try disallowed for a hand-off, however he soon completed this following more good driving play and added a fourth soon after following a superb scrum which drove the Kettering forwards off their
own ball. Callum very nearly added a ninth try, but was forced in to touch close to the line. This left just enough time for Lawrenze to cross for his 5th try before the final whistle came to end Kettering's misery.

This was a great display by the lads with all aspects of the game including running, driving, passing, tackling and off-loading being demonstrated to good effect. The 4 forwards used during the game
(Ethan K., Callum, Jacob T. and Jack) scrummaged and drove strongly all match and the runners constantly made holes in the Kettering defence. The Kettering coach was suitably impressed with the team's play judging by his comments to Carl after the game.

Match 2: Scouts 0 Daventry 2
The coaches made a number of changes to the team for this match and the lads couldn't quite bring their play up to the level of the first game.
The game was a tight affair right from the whistle with little open play evident. This played into Daventry's hands who scored the only try of the 1st half with a following typical driving forward play.

More changes were made at half-time, but with the same result ensuing and the match ending 2-0. Rhys came close to scoring right on full time, but was adjudged to have knocked on in the process of scoring.

2 players of the week were awarded to Ruaridh and Sam. Congratulations boys.

This was a very useful workout for the lads following the Christmas break, with the first match in particular showing promise for some big games coming up shortly.

Full squad: Ethan K., Jacob T., Callum, Lawrenze, Ruaridh, Sam E., George, Rhys, Jake, Ethan, Jacob M., Jack, Arran, Josh, Finton