Under 14's
Matches
Sun 16 Sep 2018
Thurrock
10
10
Billericay Rugby Club
Under 14's
First game of 2018/19 season

First game of 2018/19 season

Laurence Wolahan17 Sep 2018 - 09:47
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A tough, competitive but fair opener to the season.

The Bees U14 season kicked-off the 2018/19 season with an away Essex League game at Thurrock.

The first duty of the travelling squad of 22 was to vote for Captain and Vice-captain. Voting was tight for both positions with Ben Adams being appointed Captain and Charlie Pearson Vice-captain.

We welcomed James Graves to the team and his first Bees U14 game.

Thurrock kicked off and their large pack gained the upper hand in the early loose play and scrums. Our forwards faced up and gradually got the upper hand, creating some good ball for the backline. The backs were quickly into their stride and made good progress passing the ball along the line. Some incisive running by our new captain Ben A (he led from the front throughout the game), James and Tom brought us into the Thurrock 22 setting up a ruck 10 meters out. Christian picked the ball, made a few yards before passing to Marcus who ran in strongly to score the opening try.

Thurrock came back strongly and our forwards and backs put in some excellent defensive tackles - the sight of Jack bearing down on the Thurrock wing and tackling him into touch will stay with me for a while. Our forwards began to use their mobility and gained some ground. But for some excellent Thurrock goal-line tackles and our some of our forwards suffering white line fever and not using available overlaps (Some great support running by Nathan and Tom) we would have scored two more tries before half-time.

Thurrock continued to win territory through their forwards and some strong running backs. Eventually, Thurrock equalised through a powerful run down the right wing.

HT 5 : 5

At halftime Matt made wholesale changes, bringing on our seven substitutes. The game continued with a strong upfront contest, incisive running from both back lines and strong defensive tackles.

It was great to see James mark his Bees debut with an excellent try from 30 meters. In scoring, he evaded five tackles.

Thurrock equalised through a close in penalty, with one of their props crashing over to touchdown.

It was a positive start to the season with:

- Strong supportive forward play
- Strong backline running
- Some excellent defensive tackles

The coaches have picked up a number of areas on which to focus on in training.

It was a good competitive first game of the season.

Parents enjoyed their first touchline of the season and a number will have had to nurse some grazes (ground still hard) and bruises overnight. I'm sure Lewis will wear his black eye as a badge on honour to school today.

FT 10 : 10

James Graves received the Man of the Match award.

Laurence

Match details

Match date

Sun 16 Sep 2018

Kickoff

11:00

Meet time

09:45

Location

Instructions

Players to arrive in shirt and tie 75 minutes ahead of kick-off. Kick-off is 1100. The squad will be voting for their choice of team captain and vice-captain ahead of the game at Thurrock on Sunday.

Postcode for Thurrock RFC is RM16 2QH.

Attendance

42
Team overview
Further reading