U9 Elks versus Newark RUFC (A)

Newark haven't appeared on our fixture list for a while so it was a pleasant change for some of us going to a new club. I was impressed with their organisation for parking and thought we would be in a tough day as it appeared to be a well organised club. The Clubhouse arrangement confirmed my assumption with what looked like an excellent set up (on stilts !!!). The intention was that there was going to be a mini tournament (or "double header" ) between us, Newark and Market Rasen. Didn't turn out that way due to the numbers involved and too few pitches. The coaches decided we would play single games and agreed 8 a side (their pitch was mahoos-ive). The boys got off to a great start scoring 4 tries in the first few minutes with only one from Newark. I think they were hypnotised by the weaving runs of Henry who actually managed to score a try after running through their whole team at least twice which I witnessed. Awesome side stepping skills. Newark came back into the game late in the first half and showed some excellent commitment in the tackle and good running and support play. They had some good players and looked well coached (especially in the way they presented the ball in contact and followed it in).
Needless to say, with maze-y runs out on the wings and power through the middle we played to our strengths dominating the first match, really. With a different team in Game 2 we weren't quite so dominant as Newark got into the game a bit more. They demonstrated good skills in tackling, off loading and support and scored a few tries out of pure determination. Again, though, the U9's countered their effort with similar skills and determination to match off their tries 2:1 I would say. There was a 3rd match which was played out in the rain towards the end with a similar outcome. I think both teams were getting a bit tired by this stage. Positives to take out the fixture are numerous; off-loading skill and timing, remaining on feet in the tackle, line speed, wing play and support and , like always, commitment and enjoyment. Well done boys.
But there is a saying: " sometimes you win, sometimes you learn". Whilst we don't count score to establish winners and losers at this stage, one of the pointers I took out of the day (which we implemented in part) is that we need to emphasise the "inclusive" aspects of the game more. We decided to re position the players in respect to where they think they should be playing (self imposed) so we put the bigger players on the wings in one of the games. No pigeonholing here !!! No surprise they were a bit confused to start with but it did mean that the ball got shared around a bit more, the less confident tacklers saw more of the contact (and gained more confidence) and the bigger boys scored tries down the wings.....all good. We will continue to challenge tradition in our coaching as much as we can going forward. Keeping the players interested and enjoying the sport is our main goal. Other learning from the day is to establish a "Skills or Game" zone much earlier on and have a better plan to keep the subs busy. They did want to support their team and watch the games as well which was good. So, Awards time:
Coaches Players of the Week: Henry and Frankie Gallagher - It is a joy to watch the opponents team, coaches and parents stare open mouthed at the talent of these 2 lads. On their day there cant be tackled and, whats even better, is their all round game is just as good as their running with ball in hand
Players Player: Caleb Farrow for tackling and support play (whose performance coincidentally improved in line with a revised Incentive arrangement !!!! Hmmmm.....)
As usual, the whole team did brilliantly again. Jamie, still very new to the game, is improving massively week on week and his confidence is growing with his tackling
Josh Walker is a fantastic tackler - not the biggest but what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in heart and courage. He put the best tackles of the day in
Louis, Cole, Toby, Liam, Tom and Max all played brilliantly as well. Their running with the ball straight into contact is great to see and there re-positioning in defence was excellent - credit to the players for making the awards so difficult to decide each week....

Note: The Newark pitch was specifically marked out for U9's with a dashed line 7m away from the half way line. This means that the players know exacyl where they should be standing from the free flow and saves the referee's from sore throats trying to get them back all the time !!!! Great idea which we should incorporate into our own age group pitches.

See you all next week.....Derby Away