U11B v Elms Lost 45-55

The Under 11 B Team were very much looking forward to playing The Elms school and with the Under 11 A and both senior teams away was the perfect opportunity to play on the expansive Colts pitch.  Playing seven a side on a fairly dry day certainly gave the back line the opportunity to get the ball quickly through the hands and punish the gaps in the defensive line.

S. Anselm’s lost the initial toss and so the free pass started with The Elms.  Unfortunately a lapse in the defensive line led to an early try but this certainly brought the S. Anselm’s team to life and this continued throughout the match.  The game was end to end and had some really promising plays.  Every single player stepped up to the occasion and for a game that exposes the weaknesses it was a truly thrilling and close encounter.  George T played scrum-half and provided quick ball to his supporting backs as well as making some darting runs himself getting on the scoreboard in the process, Barnaby d’B rucked hard and had the game of his life at prop earning himself his first ever tries in a S. Anselm’s rugby jersey with two wonderfully worked tries.  Peter T had a man of the match performance tackling everything that moved and proving himself dangerous in attack, a constant danger to The Elms’ defence.  Henry T led the team well as captain and also had some promising runs, one thing that really shone out today was the way in which both teams used the ball.  The Elms had the advantage in the size and pace but S. Anselm’s were terriers in the rucks and scrums with Marcus K stealing the ball against the head.  Marcus C had a wonderful first half, again tackling players twice his size and offloading the ball well out of the tackle with Thomas Wright on the wing in support.

All in all it was a wonderful match to watch.  Sevens in a very quick game and full on, every tackle counts and support brings quick ball, which brings tries.  There were 20 tries in all and The Elms came out narrow winners with the final score 45-55.

Congratulations to all of the players, a truly epic match and the players deserve to walk away with their heads up knowing they each put in absolutely everything they had.  The entire team deserve the Man of the Match award but congratulations to Henry T for his hat-trick and to Peter T for his peerless tackling!