Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

MINI MATTERS & YOUTH NEWS

Week 12

Sat 16th & Sun 17th – Nov 2019

It was another busy weekend of Rugby at Datchworth and to be honest some notable successes from the Mini Section on Saturday evening and Sunday morning were the high point among a challenging set of results this weekend. Unusually our Senior Sides and all of the Youth Teams suffered defeats this weekend…but the Minis had a great weekend and Arley Becks won player of the tournament at Hertford on Saturday evening! The stories of this weekends Rugby is set out below:

Ladies First

U11 Girls; The girls travelled to Fullerians for a joint training session with Fullers and OAs followed by some game time. They warmed up through a series of ‘interesting’ drills before moving into some games. There was a range of ability across the group and so they progressed from touch to full contact once they were all ready. The girls looked like they had fun once the contact games began and most of ours managed to score a try before the session was over. Isla made a step forward with some good attacking play, with one of her runs resulting in a try. Nice to see her having the confidence to put in a good leg drive to hold off the tackle and put herself over the line to score.

U13 Girls; The U13 girls headed over to Watford for a nice sunny afternoon of rugby. 6 of our Datchworth girls teamed up with other girls from Tring, Letchworth and Royston to form a squad playing against a full Watford team. The girls did incredibly well and knowing each other’s strengths, even with the girls from other clubs created a strong team. Everyone played their part and the 4 games were evenly matched. The practice on Wednesday evenings is paying off with evidence of being there in the ruck quickly and some phenomenal tackles. We were treated to impressive handling skills and making the most of the space available. The girls really like to maul to move forwards, and a couple of times, it created opportunities for tries. Well done Sophia, Grace, Nat, Lily Mac, Molly and Ruby.

U15 Girls; The U15s went to a surprisingly sunny and calm Royston for a joint training session. While the numbers were light (2 from Datchworth and 2 from Royston), the effort and intensity was not! After a warmup, the first half of the session was led by two of the Royston women’s team and concentrated on various ways of rucking their opponent off the ball. If I was their upcoming opposition, I would be very scared. For the second half of the session, they practiced both drawing the defender and tackling. From the smiles and laughter throughout the session, an enjoyable time was had by all.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Mini Section

U6s Home Training Session

Another glorious day at Datchworth for the under 6s, we began today with a different game an inclusive Simon Says game, which allowed the children to warm up their minds as well as their bodies.

We moved to a game of the game of roll ball relay, incorporating some races as well as some minion fart dances!!! We moved on to some passing backwards for the children, encouraging them as much as possible and to not pass forward, we involved the coaches to encourage the children to pass while on the move again with passing backwards in mind.

The team then took to standing in a line, attempting to pass down the line which proved more difficult than it sounds!!! We then played a full game, this week with a healthy 7 against 8. We're trying to get the children more involved in the game situations and they are really enjoying this and thriving in this environment, we saw some fantastic running and evasive moves, avoiding being tagged by the other teams with some great tries being scored.

Lastly, we had a game of bulldog with the small amount of time we have left with Louis and Joshua as the winners. This week's player of the week was Jude, for the skills that he showed within the game environment and the tries he scored.

U7s Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

We had a good turn out for the U7s this Sunday at Letchworth, with eight players in attendance which allowed us to put forward two teams. It was a lovely sunny November morning and it took some of our players a little bit of time to warm up and get going, but once they had settled into the pace of the game both teams did really well. We maintained the ‘two passes before scoring a try’ rule, and we saw some exemplary displays of teamwork from both teams, with everyone trying hard to put into practice the skills they had learnt in training.

Datch 1 showed great tenacity and lots of enthusiasm which resulted in some fantastic phases of play. Similarly, Datch 2 worked really well together and put lots of pressure on the opposition, scoring some great tries. POTW goes to William Fox for consistently running forward, taking the tag and passing straight away to the nearest player. Excellent William!

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

U8s Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

A respectable squad of 23 turned up for the 3-way fixture against Letchworth & Barnet held at Letchworth RFC.

Although none of our 3 teams played Barnet (due to their numbers being down) we came out victorious in all our games against the hosts. Again, each referee enforced strict rulings against knock ons, 7 tag turnovers and being off side. Datchworth showed that their training sessions had sunk in and rarely gave the ball away.

It was nice to see some new players attending their first away fixture, and integrating seamlessly with the rest of the team.

All teams did a great job and player of the week was a difficult pick but one player stood out, making some great passes, setting team mates up to score, and tagging fast, as well as scoring a number of well fought try’s himself. Well done Enzo!

U9s Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

We had a great turnout this week four our three-way tie between Letchworth and Barnet with 22 players making the trip for an early start.

The Datchworth Dynamos started tentatively in the first of our four highly charged games, growing stronger as the morning progressed. Some fantastic teams tries throughout as the boys used power, strength and skill to out-with their opponents. James S, with his usual high-tempo tackling game, set the boys up well. Captain Edward marshalled the defensive line well, scored some great ties and recovered well from several hard clashes. Max K was on hand to back up his teammates and Charlie did his usual strong performance as scrumhalf. Our attacking play improved when Kyran could join in. He was able to charge through the opposition line, requiring five opposition players to stop him. Good direct running and passing from Max H throughout and Jamie was as committed as ever and was even managing to stay inside the lines by the second game! Overall a really strong team effort from the boys.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Datchworth Painful Death (soon to be renamed the Green's but for the PC police) played some stunning rugby this morning. The whole team put in a great shift. Powerful ball carrying and some good passing were too much for our opponents and we ran out comfortable wins in all four games. We did start slowly in defence with a few missed tackles, but once warmed up our tackling was ferocious. We managed a number of defensive turnovers and scored what has to be one of the best tries this season at the end of the last match. One work on for next week is speed of pass from the breakdown. Well done Ted, Bo, Olly, Will, James P, Aidan and Finlay L, great work all.

They didn't have a team name but if they did it could be Team Benji, or for that matter, Team Harry P, Team Finlay J, Team Finlay S, Team Kieran, Team James B or Team Nathan. After a slow start in defence and explosive attacking, the boys rallied around to focus on getting their tackles dialled in. All the boys did well, with some thumping tackles made on the opposition. Work still to be done but when spreading the ball out wide they seemed to run in try after try. The coaches were really impressed with the self-organisation of the team and they created some great overlaps in attack and had we have got off one more pass off, would have scored even more tries. Still a little bunching around the ball, but overall, a great and enjoyable morning of rugby.

Our player of the week this week has been out of action due to other sporting commitments, but boy did he come back with a bang. Every time a tackle was there to be made, there was Benji, He helped the team create space and didn't shy away from the new physical game which was great to see. Great to have you back Benji and well done.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

U10s Hertford Flood Lit Festival & Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

Its was a busy weekend for the U10s with a floodlight festival at Hertford on Saturday evening, followed by an early fixture at Letchworth the next day!

Floodlight festival

Keeping with our inclusive ethos, we took an unstreamed team to this 'Big club' festival on Saturday evening. This is traditionally a time for other clubs to pick their best team to go up against other 'Big clubs' for bragging rights. Of course, Datch, not being one of the big boys and not streaming in any way, we knew this would be a test. But, as just as David defeated Goliath, the Datch showed what they were made of. The 'proper rugby' seen at training the previous week shone through again with our boys wowing the crowds with clinical rucking, smashing tackles and so expansive rugby. It was great to see our boys and their parents loving every second, as well as all the positive comments about how far they had come. After beating Bishop Stortford and Barnet convincingly, next up were local rivals Hertford. Against their best team (choosing from approximately 70+ children) we came away losing 3- 0, after giving them 2 tries for our own errors. But again the boys did not give up. Our final game was against the even bigger OAs. We came away losing 1- 0, again after gifting them a try from an error of our own. We came away with our heads held high after playing some amazing rugby! Another highlight was Arley being selected (by the Chairman of Hertford) as player of the tournament! This was across all teams and all age groups. He commented on Arley’s all-round game, as well as how well he listened and implemented what his coaches said (well at least one of them does!) - a very proud moment for us, Arley and his parents!

Editor’s Note….. Congratulations to Arley on behalf of the whole Club! I am also delighted to add that an U10 Mid Week Session will be taking place from this week between 6 and 7 on Wednesdays on the Flood Lit pitch. Woody, supported by others and this week Club Captain Nic Gudgin will be running the session!

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Away fixture Vs Letchworth

Following the dizzy height of the night before, we came back to earth with bump at the crack of dawn fixture at Letchworth. The squad was depleted/tired with Bryn looking like he had been on the booze all night! Our first game saw us continue our form of the previous night and training session, with everyone stepping up their game to show Letchworth what we are all about. Well done everyone ... it made the very early start worthwhile. However, the second Letchworth team were bigger, stronger and technically spot on, which proved a bridge too far for our exhausted squad, with players waving the opposition through like matadors to a bull! One player, however, stepped up. Finally, being able to see after Tich got his act together and allowed his son’s 'hair helmet' to be cut, Casey was like a man possessed. He was up in the opposition's faces and made some crucial tackles - thus deserving player of the week. Well done Casey (and Tich for getting his son’s hair cut!).

Next week sees the might of Luton arriving at Datch - another tough test where our physical game will need to be at its best.

U11s Hertford Flood Lit Festival & Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

A big thankyou to Hertford and Letchworth for hosting us on a busy weekend of rugby.

A massive thankyou to all the parents, coaches and U11 players

Hertford Saturday Night

A huge well done to Hertford for hosting what is a wonderful event. The U11's would also like to congratulate Arley from the U10's for being voted player of the tournament

We took 16 players to Hertford. Our goals were, don’t let ourselves down, play to our potential win lose or draw, play for your teammates who were not there on the night and finally just enjoy it

All the coaches were so proud of the players, the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch. Their focus and concentration for two hours was exemplary. At the end we shut the changing room door and recited a rousing version of tiki tiki tonga (video available)

So to the games. Our age group is a very competitive one. In order we played a Barbarian team made up of players from Royston, Fullerians, Hitchin and Hertford. A big well done to those guys for stepping up at short notice. We then had OA's, Hertford and Bishop Stortford.

First game against the Barbarians was a draw. It was a strong start and a good way to start the evening. OA's next and again a bruising game ended in another draw. It was Hertford up next which

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

resulted in a win and so into the final game against Bishop Stortford who were also unbeaten. Not for the want of effort but unfortunately, we lost by a single try.

The outstanding stat, we only conceded 3 try's all night For 3 years now we have sometimes sacrificed results to work on a brand of rugby that is pleasing on the eye and allows players to express themselves with no pressure from the coaches. For that we need buy in not just from the players and coaches but also from the parents who have been wonderfully supportive.

What did we learn.... we seem to be on the right path and on any given day would give any club a game. We have also learnt it's not all about skills but concentration, attitude and getting the little things right on and off the pitch. Convert some of our excellent play into try's. And finally, we need to buy some grow bags and get our players eating lots of steak, we must be the only club where players don't seem to grow However, Saturday was a good night for the U11s.

Letchworth Sunday

Good squad size is so important. Missing a few from the night before with some bumps and bruises but nothing serious we are pleased to report. However, we still took two teams and subs for what is always a competitive morning. Barnet also joined the fixture to make it a 3 way.

Alfie, William, Koray, Billy, James, Zach H (welcome back after injury) Kit, Freddie, Daniel, Samuel and Jake (first competitive game) all stepped up today and showed the same attitude and intensity as their teammates the night before. It also allowed some players to rest and not play as much as they usually do.

Both our mixed teams managed 3 games this morning. Tackling was strong some still need to go lower and hold on the tackled player. Rucking was strong and similar to Saturday evening, winning more than we lose against bigger players so technique is spot on. Our passing game is improving but could always be better and Thursday nights touch sessions are certainly helping.

Some lovely tries scored today and a special mention to Alfie, Freddie, Jake (first game) and welcome back Zach Harris after injury with a couple of try's.

Thanks to Mark and his team of coaches at Letchworth always a great fixture and it was 24 years ago I lined up against Mark in a game but we both agreed, I have aged better

Before I go off for a lay down after a hectic weekend of rugby, a big thanks to the U11 coaching team. We are all passionate about this squad and we all love our rugby. I hope for our parent’s sake the players are also napping Sunday afternoon

Have a good week all. Dan.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

U12s Hertford Flood Lit Festival & Away Vs Letchworth & Barnet

The under 12s enjoyed a fantastic 2 days of rugby this weekend in some very hospitable conditions for this time of year. First up was the floodlight festival at Hertford which is always a highlight of the year for all the boys. We were up against four strong sides but the step up in standard is great experience for all. We won 1 ...drew 1 ... and lost 2. First up we drew with Hertford in a very close contest in which both sides had their chances but couldn’t quite get over the line. Next came a narrow loss to Barnet which was a tad unfortunate and could have been the other way if VAR was in operation! Bishops Stortford were next who were taking everyone to the cleaners, but we defended like our lives were on the line to hold them to only 2 tries. We took that Dunkirk spirit into the last game and beat OA’s 3 -1 to cap off a great evening of rugby. Well done to all. Sunday at 9:30 am and we were back in battle armour to take on Letchworth. The boys were battered and bruised from the night before but stepped up to take Letchworth on in fine spirits. 2 games 11 tries to us and 1 for them. Considering the circumstances this was a heroic effort. The most pleasing thing of the weekend was the spirit, drive and attitude the boys showed . Well done to the boys and also the parents for the effort and commitment.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Youth Section

• U13s – Away Vs Twickenham

Today our U13's had their second league pool game, an away fixture at Twickenham RFC up against a large size squad in all senses. We started the game slow out of the blocks with Twickenham running in 4 tries in the first 10 minutes, mainly through us losing it after restarts, struggling for territory. However, our boys did a fantastic job of picking themselves up and ran in 3 tries before half time, making it a finely balanced game. Our scrum was great today against physically bigger boys, and our first couple of tries both came from attacking scrums in their 22. The first Myles ran in, and the second was via Sammy Jolly crashing through. The third try came from some great awareness of Troy to make quick use of the ref playing advantage.

The second half was a lot more balanced, despite the fact that they brought 10 substitutes on. Twickenham ran in more tries using the couple of big, fast players they had to break away. We were very unlucky a couple of times not to score from great backs moves, including a cross-field kick from Troy to Max on the wing who almost gathered it for a run in, and a fantastic drive between 22's from Sammy. We hung in there and scored at the end with another attacking scrum in their 22 finished off by Theo.

It ended 30-20 to the home side, which didn't really reflect the balance of play as on the whole we had the upper hand across the second and last quarters. All the boys played fantastically well as a team today and their improvement is noticeable. Well done to Lucas and Sammy who got players of the week, and welcome back to Max who's returned playing for us again.

• U14s – Home Vs Regent Park 17 – 21 (loss)

Datchworth U14s had a very hard-fought game against a very quick and powerful Regents Park Royals side. Our first concern and best wishes are all with Mackenzie and his family after a concerning neck injury, but he does seem to be okay which is very good news as he is key asset to the forwards and the whole squad. The game was very mixed today, we scored some excellent team tries and at times we looked in complete control; but in other periods a mixture of individual mistakes and some slow reactions to a quick break cost us heavily; we need to look at some positions and work on our defensive play. Despite this on the day we were unlucky to lose the match 17-21. We hope to see good numbers next week where we will be training at Datchworth, if you can make please come along to the Thursday night training as well.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

DRFC - Celebrating 50 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2019-20

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

• U15s – Home Vs Old Albanians 34 – 19 (loss)

Datchworth Tries: Matthew, Jovan, Alex Conversions: Logan (2) MoM: Jovan & DoD Harry Percy

• U18s - Home Vs Cheshunt 16 – 17 (loss)

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Senior Rugby Fixtures Update:

On Saturday afternoon the Senior Section had a tough day at the office:

• The First XV lost 38 - 19 away against Hampstead • The Second XV lost 45 -20 at home against Bishops Stortford • The Third XV lost 36 – 22 away against Biggleswade

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Mid-Week Training Plan – Time & Pitch Space Allocations

Age Head Pitch Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Group Coach Space 7 till 9 6 till 7 7 till 8 8 till 9 6 till 7 7 till 8 8 till 9 Senior Ian Reid Senior Sides Session U18 Simon Little Full 8-9 Pitch U17 Phil Barnes

U15 Phil 1/2 7-8 Nightingale Pitch U14 Andrew 1/2 7-8 Howard Pitch U13 Warren 1/2 7-8 Sullivan Pitch U12 Darren Hales 1/2 6-7 Pitch U11 Danny 1/2 6-7 Shurety Pitch U10 Woody ½ Pitch 6 - 7

Girls Phil ½ Pitch 7-8 Solomon

Mini Mid-Week Training:

• Please note first session for the U10s at 6 till 7 on Wednesday

• Mid-week training will be as above this season, confirm starting dates with your age group manager. We are aware that the plan detailed below does not work as well as hoped (very busy on Thursday with potential parking issues); these provisional arrangements may need to change to accommodate wishes where possible so at this stage this is the provisional arrangements going into the new season.

• Any squad with 6 till 7 can start earlier if Coaches / Players are able to do-so.

• Later Sessions must end very promptly to give squads training 8-9 a full hour.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Week 13 Arrangements

• Next weekend the U11s are on Parking Duty.

Pitch Arrangements: Sunday 24th November

Mini Section;

All mini age groups at home next week; the U6s are training, the U7s to U12s are all playing Luton - we will meet at 10 for a 10:30 kick off in all age groups.

Youth Section:

• The U13s are Training Village Hall Pitch • The U14s are Training Village Hall Pitch • The U15s are Away Vs OVs • The U17s are Away Vs Cheshunt • The U18s are Away Vs Old Albanians

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Minis Tour to Hilltop and Holt RFC

We are heading to Holt!! I am pleased to say most age groups now have a team to enter to the festival so the tour will be as planned! If you are still undecided the more the merrier and a few extras in each age group would help with the matches on the Sunday. Please email your age group manager or Nicola ([email protected]) but here are the headlines;

• When; April 10-12th 2020; Where; Hilltop activity centre Sheringham and Holt RFC Norfolk

• Who; Age groups U7 – U12

• Cost; Total £145 per person (2 nights’ accommodation, full day of activities evening entertainments, tour top and festival) Final payments due 14th Feb 2020.

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Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Mini Section Club Fixtures - 2019-20 Season:

Datchworth RFC Mini Section Week Date 2019/20 – 50th Playing Season Car Parking 13 Home Fixture Vs Luton RFC (all age groups) 24-Nov U11

14 Away Fixture Vs Welwyn RFC (all age groups) 01-Dec Youth

15 Away Fixture Vs Fullerians RFC (all age groups) 08-Dec Youth

Training at Datchworth 16 15-Dec U10

17 22-Dec Xmas Fun Day Training – Santa Clause and Club Festive Morning TBC

18 29-Dec XMAS & NEW YEAR BREAK – NO RUGBY No Rugby

DRFC - Celebrating 50 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2019-20

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

DRFC Social Calendar – 2019/20 (50th Playing Season)

Month Date(s) Club Event December Sat 14th Dec VP Lunch – First XV Vs Welwyn Christmas Jumper Game

Sun 15th Dec Mini Section 50th Birthday Party – Arrangements TBC

Sun 22nd Dec Mini Section Santa’s Grotto & Christmas Drinks

January Events – Age Group Quiz

February Sun 2nd Feb 6 Nations Games - France V England 15:00 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sat 8th Feb 6 Nations Games - Scotland V England 16:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sun 23rd Feb 6 Nations Games – England V Ireland 15:00 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House March Sat 7th March 6 Nations Games - England V Wales 16:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sat 14th March 6 Nations Games - Italy V England 16:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House

Fri 21st March 50th Anniversary Club Dinner & Dance (Tewin Bury Farm)

April 10th to 12th Apr Holt Tour 2019 (U7s to U12s Rugby Tour Weekend)

Sat 18th Apr Senior Section End of Season Awards (Band & Drinks)

May Sun 3rd May End of Season Mini & Youth Award Day Presentation and Party

Closing Notes

It seems appropriate to round off with a reflection on the considerable achievement of Arley Becks from our U10s being awarded the Player of the Tournament at the prestigious Hertford Flood Lit festival on Saturday evening. With some difficult results for the Senior Sides and the Youth teams it was great to read about so many positive results from the Mini Section. We will look forward to hosting Luton next Sunday in the morning before the Girls event in the afternoon.

Have a great week Best wishes, Andrew

Andrew Howard Datchworth Rugby Football Club

DRFC - Celebrating 50 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2019-20