Hertfordshire RFU RFU National U20 Championship 7766 hertsrugby.co.uk Hertfordshire Stags v Kent U20’s Sunday 19 March 2017, KO 2.30 pm, Bishop’s Stortford RFC Message from The President of The RFU 7766 I am delighted to wish everyone involved in today’s game a most enjoyable day. County rugby is an essential part of the culture, history and tradition of the game and, whilst considered by some as having little meaning, is highly valued by the players and coaches involved as well as the spectators and volunteers who commit their time in supporting it. Representative rugby helps players reach the highest level which their natural ability will allow, For some, this will be County level with the prospect of getting through to a County final at Twickenham; others will go forward and play for their Division and even be selected for the England Counties XV which at the end of each season includes an overseas tour. Last year for the Under 20’s the tour was to Hungary and this year it is to the Netherlands. A big thank you to all our excellent coaches and match officials for their continuation and dedication in support of this important competition and to the clubs hosting the matches. I do hope you all have a great day at Bishop’s Stortford. Peter Baines RFU President Herts RFU Vice President Welcome from Herts RFU President 7766 By the time you read this England may have won the 2016-17 Six Nations Grand Slam. This is not to pre-empt the outcome as we have had to go to press earlier this week however if it is so then what a fantastic result for The RFU President, our very own Peter Baines. Fingers crossed yet another record being broken with a Hertfordshire man at the helm. It gives me great pleasure in welcoming Kent to Silver Leys. You will note that not only do they have one of the finest playing surfaces you will find but also a club that is on a serious roll with their senior side lying 5 points clear at the top of National 2 South. You will find on the back pages of this programme the latest on how we have gone so far which leads us into this afternoons match with all to play for from each side. Yet again many thanks must go to the match officials and all the volunteers who have helped to host this U 20’s County Championship game. Win lose or draw this group of young men will play their hearts out and will gain friendships which will last for years to come, that is the real victory. Please keep your vocal support to the point without complaint making applauding good play and forgiving the odd mistake. Martyn Kirk President of Herts RFU. 7766 07 Match Officials HRFU U20’s Stags Referee:- Mr Alex Ebbage- Suffolk. AR1:- Mr James Pidding- c/o Herts Society 7766 AR2:- Mr Matt Sharpe-c/o Herts Society Referee Advisor- Mr Michael Harrison. 15: Matt Bendin Hertford 14: Tom Fawssett Fullerians 13: Tom Smith Old Albanians 12: Brandon Bowden Bishop Stortford 11: Josh Rudling Hertford 10: Jamie George Bishop Stortford 9: Alex Patton Bishop Stortford 8: Ed Tidey Tring RFC 7: Teddy King Bishop Stortford 6: Sam Tanton Old Albanians 5: Zac Scott-Grey Hertford (Captain) 4: Dan Wilton Tring RFC 3: Karl Garside Old Albanians 2: Mike Bond Old Albanians 1: Seb Brownhill Bishop Stortford 16: Jordan MacDonald Leeds Beckett University 17: James Gallagher Loughborough University 18: Matt Brooks Loughborough University 19: Ethan Renny Enfield Ignatians 20: Harry Glennon Hertford 21: Alex Brown Durham University 22: Julian Manieson- Fullerians. R1: Josh White Ampthill RFC R2: Joe Tracey Bishop Stortford R3: Cairo Sango Enfield Ignatians Herts Stags Coaching Team: Paul Jelski Head Coach. Carl Bradshaw Assistant and Backs Coach Bobby Graham 7766Assistant and Forwards Coach David Paine S&C- Assistant coach Ash Walsh Team/Squad Manager. Herts Physios and Medical Team: Mike Orr Rob Barr Match Officials Referee:- Mr Alex Ebbage- Suffolk. AR1:- Mr James Pidding- c/o Herts Society Kent U 20’s AR2:- Mr Matt Sharpe-c/o Herts Society Referee Advisor- Mr Michael Harrison. 15. B Hutston Elthamians RFC 14. A Orris Medway RFC 13. H Roberts Elthamians RFC 12. B Bateup Westcombe Park RFC 11. J Earle Cranbrook RFC 10. F Reynolds Tunbridge Wells RFC 9. W Luxford Elthamians RFC 1. M Young Dartfordians RFC 2. J Otto Dover RFC 3. J Simmons Sevenoaks RFC 4. J Stubbington Medway RFC 5. C Self Elthamians RFC 6. J Hawkins Blackheath FC (Captain) 7. M Skinner Sevenoaks RFC 8. A Everett Sevenoaks RFC 16. S Stone Old Colfeians RFC 17. T Little Thanet Wanderers RFC 18. M Hewitt Gravesend RFC 19. J Toriyen-Smythe Dartfordians RFC 20. C Loyal Dartfordians RFC 21. W Kelley Blackheath RFC 22. J Regnier Dartfordians RFC Kent U20’s Coaching Team: Lead Coach Taff Gwilliam Coach Malcolm Graves Manager Terry Hodson Secretary Adi Moss Kent U20’s Physios and Medical Team: Physio Dan Horgan Masseur Antony Clement 07 The Stags so far.... 7766 The Stags so far The Stags have had a mixed season so far in the RFU National U20 Championship, losing their opening pool match against Surrey at Farnham the beating a weak Essex side at Thurrock. With Kent winning both their games and having a superior bonus points haul and points difference the Stags will need to beat Kent by a large margin to top the table. In fact with Surrey expected to beat Essex, a bonus point win is probably needed to reach second place in the pool and a place in the quarter finals. The story of the first two matches is set out below Surrey U20 30 Hertfordshire Stags 20 Surrey outplayed Hertfordshire Stags in the set pieces to win the opening pool match. They were stronger than the Stags in the scrums, frequently pushing the Stags back and forcing them to conceded penalties, and also dominated the lines out. In the loose however the Stags forwards had the upper hand, both in attack and defence where they works as a good unit led by skipper No 8 Zac Scott-Grey (Hertford). With limited ball from the set pieces the backs were able to show their paces in broken play, but fewer handling errors could have produced more rewards. Both sides took a few minutes to get used to playing on the artificial surface at Weydon School, but Surrey soon showed their scrimmage strength. They disrupted a Stag’s scrum on the Herts 22 and their scrum half Dabell (Hartbury Coll) took advantage and swiftly crossed the line for the opening score. Shortly after a good break by centre Tom Smith (Old Albanian), set up a good position at which Surrey were penalised and Jamie George (Bishop’s Stortford) kicked the penalty. However Surrey continued to exert pressure and when on the half hour the Stags scrum half was sin binned for an illegal tackle they took full advantage. From a line out the drove for the line and put Boater (Birmingham Univ) over for an unconverted try. That made the score 10 – 3 to Surrey and that remained the score at half time. Despite conceding an early penalty which Forbes kicked, the Stags dominated the third quarter. Good interplay between backs and forwards too play to just shorts of the Surrey line from where hooker Mike Bond (Old Albanian) was driven over for a try which George converted. Then 10 minutes into the half the Stags took the lead when scrum half Alex Patton (Bishop’s Stortford) took a wick penalty on the Surrey 22 and Ethan Renney (Enfield Ignatians) charged over for an unconverted try. The Stags continued to have the better of play, even winning a line out against the throw. This enabled them to asset up an attack and after taking the ball deep into Surrey territory they recy- cled and Renney extended the lead to 20 - 13 with a try. Surry immediately closed the gap via a penalty from Gratton (Chopham) and soon after the Stags received their second yellow card of the match. This changed the balance somewhat and Surry came back into the game. With 10 minutes to go Surrey regained the lead when Tate (London Irish) scored from a line out catch and drive. Then minutes later Lipinski (Richmond sealed the win with a blistering run from the half way for the final try. Both these tries were converted by Forbes to make the final score 30 – 20 to Surrey. The Stags so far.... 7766 Essex U20 7 Hertfordshire Stags 57 Hertfordshire Stags swept Essex U20s aside in their pool match at Thurrock eventually running in nine tries to win by 57 points to 7. The Stags dominated the game in all facets except at the scrum where they struggled early on to such an extent that they lost their loose head prop to the sin bin after half an hour’s play. But the pack more than made up for this in the lines out where their own ball was very secure and they won at least three of the Kent throw-ins. In the loose the Stags frequently drove Kent back and won many turnovers. The half backs, Pat- ton and Matt Bendin (Hertford), had outstanding games and they gave both backs and forward every opportunity to run the ball. However at times players were a little too enthusiastic to run the ball and as a result there were a number of handling errors, without which the margin of victory would have been higher.