Southwold -V- Ipswich

Southwold Under 10's made the journey down to Ipswich to play on what was a sunny and perfect day for rugby. With a few players un-available, the Wold '9' were thoroughly warmed up by the coaches on passing and moving together, with three of the players being given some advanced maul practice to develop their skills in this phase of the game & the remaining six passing and drilling.

The day was to be played by the 9 as a 9, with no substitute's, so everyone played two full games. Skipper for the day; Warren Terry stepped forward to duly lose the toss and give Ipswich the start.

Southwold began with some great line speed when not in possession, with Terry in particular having a couple of fine runs and making some crunch tackles on a robust looking Ipswich midfield. Southwold competed hard in this first half and in pods, managed to secure possession. Mazy runs from Grainger Muir from the base made a few yards before Ellis Philips, driven on by Archie Camp smashed his way to the line to open Wolds account. In the follow on play, Warren Terry took a bang to the leg and had to momentarily withdraw for assessment. During this period, despite the best efforts of Southwold, Ipswich drew level with a well worked try. Terry retuned a few minutes later to the fray, much to his team mates relief.

It was this return that proved to be the key, as he combined to release Jacob Bayford and Isobel Ross who made a few yards before going to ground. At this point, the rucking from Will Dyson began to come to the fore and possession was recycled several times in close tight rucked pod phases involving several of the squad. Metres were made. Dyson then combined with Philips in a loose maul & as coached earlier in the session, both players positioned their bodies perfectly to drive & destroy Ipswich will a 25 metre maul try, scored by Dyson. This drove Southwold on to tackle and ruck hard to win turn over from the kick off. The ball floated along the line through Bayford & Louis Davey before going to ground on the half way line. Again the ball was recycled, this time by James Rowland and Archie Camp in the ruck. Muir spun a pass to the flyer Bayford who ran half the length of the pitch and seal the game. The start Southwold needed.

The second game against a new and fresh Ipswich '9' was a different affair. Two of the Ipswich players were significantly bigger than anyone Wold had ever played before and this proved challenging for some time in the game.

Southwold began brightly and retained possession for several phases before a dropped pass gave possession to Ipswich. From the restart, Ipswich simply passed to the giant and he yomped through several players to score. This pattern repeated for a further three unanswered tries from Ipswich. Despite good rucking and maul loose play, the big man from Ipswich was running away with it!

At half time, both coaches encouraged the players to believe in themselves and the skills they had been taught and their own massive talents. The words were not wasted. Straight from the restart, Ipswich gave the ball to the larger charger, who was felled by Will Dyson with a hard chop tackle that enabled Ellis Philips and Warren Terry to smother him. Returning to his feet and going round the back door, Dyson snaffled the ball at the ruck immediately and the ball was fed along the line by Muir, Terry and Ross to Jacob Bayford, who again opened his legs to score a fine try in the corner. Wold looked stunned by it. When they let the ball do the work, Ipswich, despite their size, couldn't keep up. From the restart, the same player was stopped this time by Archie Camp and vice captain James Rowland. Dyson won the ruck and fed Philips who hammered up field. Louis Davey received from the break down and made some metres, before Dyson received the ball and charged his way through to score. Southwold now realised that in the ruck, they were better and could win the ball, especially as Ipswich, despite obvious size advantage, couldn't get rucking. Missed tackles allowed the big man to score again, but it was noted that he was jumping into tackles and handing off. An advisory word from a coach to Philips & Dyson saw the Ipswich prancing horse felled by the two Wold players and tempers frayed. Wold did not rise to this, but rucked & recycled up the pitch to a whisker of the third try before an offside player gave the play away. Some of Wold's tackling was fierce at times and Ipswich were rattled by this. In the final play of the day, Isobel Ross took a hit, but released Muir, and ran like a gazelle to make some meters, before Camp, Philips & Bayford worked the ball up the field. The play again continued up to the try line, but Wold couldn't force it over.

The games ended on a high note, with both sets of coaches agreeing this was a fair and well played contest.

Skipper for next week is James Rowland, with Archie Camp now vice captain following a sterling performance in the loose and some disruptive play that turned the ball Wolds way...