An astonishingly gutsy performance!

On the day, having a result snatched away from the U15 Sharks right at the last, on the final whistle, was very tough on an astonishingly gutsy display from the bunch of outstanding young men representing Southwold Rugby Club.

Any match report though, simply has to pay tribute to the respect a talented and clever Woodbridge side earned with their display. They showed enormous strength of character to get themselves back into the match, kept going to the final whistle and managed to grab a match winning try right at the death.

Turning to the one lesson that must be learned from the game, how about this: “In summary, Southwold deserved the win, defending superbly well throughout the game. Defence however, is only part of the game, and more work needs to be done on attacking strategies. As we near the mid point of the season and honestly assess where we are as a team, more tries and points need to be scored in each game.”

Now you might have thought that was the U15 Sharks coaches but it wasn’t! That is an extract from the Southwold 1st XV’s match report. The lesson for the U15 Sharks is exactly the same though - you have to take your chances and you have to make an awful lot more use of that outstanding back line of yours who simply ooze class and pace!

The U15 Sharks can take great pride from their incredibly committed display. In fact they should ALL be very proud of their performances and take great confidence from them. Be in no doubt that the club, your coaches, your family and the spectators (many of whom were drawn to the game Sunday) were hugely impressed by your gutsy performance on the day and the talent you have. All of them are also very proud of what you have achieved this season.

Indeed, there were a number of coaches and others watching who have had great (and some of them, although they might not like me saying it, very, very long) experience of rugby. To quote one of them, “Given the choice, any coach would prefer to coach the U15 Sharks out of the two sides. Man for man they were the better team and their enthusiasm, commitment and appetite for the game were a joy to see.”

The bare facts of the match are that Woodbridge took the lead from a penalty before Daniel Hamilton-McGinty took matters into his own hands (once again), finishing off a rampaging run with a glorious try. Conor Jones and Angus Kinsella piled the pressure on their opposite numbers throughout with Angus’s tackle resulting in Sam Taylor getting his hands on the ball and using it brilliantly to get his try. At that stage, with a lead of 10-3 and more chances being created, things looked good, but the bigger Woodbridge pack was cleverly turning the match into a forwards battle.

The U15 Sharks forwards though, even when much the smaller pack, roll over for no one. The front row of captain Taz Smith, Jack Strachan and Alex Hood were immense whilst Ollie Hills and Will Robinson made sure that the Woodbridge forwards knew they were in a fiercesome contest. Woodbridge though, did rumble through to peg the U15 Sharks back with a converted try in the second half and no matter how many times Daniel, Sam and, especially Rory Lacey turned them back, the big visiting forwards kept coming.

The pretty boys in the back line (Angus Kinsella, Conor Jones, Luke Hazzard, Felix Trash, Bobby Wickham, Sam Button, Harvey Wallis and Fraser Warburton) once again showed their steel! Not once did Woodbridge manage to get anyone past the back three of Sam, Fraser and Harvey. Felix, Luke and Bobby stopped the tide again and again whilst Angus and Conor gave no space or quarter to any of the opposition (forwards or backs).

Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of rugby is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time. Woodbridge with their considerably larger pack, used their experience to suck the U15 Sharks into a forward battle and cleverly stopped quick ball to the back line - a lesson learned.

The importance of the weather having stopped recent training and better use of the back line was there for all to see too - if you train hard together, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat!

We all know that Sam, Harvey and Fraser are quick and will get you that try given a yard of space but Felix and Luke are incredibly quick too! Whilst they put on a huge defensive display, worth remembering that both Felix and Luke showed a clean pair of heels to the entire Woodbridge back line when Felix intercepted the ball. Only a bad bounce from his kick prevented one of the two of them from grabbing a try. So do make sure that you give that back line the chance to show what they can do – you won’t regret it!

This really is an outstanding group of players and it is amazing the way in which you have developed. When first we came up into Youth rugby, we struggled to get enough players for a game of Sevens. The fairly new situation of taking to the field with 15 players is great! Not only that, we again had a (much needed) substitute! It does go to show the importance of having a SQUAD of players available when playing top notch teams like this.

Finally, do remember U15 Sharks that it is not whether you get knocked down that is important, it’s whether you get back up! Have a great game against Swaffham at home this Sunday.