Squeaky-bum time v Colchester…

All of the players and coaches involved in Sunday's thrilling game should take real credit for that whole-hearted display. Colchester, as the leading youth club in Eastern Counties, always provide a real test and Sunday was no exception!

It was a great result for the little club with a big heart and proved to be yet another close game in the long series of matches between these two squads over the years. The U15 Sharks showed marked improvements in attitude, teamwork and execution but that shouldn’t mask the fact that there are still areas that need to be improved on if they are to kick on.

Angus Kinsella opened the scoring for the U15 Sharks with a great try - a darting, opportunistic and well taken chance that Connor Jones smoothly converted. The second Sharks try though was a real peach! The forwards set it up before Angus threw a long pass to Luke Hazzard who, incredibly swiftly, passed it on to the charging Felix Trash to score. Connor Jones again slotted home the conversion.

Luke’s cool head, speed of thought and action (despite having no space and what, from the touch lines, seemed to be the whole Colchester team bearing down on him) was a joy to see. Equally Felix, not for the first time in the match, had come flying up from full back, had clearly let the other players know he was on his way and stylishly finished off what was a superbly taken try. Fantastic to see Felix getting just reward for his tremendous efforts this season.

Connor Jones went on to seal victory for the Sharks by slotting home a penalty (a 100% success rate on the day). That though, is far from the full story. Colchester, with their three tries, never gave up the chase and displayed impressive fire, heart and skills right up until the final whistle. Their determination ensured that it was more than a little ticklish toward the end - squeaky-bum time!

‘Forwards win matches with the backs deciding by how much’ - it is difficult not to just praise the outstanding display of the U15 Sharks pack led by Taz Smith. Despite again being much the smaller, yet again they did not take a single backward step the whole match! Daniel Hamilton-McGinty for example, demonstrated that strength of character in the unfamiliar position of hooker and won the strike again and again.

The lineout at last started to click too (despite the Sharks only having the one player comparable in height to Colchester) with Ollie Hills winning a number of them. As an aside, now that the pack as a whole knows that it can win line-outs, try catching the ball rather than simply batting it back. Believe your coaches and the pretty boys in the back line - it makes life a whole lot easier and it is a darn sight more effective!

Rory Lacey again showed his worth and value with a terrific defensive display that provided a solid foundation for his team mates. The backs too had a good day in that regard, with Sam Button in particular putting in an incredibly gutsy performance. On the other wing, Jack Strachan had perhaps his best game of the season, flying into Colchester at every opportunity.

The strength of this display was the fact that you really played as team with Alex Hood, Fraser Warburton, Sam Taylor and Joe Connor covering every blade of grass be it in defence or attack. Rugby is a simple game and the best teams do the simple things well. All of these guys stepped up to the plate for the U15 Sharks Sunday to great effect.

Whilst you should all be proud of your performance and that improvement, it was especially good to see the progress being made by the forwards in releasing their backs, particularly given that the opposition made that a tough call on the day.

Perhaps the one issue that needs to be highlighted was the number of penalties that were needlessly conceded. Many were conceded totally unecessarily. Similarly, it is madness not to retreat the ten yards or be behind the line when the opposition have a penalty. Such indiscipline led directly to one of the Colchester tries and indirectly to another. The victory would have been sealed a lot sooner had these not happened. Be sure to cut it out.

All in all though, a really, really encouraging performance and a great win! Do be sure to kick on again. Remember, if you train hard, not only will you be hard, you will be hard to beat!