Unity College Rugby - Emerging Schools Report
U14, Year 9
Our year 9 squad travelled to Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club last week to take part in this tournament. Due to teams withdrawing we were scheduled to play each team in our group twice. The first and second matches, against Burscough and St. Augustines, did not go our way. We failed to generate possession from scrum or the ruck and consequently lost both by small margins.
After a rousing discussion with a focus on the need to make the correct decisions and compete for the ball Unity College finally 'clicked'. In our second game against Burscough we pressurised the opposition in the tackles, competed for ball in the rucks and our scrummage looked much more solid and dominated the possession by winning the ball and driving them back. Our final group game against St. Augustines was also much more impressive and we only lost by a small margin.
This then meant that, for the first time, Unity College qualified for the Cup rather than the weaker plate competition. With St. Augustines, who we played in the group, beating Darwen Vale and qualifying as finalists we knew we had already had some tough games. Next up was Bowland. This side had clearly been together for some time and were quick, strong and knew their rugby. We acquitted ourselves well though, never giving up and even turning their powerful scrum from dominating us to competing and then pushing them back, well done forwards! Bowland, eventually went on to beat St. Augustines in the final.
Farrow, Deterville, Mather, and the almost unstoppable Henderson made great progress in the forwards and Conroy, Whitham, Randle, and captain Sykes all proved their worth. Joe Burton was our almost top scorer, having to be illegally stopped from storming down the wing by several dangerous and poor tackles from opposition teams. Chippendale, in his first games ever, proved that in the coming months he will be a solid player and determined tackler. Legend of the day went to Little as he stepped into the team at late notice, playing in several positions when the need arose.
So although we finished last in the Cup, we did prove on the day that we have the potential and the courage to compete with the best and in this tournament I can say that our under 14 side did our College proud.
U13, Year 8
Decimated by no shows and poor training turnout I was forced to select players that only have a few training sessions to represent our school at the tournament. This included 4 year 7's, who all featured heavily in the games.
In our first matches against Clitheroe Grammar and Broughton we conceded only one try a game. It was evident that we were not going to miss a lot of tackles. Indeed leading the way was Cameron Leech (year 7), who drew a collective 'oooohhhh' sound from the touchline as he absolutely destroyed the opposition ball carrier with a textbook tackle.
Captain Stockdale who with his new vice captain of Matthew Pollard lead the way in the forwards, strongly supported by Sam Matthews (year 7), Declan Bradley, and Lewis Conroy (who finally, in the later games, realised he was one of the bigger, stronger people at the tournament and started to drive through the opposition like a juggernaught).
Our final group game was given some incentive by Mr. Williams, who offered 100 vivos each (don't tell Mrs. Cryer) to beat Darwen Vale. Although the team performed well again we struggled to secure any ball and couldn't claim the reward.
After running Carnforth close in our penultimate match, our final game was played against Darwen Vale 'B' team.
Both scrum halves, Josh Loftus and another year 7 Tommy Stott had good games, as did Luke 'I don't believe you have never played before' Cocker, another year 7 marshalling the backs. Regan Burnie and a new recruit Declan Vallinder also put in some crunching, and try saving tackles throughout the tournament. Callum McGarry was solid and scored to level the game at 7 all. Mr. Williams then lost his voice and almost fell over, cheering too loudly.
Well done to all the players who represented Unity College. The next game is for our under 12's (Year 7's) is at home on Thursday the 6th October vs St. Wilfs'. Kick off at 4pm. All staff and students are welcome to watch. If our progress so far is anything to go by, it should be an enjoyable contest.