Festive cheer for Bicester U13’s
A gritty effort against Ampthill gave the Bicester U13’s an early Christmas present thanks to good team work, determination and a few choice words from the coaches!! But, it was not all plain sailing to get the 42-31 result.
After a sluggish start, which saw the team caught on the hop with two early trys from their opponents, the boys clawed their way back into the game matching the try score, only to be punished by another Ampthill try on the verge of half-time.
The short and rather sharp half-time pep talk sent the team back onto the pitch with renewed vigour – the boys were certainly under no illusion that they had spent the first 25 minutes making life very hard for themselves!
Starting two points down in the second half, Bicester came out guns-a-blazing to score a try within minutes of the whistle blowing. Giving them the lead for the first time in the match, the dogged efforts were rewarded by yet another try and some great conversions. The forwards dug deep and really started to turn the screw especially from the set pieces. Their solid performance gave the backs something to work with and reward was yet again sweet with another try.
A brief bad spell ensued, due to poor discipline and a lapse in concentration from Bicester. This resulted in a penalty and a further try for Ampthill – a lesson learnt. As the game was coming to a close, both teams continued to battle to the bitter end, with Ampthill scoring a very late try. But, it was not enough to secure the win.
At the final whistle and to the delight of the crowds that had gathered to watch this tense game, Bicester stood victorious. Credit where credit is due, the forwards were very consistent winning every scrum and the backs pulled out of the bag some fantastic set pieces. The 42-31 win saw the team physically drained, but there is nothing like a bit of pain to win such a hard fought contest – Ampthill were worthy opponents.
It remains to say, a big thank you to all the team and of course the parents for the continued support and dedication. We have a good little team and here’s to more success in the New Year. Remember boys, have a good rest now, but come back in January ready to start working on overall fitness and your core rugby skills. Here’s to a truly committed team effort in 2009 and let’s continue your streak of winning rugby!
Merry Christmas to you all and a huge thank you for my chocs and bubbly.
Cheers John
Tuesday 23 December 2008
Tuesday 16 December 2008
Bicester U13’s v Henley U 13’s County Cup 14th December 2008
With the match being postponed due to the Henley pitch being unfit to play due to all the rain the previous night, Paul set about the task of informing all of the postponement, only hours later to get the call from Henley that they had found a pitch that could be used.
One snag or may be two!
No Changing facilities and no FOOD!
Do we play or Do we Not ?
On the plus side, if we didn’t then Charlie, our talisman Captain would hopefully be fit and back to lead his team and the hard working Oscar would be back all sun tanned and raring to go through all in his way!
Then the other option we say yes we want to play the game, with the view that Henley would have to play a more of a mixed side with their normal influx of very disciplined private school boys normally all coming in after the new year.
Decisions’, Decisions!
Based on the writers previous experience in similar positions in the same cup with Henley with my previous team and on the back of some good training performances and the recent Reading Abbey result, all be it with the strong performances of Charlie and Oscar, it was hoped that the time was right to play if we could.
So I have to confess that the responsibility of playing the game opposed to waiting for another day! Was mine. In hind sight wrong choice.
The Game,
On the morning Bicester, due to injury, holidays and sickness only 16 players turned up to choose from, and unknown to the coach a number of the boys who did come to play had been suffering from colds and in some cases flu.
The team almost picked itself, with Chris stepping in to cover for Oscar at Prop from the 2nd row with Ed Tolly switching from Hooker to 2nd Row with the ever improving Liam coming in at Hooker.
Due to the absence of Charlie who had recently been switched to Inside Centre, Ryan was asked to revert back from Flanker to Inside Centre, he was duly replaced at Flanker by Luke Freeman who had continued to impress in the few weeks since joining.
The normal practice of a Society Referee for County Cup matches seemed to have slipped past Henley with the match being refereed by yes, you have guessed it a Henley Coach!
Bicester were warmed up with the backs being strongly reminded the importance of keeping discipline regarding defensive lines and marking man for man knowing where Henley’s strengths would lie.
The game started with a bang! With Ed Hines stopping a strong running Henley play with his Nose, the blow, rocked Ed causing him to renew his friendship with my handkerchief for the second game running in an attempt to stop the strong blood flow, the nose bleed and actual blow stunned Ed and caused him to have to leave the pitch for treatment.
During the treatment the game played on with Ed’s opposite number (Henley 10) taking advantage of the fact the remaining 14 Bicester players for once did what had been requested of them man for man marking.
Only problem was Bicester’s own No 10 was off the pitch! Before they realised Ed was not there, for his man he was through the gap that had been left to score the first try.
After a further 5 minutes Henley scored their second with the aid of a few unseen knock on’s and handling the ball on the floor by the Henley players.
That try was hard for the boys to take, with confidence slipping from the boys shape and discipline regarding defensive also fell away.
There were some other rather dubious decisions regarding the refereeing with Henley being allowed almost to live off side without being penalised, yet on the few times the Bicester did get their defensive lines and timing right they were unfairly penalised.
There were a few dubious tries awarded, failing to ground the ball did not prevent scores being given.
That said the boys simply did not perform as a unit they played with no confidence in either the forwards or backs with only a few of the boys reaching any of their true form.
Bicester succeeded by the lack of support and any real attempt to clear out any of the good ball that was made available on the rare occasions to make the Henley forwards to look far better then they were.
The backs did the same with only Tom on the wing and François playing at scrum half showed the desire for the required physical confrontation that was required, with Ed never really recovering from the smash in the face, although working and trying hard his natural quick thinking game was subdued.
With only a few of the forwards keeping up with the pace of the game possibly in some cases being hindered by the effects of the colds and sickness in the week plus the very heavy ground underfoot, the hard working performances of Allan, Giles, Tim, Luke (whilst in the forwards) and Liam (who had his best game for some time, his reward possibly for his new training regime) were not enough to contain the tighter fitter Henley forwards.
With Luke showing more experience and desire then most, being played in two position at first at Flanker and then on the wing, in both positions he showed good form and effort, showing he is learning fast and showing good potential and Allan giving all at prop joining the lines of the backs many times to try to burst through.
Bicester, Huffed and they Puffed, they did have a few ventures into the Henley 22m almost going over on a few occasions in each half only to be pushed back by strong hard defensive work by the hard working home team.
On one occasion in the second half Bicester had no fewer then 8 attempts at scoring camping themselves on in the Henley 5m line however their efforts were made individually opposed to being in an organised controlled set piece thus aiding the Henley defence.
Rather then going through the scoring or particular events or sequences of the match in the normal (often long winded manner) the Coaches, Parents and Boys know who tried their best, who tried to do what was asked of them, the boys admitted that they did not do their best, they have to understand that they simply have to put in the effort, EVERY single time if they want the reward of playing well and by their actions get the performances and results they want, it all down to effort that in the boys biggest match of the season was missing from to many.
Final Result was: Bicester 0 Henley …………………….44
Conclusion,
Henley were not as strong as High Wycombe, possibly a little better the Reading Abbey, and not in the same league as the Old Northamtonians, if we had tried as we had in those games even with those missing we could have won the game!
So let’s get fitter, Stronger, and more Switched on to what Rugby is about.
Desire, Passion, Effort and then skill.
Sorry Charlie, Oscar, we let you down this week hope to make it up next game!
For those who are not at training on Tuesday, I am not around from Friday and will be away until Boxing day so will miss the party, have a good one and please do 100 press ups every minimum even on Christmas Day!!
Best Wishes for Christmas and New Year
Mark
One snag or may be two!
No Changing facilities and no FOOD!
Do we play or Do we Not ?
On the plus side, if we didn’t then Charlie, our talisman Captain would hopefully be fit and back to lead his team and the hard working Oscar would be back all sun tanned and raring to go through all in his way!
Then the other option we say yes we want to play the game, with the view that Henley would have to play a more of a mixed side with their normal influx of very disciplined private school boys normally all coming in after the new year.
Decisions’, Decisions!
Based on the writers previous experience in similar positions in the same cup with Henley with my previous team and on the back of some good training performances and the recent Reading Abbey result, all be it with the strong performances of Charlie and Oscar, it was hoped that the time was right to play if we could.
So I have to confess that the responsibility of playing the game opposed to waiting for another day! Was mine. In hind sight wrong choice.
The Game,
On the morning Bicester, due to injury, holidays and sickness only 16 players turned up to choose from, and unknown to the coach a number of the boys who did come to play had been suffering from colds and in some cases flu.
The team almost picked itself, with Chris stepping in to cover for Oscar at Prop from the 2nd row with Ed Tolly switching from Hooker to 2nd Row with the ever improving Liam coming in at Hooker.
Due to the absence of Charlie who had recently been switched to Inside Centre, Ryan was asked to revert back from Flanker to Inside Centre, he was duly replaced at Flanker by Luke Freeman who had continued to impress in the few weeks since joining.
The normal practice of a Society Referee for County Cup matches seemed to have slipped past Henley with the match being refereed by yes, you have guessed it a Henley Coach!
Bicester were warmed up with the backs being strongly reminded the importance of keeping discipline regarding defensive lines and marking man for man knowing where Henley’s strengths would lie.
The game started with a bang! With Ed Hines stopping a strong running Henley play with his Nose, the blow, rocked Ed causing him to renew his friendship with my handkerchief for the second game running in an attempt to stop the strong blood flow, the nose bleed and actual blow stunned Ed and caused him to have to leave the pitch for treatment.
During the treatment the game played on with Ed’s opposite number (Henley 10) taking advantage of the fact the remaining 14 Bicester players for once did what had been requested of them man for man marking.
Only problem was Bicester’s own No 10 was off the pitch! Before they realised Ed was not there, for his man he was through the gap that had been left to score the first try.
After a further 5 minutes Henley scored their second with the aid of a few unseen knock on’s and handling the ball on the floor by the Henley players.
That try was hard for the boys to take, with confidence slipping from the boys shape and discipline regarding defensive also fell away.
There were some other rather dubious decisions regarding the refereeing with Henley being allowed almost to live off side without being penalised, yet on the few times the Bicester did get their defensive lines and timing right they were unfairly penalised.
There were a few dubious tries awarded, failing to ground the ball did not prevent scores being given.
That said the boys simply did not perform as a unit they played with no confidence in either the forwards or backs with only a few of the boys reaching any of their true form.
Bicester succeeded by the lack of support and any real attempt to clear out any of the good ball that was made available on the rare occasions to make the Henley forwards to look far better then they were.
The backs did the same with only Tom on the wing and François playing at scrum half showed the desire for the required physical confrontation that was required, with Ed never really recovering from the smash in the face, although working and trying hard his natural quick thinking game was subdued.
With only a few of the forwards keeping up with the pace of the game possibly in some cases being hindered by the effects of the colds and sickness in the week plus the very heavy ground underfoot, the hard working performances of Allan, Giles, Tim, Luke (whilst in the forwards) and Liam (who had his best game for some time, his reward possibly for his new training regime) were not enough to contain the tighter fitter Henley forwards.
With Luke showing more experience and desire then most, being played in two position at first at Flanker and then on the wing, in both positions he showed good form and effort, showing he is learning fast and showing good potential and Allan giving all at prop joining the lines of the backs many times to try to burst through.
Bicester, Huffed and they Puffed, they did have a few ventures into the Henley 22m almost going over on a few occasions in each half only to be pushed back by strong hard defensive work by the hard working home team.
On one occasion in the second half Bicester had no fewer then 8 attempts at scoring camping themselves on in the Henley 5m line however their efforts were made individually opposed to being in an organised controlled set piece thus aiding the Henley defence.
Rather then going through the scoring or particular events or sequences of the match in the normal (often long winded manner) the Coaches, Parents and Boys know who tried their best, who tried to do what was asked of them, the boys admitted that they did not do their best, they have to understand that they simply have to put in the effort, EVERY single time if they want the reward of playing well and by their actions get the performances and results they want, it all down to effort that in the boys biggest match of the season was missing from to many.
Final Result was: Bicester 0 Henley …………………….44
Conclusion,
Henley were not as strong as High Wycombe, possibly a little better the Reading Abbey, and not in the same league as the Old Northamtonians, if we had tried as we had in those games even with those missing we could have won the game!
So let’s get fitter, Stronger, and more Switched on to what Rugby is about.
Desire, Passion, Effort and then skill.
Sorry Charlie, Oscar, we let you down this week hope to make it up next game!
For those who are not at training on Tuesday, I am not around from Friday and will be away until Boxing day so will miss the party, have a good one and please do 100 press ups every minimum even on Christmas Day!!
Best Wishes for Christmas and New Year
Mark
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Bicester U13’s v Reading Abbey U 13’s
With the match being changed from the Oxford Road ground to the preferred Chesterton ground, with the audience was captive simply as we were the only team playing!
With the full support of the Parents behind the scenes i.e. “in the kitchen” all what was required was a good performance from the Bicester Boys.
After having their confidence knocked over the last few weeks having played two very strong powerful teams on the bounce, the decision had come for previously considered positional changes to be made!
Having almost a full squad to pick from with the exception of Allan Hillman and David Champney who were both sick, plus the added bonus of a second new player Jack Cowling who had recently attended a mid week training session and was ready for his debut for Bicester as a late replacement for the “late” Sam Skellern.
Changes were plenty, for the record the new line up was as follows:
The Forwards were:
1.Oscar, 2. Liam, 3. Chris,
4. Jack C, 5.Ed Tolly,
7. Ryan, 6. Tim,
8. Giles,
The Backs were:
9. (Scrum half)
François, 10. (Fly half)
Ed Hines, 12. (Inside Centre)
Charlie, 13. (Outside Centre)
Max, 14, (Wing)
11. (Wing) Jack D,
Tom,
15. (Full Back)
Josh,
Replacements: 16, Jack T, 17, Sam S, 18, Will & 19, Luke.
Rest of the team were:
In the Kitchen:
Anne on Potatoes, Dawn on Chilli, Karen on the Bacon, Sam & Debbie Tea’s, Coffee’s & Serving:
Guest Appearance Chef of the Veggie Chilli: Big Chef Alan Taylor:
Front of House:
Pam, Hannah & Holly:
Clearing:
Rachel, Hugh, Alan T & James:
Washer Up: Mark Skellern:
Wipers: Chris White & Dean Bennett
Coach/ Referee: Paul
Coach/Longest Beard/Quiet: John
Coach/Loud: Mark
Security: Penny T (left by all at Kick off to guard the premises and food)
Changing Room Cleaners: To be confirmed as Writer was to busy eating the food to notice.
For all those who helped not mentioned in the above list a big SORRY! (buy me a drink next time I see you and I will give a little mention)
After the recent results had taken its toll on the boys confidence, the coaching team decided that positional changes were to be made, for a number of reasons one of the main ones was to attempt to counter the opponents recent Raw pace and Power deployed within the Centres, another was to try and be a little different in the pack bring in ball players to open up play opposed to simply “Pick & Go”.
Within the changing rooms prior to the game it was again explained that the present position being played by each boy would probably not be that they would be playing in a few years time, reasons for this is some times sheer size, weight, speed and at times aggression, once this is accepted then the boys accept that change is good and all part of their development, they had witnessed first hand the speed and organisation of a good team, so anything and everything is worth trying.
From the team detailed above it was clear where the major changes were to be made.
The faster forwards had been moved to the backs with Charlie, Max being played at Centres and Tom making the change to the wing, the normal half backs in Ryan and Tim were played as forwards in the two flanking positions.
François was asked to fill the roll of Scrum half with Ed Hines moving from that position to Fly half, the other changes were Giles returning to No 8, Ed Tolly going to lock from Hooker, Jack (Big) making his debut at lock, Liam returning to Hook, Oscar remaining as Prop, Chris moving from lock to Prop in the absence of Allan.
Jack D, remained on the wing asked to hold his position and his runs so that he could obtain a pass with space to show his pace.
The other player to retain his usual position was Josh who had maintained his form over the last weeks.
Warm Up:
The coaches also changed around their warm up procedures with Paul taking the forwards with Mark and John taking the Backs.
As the changes had intentionally been withheld from the boys until the morning of the match so as not to cause concern or worry, the warm ups were sharp and pressured in an attempt to quicken the thinking process of each player, it was hoped that natural instinctive play would result.
The Opponents’ Reading Abbey,
The coaches had no knowledge of the opposition, it was clear that they had some very large players who looked typical of the previous week’s team.
The Game kicked off with Bicester receiving the ball from start, the forwards carried the ball into their opponents setting up good ruck’s, from these, the ball was quickly distributed by François to Ed H, who was able to ask a questions of the opponents fly half defence with searching darting probing runs, Ed drew his man before passing to Charlie who open his stride to show his power and pace, with Max able to keep up and keep in Charlie’s vision Charlie was able to keep the ball alive by passing well for Max to take the game forward using good running lines Jack D, was able to see far more of the ball.
For the first 5 minutes of the game the pattern remained the same with the Bicester forwards having the better of the Reading Pack, holding their own Scrum well and turning over their opponents on a number of occasions, with the Big No 8 of Reading being swamped by the new fast flankers Tim and Ryan and well assisted by Giles who was seeing a lot of the ball and Reading players in his tackling.
With the forwards competing well in the open play Tim and Ryan were able to show their reading of the game often speedily collecting loose ball and shooting out of rucks quickly setting off away from the bigger forwards.
The first try went to Bicester after a good interchange between François and Ed H, bringing into play a run around set piece, Charlie received the ball taking the game a further 10m before he passed to Max who showed to go one way before cutting in back inside to cut through the Reading defence he had wrong footed, in the process Max went past no fewer then five players who were held off with a few timely hand offs before going over under the posts.
Tim quickly knocked over the conversion
Bicester 7 Reading Abbey 0
After the solid start the recent lost confidence was returning by the second, with all seeming to be enjoying all aspects of the game, Giles was combining well with his new Scrum half and his new Flankers, Francois was himself probing well around the fringe almost scoring with a blind side run from a 5m Scrum.
The front three Oscar, Liam & Chris were on top of their opposite numbers and debutant “Big” Jack C, was keeping up with play and showing good hands, Ed Tolley was playing his usual solid game again showing his increasing fitness and reading of the game.
Reading tried to get free of the Bicester shackles without success due to the Bicester boys strong tackling particularly on the wing from Tom who was showing his discipline regarding maintaining his position and good supporting play from Ryan, Chris and Liam.
After further surging running and good hands within the backs almost providing more tries, Bicester were able to score a second try with Tim quickly spotting a gap after picking up at a ruck diving over for a well earned try.
The resultant conversion from a far was duly missed.
Bicester 12 Reading Abbey 0
Bicester made a few changes at this point with Max being replace at Centre due to injury by Luke, and Jack C making way for Sam S, the game continued to flow with the visitors coming into the game more, and being rewarded after breaking through a few half tackles to go over in the corner.
This Conversion attempt was also missed as the length of kick was out of the kickers range.
Bicester 12 Reading Abbey 5
Shortly after this the promising start for Francois came to an end as he took a heavy blow to his knee from a set of an opponents studs, with Mark unable to get across to use the magic sponge treatment was left to the St Johns Ambulance crew who were successful in their attempt to ensure he went home for an early bath (or had he been tipped off by Professional Chef Dad about the Chilli??)
Into the match came Jack Taylor at scrum half who once warmed up was in the action taking the game to his opposite number.
Half Time
With Bicester enjoying the majority of the game and having the most chances to score the boys had settled well and were enjoying the game again.
At the restart Bicester had again made changes with Max returning to the action, Luke was repositioned to the wing with Jack D coming off, Will was put in to the second row with Sam replacing Chris at Prop.
The game started with Bicester restoring order and showing good control, shape and running lines, a similar game plan unfolded with the Bicester Pack taking control up front the backs showing again good hands. After a further 5 minutes Jack D returned at Scrum half with Jack T switching to wing with Luke coming off after a good showing on the wing almost going over for his first try, only to find himself the receiver of a forward pass after he had drifted off side.
When Reading managed to obtain the ball they started to resort to kicking for territory rather then trying to run through the home defence, this simply brought Josh Denton the Bicester Full back into the game, on one of these occasions Josh collected the ball on his 10m line and instead of selecting a defensive clearing kick ( ignoring Coaches screams to kick, even louder shouting voice required!) he chose to run, showing not only confidence but good lines and timing of his pass to Ed H, who continued in the same vain by himself showing strong running and similar timing of pass to Charlie who carried the ball to the half way line before safely passing to Max, Max realising that space was running out with the by line closing in fast saw that Tom had drifted inside looking for the “Switch”.
The switch was made with a clever reverse back pass, setting Tom away bursting clear from some 40m to score under the post with Josh the starter of the move some 90m down field on his shoulder offering support or possibly requesting a pass?
Excellent Expansive play for all to see which had even the Reading Abbey supporters applauding.
Conversion was put away by Tim:
Bicester 19 Reading 5
Bicester seemed to think that they were playing “Sevens” rugby for a period after this try and naively ran and passed on their own line without going forward, on one occasion the ball passed from one side of the pitch to another without the ball going forward more then 5m, where the running lines and timing of passing previously was excellent on this occasion it was all wrong, resulting in players receiving surprise passes with the ball finally being dropped under the post whereby Reading accepted the gift and duly converted.
Bicester 19 Reading 12
Bicester Coaches quickly gathered the team behind the post to confirm what was required from them, simply to return to playing in the opponents half and NO RISKY rugby in their own 22!
Request was heard, the boys quickly re asserted themselves re-employing the strong direct running lines and solid competitive tackling, dismissing fears that they might run out of steam after almost half the team being struck down with a sickness bug in the week.
After good play again by all the forwards who had stayed together as a unit well throughout the match, Giles leading his pack by example burst free to ensure that he maintained his try rate with a good score.
Conversion was taken from the corner some 35m from the post Tim went close only just falling short.
Bicester 24 Reading 12
Bicester had only a single slip after this score when it seemed that the Reading Abbey fastest strongest player broke through a few tired tackles with all thinking that the try was inevitable Max not only caught his man he tackled and rolled him holding him up until his fellow supporters assisted in ripping the ball free to clear the danger.
That last play seemed to drain the last bit of confidence from the Reading players with Bicester seeing out the rest of the game in charge, going on to score with Jack D going over after breaking from the blind side from base of the scrum with a brave run through several players.
The conversion again was close although just falling short.
Bicester 29 Reading Abbey 12.
Bicester Win The Game!
Conclusion:
The boys were asked to play in completely new positions in most cases, they were asked to trust the decisions of the coaches, this they did and the reward was there for all to see,
Good Play, Good Support, Confidence, new players joining in and just as important Parents seeing their Sons giving everything and enjoying themselves and being Sportsman in all senses.
No complaints this week, No apologies just a big
WELL DONE TO ALL.
With the full support of the Parents behind the scenes i.e. “in the kitchen” all what was required was a good performance from the Bicester Boys.
After having their confidence knocked over the last few weeks having played two very strong powerful teams on the bounce, the decision had come for previously considered positional changes to be made!
Having almost a full squad to pick from with the exception of Allan Hillman and David Champney who were both sick, plus the added bonus of a second new player Jack Cowling who had recently attended a mid week training session and was ready for his debut for Bicester as a late replacement for the “late” Sam Skellern.
Changes were plenty, for the record the new line up was as follows:
The Forwards were:
1.Oscar, 2. Liam, 3. Chris,
4. Jack C, 5.Ed Tolly,
7. Ryan, 6. Tim,
8. Giles,
The Backs were:
9. (Scrum half)
François, 10. (Fly half)
Ed Hines, 12. (Inside Centre)
Charlie, 13. (Outside Centre)
Max, 14, (Wing)
11. (Wing) Jack D,
Tom,
15. (Full Back)
Josh,
Replacements: 16, Jack T, 17, Sam S, 18, Will & 19, Luke.
Rest of the team were:
In the Kitchen:
Anne on Potatoes, Dawn on Chilli, Karen on the Bacon, Sam & Debbie Tea’s, Coffee’s & Serving:
Guest Appearance Chef of the Veggie Chilli: Big Chef Alan Taylor:
Front of House:
Pam, Hannah & Holly:
Clearing:
Rachel, Hugh, Alan T & James:
Washer Up: Mark Skellern:
Wipers: Chris White & Dean Bennett
Coach/ Referee: Paul
Coach/Longest Beard/Quiet: John
Coach/Loud: Mark
Security: Penny T (left by all at Kick off to guard the premises and food)
Changing Room Cleaners: To be confirmed as Writer was to busy eating the food to notice.
For all those who helped not mentioned in the above list a big SORRY! (buy me a drink next time I see you and I will give a little mention)
After the recent results had taken its toll on the boys confidence, the coaching team decided that positional changes were to be made, for a number of reasons one of the main ones was to attempt to counter the opponents recent Raw pace and Power deployed within the Centres, another was to try and be a little different in the pack bring in ball players to open up play opposed to simply “Pick & Go”.
Within the changing rooms prior to the game it was again explained that the present position being played by each boy would probably not be that they would be playing in a few years time, reasons for this is some times sheer size, weight, speed and at times aggression, once this is accepted then the boys accept that change is good and all part of their development, they had witnessed first hand the speed and organisation of a good team, so anything and everything is worth trying.
From the team detailed above it was clear where the major changes were to be made.
The faster forwards had been moved to the backs with Charlie, Max being played at Centres and Tom making the change to the wing, the normal half backs in Ryan and Tim were played as forwards in the two flanking positions.
François was asked to fill the roll of Scrum half with Ed Hines moving from that position to Fly half, the other changes were Giles returning to No 8, Ed Tolly going to lock from Hooker, Jack (Big) making his debut at lock, Liam returning to Hook, Oscar remaining as Prop, Chris moving from lock to Prop in the absence of Allan.
Jack D, remained on the wing asked to hold his position and his runs so that he could obtain a pass with space to show his pace.
The other player to retain his usual position was Josh who had maintained his form over the last weeks.
Warm Up:
The coaches also changed around their warm up procedures with Paul taking the forwards with Mark and John taking the Backs.
As the changes had intentionally been withheld from the boys until the morning of the match so as not to cause concern or worry, the warm ups were sharp and pressured in an attempt to quicken the thinking process of each player, it was hoped that natural instinctive play would result.
The Opponents’ Reading Abbey,
The coaches had no knowledge of the opposition, it was clear that they had some very large players who looked typical of the previous week’s team.
The Game kicked off with Bicester receiving the ball from start, the forwards carried the ball into their opponents setting up good ruck’s, from these, the ball was quickly distributed by François to Ed H, who was able to ask a questions of the opponents fly half defence with searching darting probing runs, Ed drew his man before passing to Charlie who open his stride to show his power and pace, with Max able to keep up and keep in Charlie’s vision Charlie was able to keep the ball alive by passing well for Max to take the game forward using good running lines Jack D, was able to see far more of the ball.
For the first 5 minutes of the game the pattern remained the same with the Bicester forwards having the better of the Reading Pack, holding their own Scrum well and turning over their opponents on a number of occasions, with the Big No 8 of Reading being swamped by the new fast flankers Tim and Ryan and well assisted by Giles who was seeing a lot of the ball and Reading players in his tackling.
With the forwards competing well in the open play Tim and Ryan were able to show their reading of the game often speedily collecting loose ball and shooting out of rucks quickly setting off away from the bigger forwards.
The first try went to Bicester after a good interchange between François and Ed H, bringing into play a run around set piece, Charlie received the ball taking the game a further 10m before he passed to Max who showed to go one way before cutting in back inside to cut through the Reading defence he had wrong footed, in the process Max went past no fewer then five players who were held off with a few timely hand offs before going over under the posts.
Tim quickly knocked over the conversion
Bicester 7 Reading Abbey 0
After the solid start the recent lost confidence was returning by the second, with all seeming to be enjoying all aspects of the game, Giles was combining well with his new Scrum half and his new Flankers, Francois was himself probing well around the fringe almost scoring with a blind side run from a 5m Scrum.
The front three Oscar, Liam & Chris were on top of their opposite numbers and debutant “Big” Jack C, was keeping up with play and showing good hands, Ed Tolley was playing his usual solid game again showing his increasing fitness and reading of the game.
Reading tried to get free of the Bicester shackles without success due to the Bicester boys strong tackling particularly on the wing from Tom who was showing his discipline regarding maintaining his position and good supporting play from Ryan, Chris and Liam.
After further surging running and good hands within the backs almost providing more tries, Bicester were able to score a second try with Tim quickly spotting a gap after picking up at a ruck diving over for a well earned try.
The resultant conversion from a far was duly missed.
Bicester 12 Reading Abbey 0
Bicester made a few changes at this point with Max being replace at Centre due to injury by Luke, and Jack C making way for Sam S, the game continued to flow with the visitors coming into the game more, and being rewarded after breaking through a few half tackles to go over in the corner.
This Conversion attempt was also missed as the length of kick was out of the kickers range.
Bicester 12 Reading Abbey 5
Shortly after this the promising start for Francois came to an end as he took a heavy blow to his knee from a set of an opponents studs, with Mark unable to get across to use the magic sponge treatment was left to the St Johns Ambulance crew who were successful in their attempt to ensure he went home for an early bath (or had he been tipped off by Professional Chef Dad about the Chilli??)
Into the match came Jack Taylor at scrum half who once warmed up was in the action taking the game to his opposite number.
Half Time
With Bicester enjoying the majority of the game and having the most chances to score the boys had settled well and were enjoying the game again.
At the restart Bicester had again made changes with Max returning to the action, Luke was repositioned to the wing with Jack D coming off, Will was put in to the second row with Sam replacing Chris at Prop.
The game started with Bicester restoring order and showing good control, shape and running lines, a similar game plan unfolded with the Bicester Pack taking control up front the backs showing again good hands. After a further 5 minutes Jack D returned at Scrum half with Jack T switching to wing with Luke coming off after a good showing on the wing almost going over for his first try, only to find himself the receiver of a forward pass after he had drifted off side.
When Reading managed to obtain the ball they started to resort to kicking for territory rather then trying to run through the home defence, this simply brought Josh Denton the Bicester Full back into the game, on one of these occasions Josh collected the ball on his 10m line and instead of selecting a defensive clearing kick ( ignoring Coaches screams to kick, even louder shouting voice required!) he chose to run, showing not only confidence but good lines and timing of his pass to Ed H, who continued in the same vain by himself showing strong running and similar timing of pass to Charlie who carried the ball to the half way line before safely passing to Max, Max realising that space was running out with the by line closing in fast saw that Tom had drifted inside looking for the “Switch”.
The switch was made with a clever reverse back pass, setting Tom away bursting clear from some 40m to score under the post with Josh the starter of the move some 90m down field on his shoulder offering support or possibly requesting a pass?
Excellent Expansive play for all to see which had even the Reading Abbey supporters applauding.
Conversion was put away by Tim:
Bicester 19 Reading 5
Bicester seemed to think that they were playing “Sevens” rugby for a period after this try and naively ran and passed on their own line without going forward, on one occasion the ball passed from one side of the pitch to another without the ball going forward more then 5m, where the running lines and timing of passing previously was excellent on this occasion it was all wrong, resulting in players receiving surprise passes with the ball finally being dropped under the post whereby Reading accepted the gift and duly converted.
Bicester 19 Reading 12
Bicester Coaches quickly gathered the team behind the post to confirm what was required from them, simply to return to playing in the opponents half and NO RISKY rugby in their own 22!
Request was heard, the boys quickly re asserted themselves re-employing the strong direct running lines and solid competitive tackling, dismissing fears that they might run out of steam after almost half the team being struck down with a sickness bug in the week.
After good play again by all the forwards who had stayed together as a unit well throughout the match, Giles leading his pack by example burst free to ensure that he maintained his try rate with a good score.
Conversion was taken from the corner some 35m from the post Tim went close only just falling short.
Bicester 24 Reading 12
Bicester had only a single slip after this score when it seemed that the Reading Abbey fastest strongest player broke through a few tired tackles with all thinking that the try was inevitable Max not only caught his man he tackled and rolled him holding him up until his fellow supporters assisted in ripping the ball free to clear the danger.
That last play seemed to drain the last bit of confidence from the Reading players with Bicester seeing out the rest of the game in charge, going on to score with Jack D going over after breaking from the blind side from base of the scrum with a brave run through several players.
The conversion again was close although just falling short.
Bicester 29 Reading Abbey 12.
Bicester Win The Game!
Conclusion:
The boys were asked to play in completely new positions in most cases, they were asked to trust the decisions of the coaches, this they did and the reward was there for all to see,
Good Play, Good Support, Confidence, new players joining in and just as important Parents seeing their Sons giving everything and enjoying themselves and being Sportsman in all senses.
No complaints this week, No apologies just a big
WELL DONE TO ALL.
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Match Report 16 Nov v Old Northamptonians U13
Having never played against Northamptonians previously we entered the unknown with no knowledge what so ever of form or quality.
Bicester had only one player unavailable this being there scum half Ed Hines, and the added bonus of our first new player of our player recruitment drive, Luke Freeman.
Having agreed to follow the Northamptonians game order and times of 4 x 15 minute matches the first game commenced:
With Bicester replacing Ed with its speedy winger Jack Davis at 9 and Jack Taylor coming in on the wing, plus the long awaited return of Oscar Brand at Prop after a month out due to injury, Bicester started with what was conceived as its strongest starting line up.
The game started with real impact with the forwards smashing into each other as if their life’s depended on it, big hits all round, the game quickly opened up with the Northamptonians large backs exploding through at pace prior to the Bicester backs being able to get their tackles to land with sufficient impact to take them down, twice in a few minutes the Bicester line was broken only for Josh Denton at full back to come to the rescue with two try saving brave tackles.
The game quickly took shape, the packs were equal in scrummaging with an excellent referee assisting both teams with good verbal instructions, the Bicester pack tried to break through with strong rucking by all, however their clearing out and eye for the loose ball was not as strong with the Northamptonions forwards securing the majority of loose ball, with this ball they quickly set their very large athletic backs away who showed their quality to score four unanswered tries.
The boys had come up against a very well drilled and talented team who it was later confirmed contained no fewer then 5 Northampton Academy players and 7 Eastern Counties players, with the Fly Half being the son of the Northampton Saints Captain Bruce Ryanah (spelling??).
The Bicester Boys found themselves struggling to contain their opponents the boys sustained their effort and ever improving stamina with strong performances and the never give up attitude.
Game 1 Northamptonians 22 Bicester 0
Game 2
Bicester made only one change against the opposition who looked as if they kept the same team.
New Boy Luke came in for Jack on the wing, who had at times in the previous match 3 or 4 players running at him. It was not long before Luke was tested with a strong run from the opponents outside centre running at full stride down the wing with only Luke to beat and without even having touched the ball previously Luke tackled the player taking him low and wrapping him up in the process, this was to be his first of several try saving tackles on the wing.
This example seemed to inspire the Bicester boys, with them increasing their work rate and at the same time their tackling, the game was more evenly matched with Bicester obtaining a lot more of the ball, with the Pack winning good ball from the scrums, the stand in Scrum half Jack Davis was starting to gain more and more confidence, he started to release the passes to his backs plus carried out a few set piece moves.
Further changes were made by Bicester with Liam coming on at Hooker, Will on the wing with Luke ever increasing in confidence being moved to outside centre, Bicester gave a real account of themselves in this game although finally going down to two converted tries to nil.
Game 2 Northamptonians 14 Bicester 0
Game 3
Changes were made by both teams, with the home team taking off a number of their top players however not all!
With increasing determination Bicester maintained their strong forward play with Alan with his very aggressive tackling and running, aided by Oscar, Max, doing a lot of hidden work in the breakdown area, Tom chasing down around the fringe, Chris, Ed T, Sam all working hard all around the pitch and Charlie constantly taking the game to the Northamptonian forwards.
Tim at Fly half was getting quicker ball from the base of the scrum from Jack D, finally the backs were getting their running lines and hands on the ball a lot more often, Giles had a few runs as did Luke and François on the wing, Bicester after having gone a try down, came back and scored two very good tries themselves through Jack Davis who raced clear after spotting a gap and then Tom Bennett who was enjoying putting himself about, with an excellent individual run in try.
With Tim having to leave the field injured (after a large opponent becoming a little confused it seems regarding the rules of “Fly hacking” using Tim as a Rugby ball and trying to kick him out of the ground after Tim had cleverly kicked over him when running down the wing after fine back play, the Northamptonian player was asked to leave the field so that he could be re educated by his coaches regarding tackling not kicking opponents, he later apologised to Tim) Ryan took over conversion duties and successfully converted.
During this game David Champney and Will Ball were put in with the forwards as was Giles who moved from Centre to his school position of Prop, Giles was straight in to the forward plays with a relish, winning loose ball and adding power and pace to the pack.
Game 3 Northamptonians 5 Bicester 12
Game 4
Another hard fought match with Ryan moving in to Fly half, Tom B, being moved to Centre and Liam going on to the wing after Oscar was switched to Hooker, and Jack Taylor returning to the fray on the other wing, Jack Davis was getting plenty of ball, Luke was starting to get more ball in hand which showed that he had pace to go with his tackling skills, Charlie pick up from the base of the scrum a number of times only to be stopped by late desperate tackles from adding to his seasons high try rate. The game flowed from end to end with any high ball kicked cleanly held, rucks and mauls being set up, a very even game was contested, what was very obvious to those who have watched the boys over the last eight weeks is that the fitness levels and the mental strength are both improving.
Bicester went down to a try that was scored by the result of Bicester allowing a tackled player to get up and score when he should have been prevented; this try was safely converted with an excellent long kick.
Bicester changed their scrum half Jack who had improved match by match with François who plays scrum half at school, Sam replaced Chris Mansfield who had given all in the previous three matches in the 2nd row, the match was flowing with good play by the Bicester boys, who it must be said earned the respect of the home team players, coaching team and supporters by their never give up attitude, Bicester pushed and pushed their opponents back with them forcing the home team into errors and penalties, with the referee continuing to control the game Bicester were given a penalty 5 m from the try line, Giles was quick to take a penalty jinking his way through the home defence to score a good individual try which the conversion unfortunately missed.
The game finished with Bicester on top but out of time to reverse the 2 point gap.
Game 4 Northamptonians 7 Bicester 5
Conclusion:
Hard Games, beaten by a better, Stronger Team,
Positives:
Players able to switch positions. Getting Fitter. Stamina increase. New Player. No injuries after a very hard match against very big strong opponents. Respected by opponents and gave them a hard set of games. Tackling. Passing Clearing out with power Stealing the ball (Ripping away) from opponents once on the floor. Vocals (ready ready up etc). Set pieces (Backs, Line outs etc)
Bicester had only one player unavailable this being there scum half Ed Hines, and the added bonus of our first new player of our player recruitment drive, Luke Freeman.
Having agreed to follow the Northamptonians game order and times of 4 x 15 minute matches the first game commenced:
With Bicester replacing Ed with its speedy winger Jack Davis at 9 and Jack Taylor coming in on the wing, plus the long awaited return of Oscar Brand at Prop after a month out due to injury, Bicester started with what was conceived as its strongest starting line up.
The game started with real impact with the forwards smashing into each other as if their life’s depended on it, big hits all round, the game quickly opened up with the Northamptonians large backs exploding through at pace prior to the Bicester backs being able to get their tackles to land with sufficient impact to take them down, twice in a few minutes the Bicester line was broken only for Josh Denton at full back to come to the rescue with two try saving brave tackles.
The game quickly took shape, the packs were equal in scrummaging with an excellent referee assisting both teams with good verbal instructions, the Bicester pack tried to break through with strong rucking by all, however their clearing out and eye for the loose ball was not as strong with the Northamptonions forwards securing the majority of loose ball, with this ball they quickly set their very large athletic backs away who showed their quality to score four unanswered tries.
The boys had come up against a very well drilled and talented team who it was later confirmed contained no fewer then 5 Northampton Academy players and 7 Eastern Counties players, with the Fly Half being the son of the Northampton Saints Captain Bruce Ryanah (spelling??).
The Bicester Boys found themselves struggling to contain their opponents the boys sustained their effort and ever improving stamina with strong performances and the never give up attitude.
Game 1 Northamptonians 22 Bicester 0
Game 2
Bicester made only one change against the opposition who looked as if they kept the same team.
New Boy Luke came in for Jack on the wing, who had at times in the previous match 3 or 4 players running at him. It was not long before Luke was tested with a strong run from the opponents outside centre running at full stride down the wing with only Luke to beat and without even having touched the ball previously Luke tackled the player taking him low and wrapping him up in the process, this was to be his first of several try saving tackles on the wing.
This example seemed to inspire the Bicester boys, with them increasing their work rate and at the same time their tackling, the game was more evenly matched with Bicester obtaining a lot more of the ball, with the Pack winning good ball from the scrums, the stand in Scrum half Jack Davis was starting to gain more and more confidence, he started to release the passes to his backs plus carried out a few set piece moves.
Further changes were made by Bicester with Liam coming on at Hooker, Will on the wing with Luke ever increasing in confidence being moved to outside centre, Bicester gave a real account of themselves in this game although finally going down to two converted tries to nil.
Game 2 Northamptonians 14 Bicester 0
Game 3
Changes were made by both teams, with the home team taking off a number of their top players however not all!
With increasing determination Bicester maintained their strong forward play with Alan with his very aggressive tackling and running, aided by Oscar, Max, doing a lot of hidden work in the breakdown area, Tom chasing down around the fringe, Chris, Ed T, Sam all working hard all around the pitch and Charlie constantly taking the game to the Northamptonian forwards.
Tim at Fly half was getting quicker ball from the base of the scrum from Jack D, finally the backs were getting their running lines and hands on the ball a lot more often, Giles had a few runs as did Luke and François on the wing, Bicester after having gone a try down, came back and scored two very good tries themselves through Jack Davis who raced clear after spotting a gap and then Tom Bennett who was enjoying putting himself about, with an excellent individual run in try.
With Tim having to leave the field injured (after a large opponent becoming a little confused it seems regarding the rules of “Fly hacking” using Tim as a Rugby ball and trying to kick him out of the ground after Tim had cleverly kicked over him when running down the wing after fine back play, the Northamptonian player was asked to leave the field so that he could be re educated by his coaches regarding tackling not kicking opponents, he later apologised to Tim) Ryan took over conversion duties and successfully converted.
During this game David Champney and Will Ball were put in with the forwards as was Giles who moved from Centre to his school position of Prop, Giles was straight in to the forward plays with a relish, winning loose ball and adding power and pace to the pack.
Game 3 Northamptonians 5 Bicester 12
Game 4
Another hard fought match with Ryan moving in to Fly half, Tom B, being moved to Centre and Liam going on to the wing after Oscar was switched to Hooker, and Jack Taylor returning to the fray on the other wing, Jack Davis was getting plenty of ball, Luke was starting to get more ball in hand which showed that he had pace to go with his tackling skills, Charlie pick up from the base of the scrum a number of times only to be stopped by late desperate tackles from adding to his seasons high try rate. The game flowed from end to end with any high ball kicked cleanly held, rucks and mauls being set up, a very even game was contested, what was very obvious to those who have watched the boys over the last eight weeks is that the fitness levels and the mental strength are both improving.
Bicester went down to a try that was scored by the result of Bicester allowing a tackled player to get up and score when he should have been prevented; this try was safely converted with an excellent long kick.
Bicester changed their scrum half Jack who had improved match by match with François who plays scrum half at school, Sam replaced Chris Mansfield who had given all in the previous three matches in the 2nd row, the match was flowing with good play by the Bicester boys, who it must be said earned the respect of the home team players, coaching team and supporters by their never give up attitude, Bicester pushed and pushed their opponents back with them forcing the home team into errors and penalties, with the referee continuing to control the game Bicester were given a penalty 5 m from the try line, Giles was quick to take a penalty jinking his way through the home defence to score a good individual try which the conversion unfortunately missed.
The game finished with Bicester on top but out of time to reverse the 2 point gap.
Game 4 Northamptonians 7 Bicester 5
Conclusion:
Hard Games, beaten by a better, Stronger Team,
Positives:
Things to work on:
Well done boys you gave your all, although we lost, you again showed improvement, getting fitter, stronger all of which should assist us with the rest of the season, particularly when we come up against more equal sides. Great attitude regarding sportsmanship and substitutions, well done parents and brothers and sisters for your support, Thanks for Scores etc Dawn & Andy.
Mark
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Online Kicking Game Challenge
The more frequent visitors to this blog may have noticed the recent addition of an online conversion kicking game.
Incredibly infuriating, but a challenge nevertheless.
Your webmaster currently has a high score of 25 points.
Incredibly infuriating, but a challenge nevertheless.
Your webmaster currently has a high score of 25 points.
- do you play the game?
- do you enjoy it?
- what's your high score?
- what squad/club do you belong to?
- do you read the U13 match reports?
- do you read other match reports?
- do you like Morris Dancing?
Post as comments. We look forward to hearing from you.
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Match Report Bicester v Aylesbury
Sunday 2nd November 2008 – BICESTER v AYLESBURY away
Match Stats
Starters: Charlie, Giles, Chris, Liam, Ed T, Ed H, Tim, Jack D, Josh, Ryan, Francois, Tom, Jack T, Will, Sam
Sub: David
FIRST GAME START FOR WILL
Ref: Aylesbury
Three 20 minute games were played due to Aylesbury’s large squad of two full teams all wanting a run out.
Pitch Conditions: Wet, boggy, long grass
Game (1) 1st 3rd Bicester – 2 x tries, 1 converted
Aylesbury – 2 x tries, 0 converted
Game (2) 2nd 3rd Bicester – 1 try, 0 converted
Aylesbury – 1 try, converted
Game (3) 3rd 3rd Bicester – 2 tries, 0 converted
Aylesbury – 0 tries
Try scorers: Ed H, Charlie, Giles, Tim (+ 1 conversion)
Overall points total win for Bicester (after the 3 periods of play) 27-19. Bicester won the 1st and 3rd periods of play.
IT WAS A GAME OF THREE THIRDS
Starting with a reduced squad (due to illness, sickness and other commitments) created a situation where several boys were required to play in field positions they were unfamiliar with nevertheless all the squad carried out their duties to the best of their ability, showing great maturity and depth of character. It was a pleasure to see the boys communicating well and helping each other adapt and perform creating a good feeling of camaraderie and team spirit – lets face it a happy versatile group of boys whatever the number will always produce a pleasurable, interesting Sunday morning of rugby.
With the reduced squad numbers the boys had to push themselves hard knowing that they did not have the luxury of rolling subs to draw upon unlike their opponents and this is where we see the fitness levels really starting to make a difference, something that we must keep working on throughout the season on both training days and evenings plus other individual activities in and after school throughout the week.
At times the mornings rugby looked a bit disjointed and did not flow quite as well as we may have hoped causing the boys some frustration. However, they kept their cool and did not give away needless penalties despite Aylesbury repeatedly killing the ball. At the breakdowns there were so many bodies off their feet lying over the ball on the wrong side and interfering with play it conjured up images of how the game may have been played in Webb Ellis’ day! Needless to say the boys coped well with the relaxed law interpretations, kept their heads and played to the whistle even though repeated offences made it very hard to get quick, clean ball to the backs.
In the last 3rd of play we saw the boys having to dig deep against Aylesbury’s second team who although slightly less experienced players, were big strong runners with fresh legs. Bicester showed good staying power on the boggy, wet, long grassed pitch and battled it out to the final whistle gaining the deserved result of another win rounding of an interesting 60 minutes of rugby.
Match Stats
Starters: Charlie, Giles, Chris, Liam, Ed T, Ed H, Tim, Jack D, Josh, Ryan, Francois, Tom, Jack T, Will, Sam
Sub: David
FIRST GAME START FOR WILL
Ref: Aylesbury
Three 20 minute games were played due to Aylesbury’s large squad of two full teams all wanting a run out.
Pitch Conditions: Wet, boggy, long grass
Game (1) 1st 3rd Bicester – 2 x tries, 1 converted
Aylesbury – 2 x tries, 0 converted
Game (2) 2nd 3rd Bicester – 1 try, 0 converted
Aylesbury – 1 try, converted
Game (3) 3rd 3rd Bicester – 2 tries, 0 converted
Aylesbury – 0 tries
Try scorers: Ed H, Charlie, Giles, Tim (+ 1 conversion)
Overall points total win for Bicester (after the 3 periods of play) 27-19. Bicester won the 1st and 3rd periods of play.
IT WAS A GAME OF THREE THIRDS
Starting with a reduced squad (due to illness, sickness and other commitments) created a situation where several boys were required to play in field positions they were unfamiliar with nevertheless all the squad carried out their duties to the best of their ability, showing great maturity and depth of character. It was a pleasure to see the boys communicating well and helping each other adapt and perform creating a good feeling of camaraderie and team spirit – lets face it a happy versatile group of boys whatever the number will always produce a pleasurable, interesting Sunday morning of rugby.
With the reduced squad numbers the boys had to push themselves hard knowing that they did not have the luxury of rolling subs to draw upon unlike their opponents and this is where we see the fitness levels really starting to make a difference, something that we must keep working on throughout the season on both training days and evenings plus other individual activities in and after school throughout the week.
At times the mornings rugby looked a bit disjointed and did not flow quite as well as we may have hoped causing the boys some frustration. However, they kept their cool and did not give away needless penalties despite Aylesbury repeatedly killing the ball. At the breakdowns there were so many bodies off their feet lying over the ball on the wrong side and interfering with play it conjured up images of how the game may have been played in Webb Ellis’ day! Needless to say the boys coped well with the relaxed law interpretations, kept their heads and played to the whistle even though repeated offences made it very hard to get quick, clean ball to the backs.
In the last 3rd of play we saw the boys having to dig deep against Aylesbury’s second team who although slightly less experienced players, were big strong runners with fresh legs. Bicester showed good staying power on the boggy, wet, long grassed pitch and battled it out to the final whistle gaining the deserved result of another win rounding of an interesting 60 minutes of rugby.
Friday 31 October 2008
Squad Players Attend County Training
This week saw seven players from our squad attend various County training sessions.Max Durkin attended the Elite Wasps training session.Giles White,Ed Hines and Jack Davies attended the County Development training day.Allen Hillman,Oscar Brand and Chris Mansfield attended the County 'Prop School'.
Hopefully they will all have learned new skills and bring these back to the club and spread them amongst the rest of the squad.
Well done boys.
Hopefully they will all have learned new skills and bring these back to the club and spread them amongst the rest of the squad.
Well done boys.
Monday 27 October 2008
Match Report Bicester v H.Wycombe
Bicester U 13's v High Wycombe 26th October 2008
After a strong home win the previous week against Towcester, Bicester travelled down to a strong Hgh Wycombe team who were able to select from 50 plus boys opposed to the Bicesters 17!
Prior to the game the Bicester boys were informed of what was required of them, in short Do their Best. With the emphasises being on 100% commitment as a team, meaning: 1. Play as a Team, 2. Work as a Team, 3. Win as a Team, 4. If to lose, then lose as a Team, As they say 3 out of 4 is not bad 75% this is what we had in this match.
The Game that followed the team talk was immense, not for the Bicester Attacking skills it must be said, Not even for the Bicester Defensive skills as too often the boys attempted to tackle too high in an effort to remove the ball from the High Wycombe players grip. It was immense because of the exceptional character the boys ALL showed throughout the whole game against a very powerful High Wycombe side who sustained a great performance especially the forwards, who it must be said were big strong and very well drilled.
Bicester started well with a strong ruck forcing the High Wycombe forwards to kill the ball resulting in a penalty on the half way line, Ed Hines at 9 quickly fed Charlie Pullin his captain who drove into the Wycombe defence only to find that one of the opponents liked the look of Charlie's head and tried to remove it from his shoulders with a high dangerous tackle, resulting in another penalty to Bicester,
Bicester suprisingly tried the same move this time using Allan Hilman a big prop rather then perhaps a better option of kicking for touch for a Bicester line out closer to the High Wycombe try line. Allan was not only stopped by the Big Wycombe pack but was turned over and duly injured in the process, from the turnover Wycombe showed their power with a line breaking run by their big speedy No 8 who it was later seen to be at the heart of the majority of the High Wycombe very good play.
The Bicester line was broken and after some desperate Bicester scrambled defence, Wycombe gained there first Try. Allan had to be replaced with the improving Will Ball, who it must be said was almost half the size of most of the High Wycombe pack.
It was soon obvious to the Bicester Coaches that High Wycombe had pinched the Bicester game plan as they set about the game driving, rucking, picking with great all round support, quickly adding a further two more tries! Question: 0 - 17 after 5 minutes just how would the boys respond? Some teams would at this age capitulate, throw in the towel, blame others around and let the score mount! I am very proud to say that the boys did none of these things: They showed great maturity and in the Rugby spirit the gave everything in all positions, THEY MADE A GREAT GAME OF IT!" Forcing the home side to give everything in the process.
With Ed Hines tackling all that managed to break the shackles of his forwards, with Charlie and Max playing a great defensive game often smothering the No 8 and No 9 at source, Sam having a gritty game jumping on and at times simply hanging on the ball carriers long enough for rest of the pack in the the likes of Liam Duggan, Will, Ed Tolly, Chris Mansfield and Tom Bennett to assist in the sturdy defence.
The Backs were given little ball to run, but that said when they did have the opportunity they for the second week running showed that there hands were good as were there lines, with the ball reaching the wings, François was able to again show his ever increasing confidence with ball in hand,in addition to his ever improving tackling, he slipped past the Wycombe wing only to be stopped by a desperate tackle by the full back, François ensured the ball remained with Bicester by setting up a perfect ruck.
With Josh Denton at Full back holding good positions he was at hand on numerous occasions to cleanly catch EVERY high ball offered to him and was his usual sound strong running, tackling self. with five minutes of the first half Allan was able to re enter the fray replacing Will Ball who in his fifteen minutes on the pitch had assisted in taking the game to High Wycombe.
The game continued in the same vain with Bicester defending with all they had against a stronger side, until the last play of the half when Wycombe turned over Bicester ball only for the High Wycombe scrum half to run into a Brick wall called Allan Hilman, Allan not only stopped the player in his tracks but in putting him down he also managed to turn him in the process, Max with the support of Ed Tolly quickly secured the ball with Ed Hines quickly spinning a pass to the hard working Tim Grant at 10, the ball was then fed to Ryan at Centre, Ryan who was struggling with an injured thumb all though sore, it did not prevent him from tackling any thing that came in to his space, quickly passed to Giles, it looked from the side that a try was on, although there was a distance of 35m still to run, first Giles eyed up his options he straightened up well drew his man looked to cut in side realising the gap was shut he passed to Jack Davies on the wing, did he have the pace to go past his man? At this point we were able to see that not only were High Wycombe strong up front they also had some quick backs who did not want to be scored against, they just managed to squeeze Jack into touch.
The half time whistle came with Bicester strong and on the up with there travelling supporters showing there approval of there mammoth effort.
Second Half commenced in the same pattern, with Bicester making good progress with the forwards with Max and Charlie, in the thick of things supported by the rest of the hard working forwards with the backs all maintaining good defensive lines against the strong Wycombe side, with the game flowing well with the assistance of a very good referee who was up with the game and assisting the boys with good verbal instructions as he would had the match been played by a mens team.
Bicester not only held their own they started to turn ball over and in one such play the ball was again passed sweetly across the Bicester Back line to release the speedy Jack Davies, not only once but twice in quick succession the Bicester winger had a one on one with his opposite number, although on both occasions the result did not reward the approach play, the boys were not only holding thier own, they were starting to ask questions of the opposition.
Alas the pace of the game and the resulting number of tackles that the very proud Bicester boys had to make took its toll, after some good defensive clearance kicks from Tim, a few gaps started to appear and being a very good side Wycombe scored with three further Tries. During this period with a few changes were made to the forwards line up as some were showing that they were succumbing to the pace and force of some of the tackles, this included, Giles White was moved from Outside Centre to Prop the position he plays at school, such is his versatility with Chris moving to 2nd row, the patient Jack Taylor came into the match at Outside Centre and Will was again added to the pack.
One could see on the boys faces that they were giving everything their were bumps, bruises, sweat and a few watery eyes caused by the sheer effort that was being applied by them. The game was finally lost 0-32, yet to all the Coaches and parents it was a win a big Win, as the boys had given so much that respect from all was Won.
Well Done Boys for all the effort and Character, this won the day, if you apply yourself as you did today in your training you will be rewarded.
Please Note Boys! If we are to improve as a team and remain competitive we NEED more players, to ensure safety and to improve we require more players, we need competition for places so please talk to your friends ask them to come along, it does not matter if they have played before,if they want to get fit and enjoy sport and social life present and future get them to join.
After a strong home win the previous week against Towcester, Bicester travelled down to a strong Hgh Wycombe team who were able to select from 50 plus boys opposed to the Bicesters 17!
Prior to the game the Bicester boys were informed of what was required of them, in short Do their Best. With the emphasises being on 100% commitment as a team, meaning: 1. Play as a Team, 2. Work as a Team, 3. Win as a Team, 4. If to lose, then lose as a Team, As they say 3 out of 4 is not bad 75% this is what we had in this match.
The Game that followed the team talk was immense, not for the Bicester Attacking skills it must be said, Not even for the Bicester Defensive skills as too often the boys attempted to tackle too high in an effort to remove the ball from the High Wycombe players grip. It was immense because of the exceptional character the boys ALL showed throughout the whole game against a very powerful High Wycombe side who sustained a great performance especially the forwards, who it must be said were big strong and very well drilled.
Bicester started well with a strong ruck forcing the High Wycombe forwards to kill the ball resulting in a penalty on the half way line, Ed Hines at 9 quickly fed Charlie Pullin his captain who drove into the Wycombe defence only to find that one of the opponents liked the look of Charlie's head and tried to remove it from his shoulders with a high dangerous tackle, resulting in another penalty to Bicester,
Bicester suprisingly tried the same move this time using Allan Hilman a big prop rather then perhaps a better option of kicking for touch for a Bicester line out closer to the High Wycombe try line. Allan was not only stopped by the Big Wycombe pack but was turned over and duly injured in the process, from the turnover Wycombe showed their power with a line breaking run by their big speedy No 8 who it was later seen to be at the heart of the majority of the High Wycombe very good play.
The Bicester line was broken and after some desperate Bicester scrambled defence, Wycombe gained there first Try. Allan had to be replaced with the improving Will Ball, who it must be said was almost half the size of most of the High Wycombe pack.
It was soon obvious to the Bicester Coaches that High Wycombe had pinched the Bicester game plan as they set about the game driving, rucking, picking with great all round support, quickly adding a further two more tries! Question: 0 - 17 after 5 minutes just how would the boys respond? Some teams would at this age capitulate, throw in the towel, blame others around and let the score mount! I am very proud to say that the boys did none of these things: They showed great maturity and in the Rugby spirit the gave everything in all positions, THEY MADE A GREAT GAME OF IT!" Forcing the home side to give everything in the process.
With Ed Hines tackling all that managed to break the shackles of his forwards, with Charlie and Max playing a great defensive game often smothering the No 8 and No 9 at source, Sam having a gritty game jumping on and at times simply hanging on the ball carriers long enough for rest of the pack in the the likes of Liam Duggan, Will, Ed Tolly, Chris Mansfield and Tom Bennett to assist in the sturdy defence.
The Backs were given little ball to run, but that said when they did have the opportunity they for the second week running showed that there hands were good as were there lines, with the ball reaching the wings, François was able to again show his ever increasing confidence with ball in hand,in addition to his ever improving tackling, he slipped past the Wycombe wing only to be stopped by a desperate tackle by the full back, François ensured the ball remained with Bicester by setting up a perfect ruck.
With Josh Denton at Full back holding good positions he was at hand on numerous occasions to cleanly catch EVERY high ball offered to him and was his usual sound strong running, tackling self. with five minutes of the first half Allan was able to re enter the fray replacing Will Ball who in his fifteen minutes on the pitch had assisted in taking the game to High Wycombe.
The game continued in the same vain with Bicester defending with all they had against a stronger side, until the last play of the half when Wycombe turned over Bicester ball only for the High Wycombe scrum half to run into a Brick wall called Allan Hilman, Allan not only stopped the player in his tracks but in putting him down he also managed to turn him in the process, Max with the support of Ed Tolly quickly secured the ball with Ed Hines quickly spinning a pass to the hard working Tim Grant at 10, the ball was then fed to Ryan at Centre, Ryan who was struggling with an injured thumb all though sore, it did not prevent him from tackling any thing that came in to his space, quickly passed to Giles, it looked from the side that a try was on, although there was a distance of 35m still to run, first Giles eyed up his options he straightened up well drew his man looked to cut in side realising the gap was shut he passed to Jack Davies on the wing, did he have the pace to go past his man? At this point we were able to see that not only were High Wycombe strong up front they also had some quick backs who did not want to be scored against, they just managed to squeeze Jack into touch.
The half time whistle came with Bicester strong and on the up with there travelling supporters showing there approval of there mammoth effort.
Second Half commenced in the same pattern, with Bicester making good progress with the forwards with Max and Charlie, in the thick of things supported by the rest of the hard working forwards with the backs all maintaining good defensive lines against the strong Wycombe side, with the game flowing well with the assistance of a very good referee who was up with the game and assisting the boys with good verbal instructions as he would had the match been played by a mens team.
Bicester not only held their own they started to turn ball over and in one such play the ball was again passed sweetly across the Bicester Back line to release the speedy Jack Davies, not only once but twice in quick succession the Bicester winger had a one on one with his opposite number, although on both occasions the result did not reward the approach play, the boys were not only holding thier own, they were starting to ask questions of the opposition.
Alas the pace of the game and the resulting number of tackles that the very proud Bicester boys had to make took its toll, after some good defensive clearance kicks from Tim, a few gaps started to appear and being a very good side Wycombe scored with three further Tries. During this period with a few changes were made to the forwards line up as some were showing that they were succumbing to the pace and force of some of the tackles, this included, Giles White was moved from Outside Centre to Prop the position he plays at school, such is his versatility with Chris moving to 2nd row, the patient Jack Taylor came into the match at Outside Centre and Will was again added to the pack.
One could see on the boys faces that they were giving everything their were bumps, bruises, sweat and a few watery eyes caused by the sheer effort that was being applied by them. The game was finally lost 0-32, yet to all the Coaches and parents it was a win a big Win, as the boys had given so much that respect from all was Won.
Well Done Boys for all the effort and Character, this won the day, if you apply yourself as you did today in your training you will be rewarded.
Please Note Boys! If we are to improve as a team and remain competitive we NEED more players, to ensure safety and to improve we require more players, we need competition for places so please talk to your friends ask them to come along, it does not matter if they have played before,if they want to get fit and enjoy sport and social life present and future get them to join.
Tuesday 21 October 2008
Match Report Bicester v Towcester 19/10/08
Match Report: U13's Bicester v Towcestrians 19th Oct 2008
With Towcestrians bringing a large squad it was suggested that two games were to be played, a main game of 40 minutes played by the Towcestrian stronger side then a shorter 20 minute game where the less experienced Towcestrian boys.
We at Bicester play as a single team so all played in the first game and all played in the second!
Game I,
After a little chat in the dressing room prior to the game, as Juniors do! the boys were informed of what was expected of them, simply to play as they train, to give 100% and play as a team, and with the result not being the most important thing.
The boys started with a few line out changes, with the "Oscar" injured Chris Mansfield stepping in at prop and doing a great job having his best game for some time and looking fitter, Giles White moving from No 8 to Outside Centre in an attempt to assist his niggling "heal injury" with Tom Bennett coming in to Flanker from Centre, Liam Duggan coming in to show his hooking skills with Edward Tolly moving from hooker to 2nd Row.
Final change of positions was that Charlie Pullin the "Cap-it-ain" changing from flanker to be tried at No 8.
Confident that the teams ability to interchange positions without any negative effects was quickly shown,
The Bicester Pack quickly got into there stride driving the visitors back with some strong rucking from Allan Hilman and Sam Skellern and a few controlled mauls, from these Charlie was quick to "pick and go" breaking the Towestrians defensive lines almost at will, with strong support from Max, Tom, Liam, Allun, Chris and Edward.
The backs had their orders regarding their running lines often in the recent tournament being far too flat, they were to use their set pieces to break the visitors lines which they did well.
All started well with Ed Hines at 9 executing a run around with Tim Grant at 10 then sharply straightening up to break the back line of the opposition, the game was set, hard working powerful forwards and a back line that had both pace and craft plus the added bonus of good running lines.
With the forwards dominating their game it was not surprising that the first points on the board were scored by the forwards after assistance from the backs who recycled the ball back to forwards when their passage was blocked, the first scorer was Max who spotted a gap on the blind side of a ruck on the half way line accelerating through the gap with the pace of a centre with half the opponents left in his wake.
The next 3 no tries came in quick concession all scored by Charlie at No 8, picking and smashing through all that was in front of him, Great play Charlie,
As the game was a friendly and Charlie having such a strong start, Bicester withdrew their Captain replacing him with Will Ball, although Will is half the size of Charlie he was soon in the thick of things demonstrating that he is picking things up fast in only his second season playing the game, picking and driving setting quick ball for his fellow forwards even setting good ball after being hit hard after catching a high ball.
Towcester started to get there game going only to find a very determined set of tacklers with both Tom and Ryan Moore excelling with some powerful tackles.
Bicester kept up the momentum with backs putting some good running moves together resulting in both wingers having good runs with out the reward of a score
Bicester finished the Half with a 26-0 lead.
The second half started again with Bicester on top with good around play, further changes were made with improving David Champney and Jack Taylor coming on for the hard working Sam Skellern and Liam Duggan again the changes did not affect the flow, as Bicester continued to control all aspects of the game with both Tom and Allan going over after strong forward play and then a great opportunist try was scored by the fast tricky Bicester Scrum half Ed Hines, who dummied to pass to his standoff Tim and darted through the gap speeding away from the visitors desperate backs who it seemed all took the dummy, Ed had to run half the length of the pitch always checking for support should it have been required, which it was not! Great try ED.
The in-form forwards continued to showed there dominance with rewarding trys for the hard working power prop Allan and the tuff tackling Tom Bennett on his first game in the flanker position.
Conversions after little success in the first half due to both the position of the kicks and actual length with Tim, Max and Ryan all having a go Tim converted all three second half tries.
Result of First Game Bicester 41 Towcestrians 0
So 7 tries 3 Conversions, good play play by all INCLUDING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE REFEREE and a happy bunch of supporters, the boys performance was also noted by others watching the U15 match so all impressed: Well done.
Game 2.
Question HAVE THE BOYS LEARNT TO START THE 2ND GAME AS REQUIRED??
Answer Perhaps Not!
Again after a great first game a sloppy start, a few blasts from the coaches regarding slack play, as Towcestrians nearly broke through at the first attempt only to be stopped by some great cover work by François, and the ever safe full back Josh Denton who had little to do but when asked, did all 100% efficiently, Bicester quickly got there act together with the forwards getting their driving and rucking going in the absence of Charlie who was still held back on the touch line biting at the bit to re enter the game the forwards were well led by Allan and Big Sam who had got his second wind and was creating large holes in the visitors forwards, Tom, Liam and Will were supporting well.
Changes were made again to give the players the opportunity to shine in other positions, with Tim being replace at flyhalf with Ed Hines, Jack Davies coming in from the wing to inject his pace from the back of the scrum.
Bicester were again on top with Giles taking a ball some 30m out with his well known twisting run he went past almost half the visitors like a knife through butter to continue his high try tally since he joined last year.
Alas that was Giles,so last play as his troublesome heal causing him to hobble off,
This brought back into the game Jack Taylor who was put on the wing to look after the visitors large winger who was starting to show some form, Jack handled him well with some solid positional play and a few good tackles the last resulting in a bloody nose!
With Charlie back on the pitch he paired up with his flanker Max and with some good play, strong running and good hands Max went over for his second try of the day, the conversion as the first was missed with good reason as some scoundrel in an attempt to slow our scoring had pinched our kicking tee!
Half time Bicester 10 Towcestrians 0
With the game flowing the Bicester wanted to change the team again in an attempt to give all the boys a good runnout.
Max was put in at Full back and Tim brought back into the fray at outside centre, the game went the same way with the Bicester boys again on top with the final try of the day being scored by the hard working Ed Tolly.
Kick missed again!
Being the nice boys as they are Bicester decided to reward the visitors with a little gift at the end by giving them a soft try whilst waiting for a whistle from the ref who it has to be said had a good game.
2nd Game Bicester 15 Towcestrians 5
STOLEN TEE was traced to Tim Grants father Mr Hugh Grant who was last seen behind the bar ! (Thanks for your Help)
Well Done All See you next week at Wycombe
With Towcestrians bringing a large squad it was suggested that two games were to be played, a main game of 40 minutes played by the Towcestrian stronger side then a shorter 20 minute game where the less experienced Towcestrian boys.
We at Bicester play as a single team so all played in the first game and all played in the second!
Game I,
After a little chat in the dressing room prior to the game, as Juniors do! the boys were informed of what was expected of them, simply to play as they train, to give 100% and play as a team, and with the result not being the most important thing.
The boys started with a few line out changes, with the "Oscar" injured Chris Mansfield stepping in at prop and doing a great job having his best game for some time and looking fitter, Giles White moving from No 8 to Outside Centre in an attempt to assist his niggling "heal injury" with Tom Bennett coming in to Flanker from Centre, Liam Duggan coming in to show his hooking skills with Edward Tolly moving from hooker to 2nd Row.
Final change of positions was that Charlie Pullin the "Cap-it-ain" changing from flanker to be tried at No 8.
Confident that the teams ability to interchange positions without any negative effects was quickly shown,
The Bicester Pack quickly got into there stride driving the visitors back with some strong rucking from Allan Hilman and Sam Skellern and a few controlled mauls, from these Charlie was quick to "pick and go" breaking the Towestrians defensive lines almost at will, with strong support from Max, Tom, Liam, Allun, Chris and Edward.
The backs had their orders regarding their running lines often in the recent tournament being far too flat, they were to use their set pieces to break the visitors lines which they did well.
All started well with Ed Hines at 9 executing a run around with Tim Grant at 10 then sharply straightening up to break the back line of the opposition, the game was set, hard working powerful forwards and a back line that had both pace and craft plus the added bonus of good running lines.
With the forwards dominating their game it was not surprising that the first points on the board were scored by the forwards after assistance from the backs who recycled the ball back to forwards when their passage was blocked, the first scorer was Max who spotted a gap on the blind side of a ruck on the half way line accelerating through the gap with the pace of a centre with half the opponents left in his wake.
The next 3 no tries came in quick concession all scored by Charlie at No 8, picking and smashing through all that was in front of him, Great play Charlie,
As the game was a friendly and Charlie having such a strong start, Bicester withdrew their Captain replacing him with Will Ball, although Will is half the size of Charlie he was soon in the thick of things demonstrating that he is picking things up fast in only his second season playing the game, picking and driving setting quick ball for his fellow forwards even setting good ball after being hit hard after catching a high ball.
Towcester started to get there game going only to find a very determined set of tacklers with both Tom and Ryan Moore excelling with some powerful tackles.
Bicester kept up the momentum with backs putting some good running moves together resulting in both wingers having good runs with out the reward of a score
Bicester finished the Half with a 26-0 lead.
The second half started again with Bicester on top with good around play, further changes were made with improving David Champney and Jack Taylor coming on for the hard working Sam Skellern and Liam Duggan again the changes did not affect the flow, as Bicester continued to control all aspects of the game with both Tom and Allan going over after strong forward play and then a great opportunist try was scored by the fast tricky Bicester Scrum half Ed Hines, who dummied to pass to his standoff Tim and darted through the gap speeding away from the visitors desperate backs who it seemed all took the dummy, Ed had to run half the length of the pitch always checking for support should it have been required, which it was not! Great try ED.
The in-form forwards continued to showed there dominance with rewarding trys for the hard working power prop Allan and the tuff tackling Tom Bennett on his first game in the flanker position.
Conversions after little success in the first half due to both the position of the kicks and actual length with Tim, Max and Ryan all having a go Tim converted all three second half tries.
Result of First Game Bicester 41 Towcestrians 0
So 7 tries 3 Conversions, good play play by all INCLUDING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE REFEREE and a happy bunch of supporters, the boys performance was also noted by others watching the U15 match so all impressed: Well done.
Game 2.
Question HAVE THE BOYS LEARNT TO START THE 2ND GAME AS REQUIRED??
Answer Perhaps Not!
Again after a great first game a sloppy start, a few blasts from the coaches regarding slack play, as Towcestrians nearly broke through at the first attempt only to be stopped by some great cover work by François, and the ever safe full back Josh Denton who had little to do but when asked, did all 100% efficiently, Bicester quickly got there act together with the forwards getting their driving and rucking going in the absence of Charlie who was still held back on the touch line biting at the bit to re enter the game the forwards were well led by Allan and Big Sam who had got his second wind and was creating large holes in the visitors forwards, Tom, Liam and Will were supporting well.
Changes were made again to give the players the opportunity to shine in other positions, with Tim being replace at flyhalf with Ed Hines, Jack Davies coming in from the wing to inject his pace from the back of the scrum.
Bicester were again on top with Giles taking a ball some 30m out with his well known twisting run he went past almost half the visitors like a knife through butter to continue his high try tally since he joined last year.
Alas that was Giles,so last play as his troublesome heal causing him to hobble off,
This brought back into the game Jack Taylor who was put on the wing to look after the visitors large winger who was starting to show some form, Jack handled him well with some solid positional play and a few good tackles the last resulting in a bloody nose!
With Charlie back on the pitch he paired up with his flanker Max and with some good play, strong running and good hands Max went over for his second try of the day, the conversion as the first was missed with good reason as some scoundrel in an attempt to slow our scoring had pinched our kicking tee!
Half time Bicester 10 Towcestrians 0
With the game flowing the Bicester wanted to change the team again in an attempt to give all the boys a good runnout.
Max was put in at Full back and Tim brought back into the fray at outside centre, the game went the same way with the Bicester boys again on top with the final try of the day being scored by the hard working Ed Tolly.
Kick missed again!
Being the nice boys as they are Bicester decided to reward the visitors with a little gift at the end by giving them a soft try whilst waiting for a whistle from the ref who it has to be said had a good game.
2nd Game Bicester 15 Towcestrians 5
STOLEN TEE was traced to Tim Grants father Mr Hugh Grant who was last seen behind the bar ! (Thanks for your Help)
Well Done All See you next week at Wycombe
Monday 20 October 2008
The "Tag Generation" comes of age
It is a fact that seems to have escaped the Rugby press in England that the players who were the first year to play tag rugby have now graduated to the full 15 a side version of the game.Congratulations to Bicester and Towcestrians U13 squads for (what appeared on the touchline to be) a hard fought clean game of rugby at Oxford Road yesterday.
Congratulations especially to Bicester for running out clear winners on a day when the plan clearly worked.
As seen in the picture above, it was good to see all the players resplendent in their newly awarded ties and surrounding smart clothing.
For those that may be interested, the growing Under 3 squad have continued their skills development programme and are getting to grips with communicating with their team mates:
Sunday 12 October 2008
Our Web Master in TV Debut
Who has seen our very own Web Master and fellow parent Simon Mansfield in his new career as a Morris Dancer on the new Country Life Butter advert starring along side Joe Lydon (that would be John Lydon the punk rocker not the rugby league legend - Ed).He is the one facing on the left.
Follow this link to check it our for yourself.
If that doesn't work catch it on YOUTUBE or live on TV.
Kept that quiet didn't you Simon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wallingford U13's Festival
On Sunday 5th October we travelled to the Wallingford Under 13's Tournament for our first competitive matches of the season.Could we put into practise what we had done in training.
Bicester 35 Chinnor 0
A great start to the day and the boys played the way we know they can.The forwards worked hard sucking in the Chinnor defense and after several phases of play the ball was then moved wide and tries were scored.It was a really good performance and tries were scored by Ed,Giles 2,Tom 2.All tries were converted by Tim 4 and Max 1.
Bicester 0 Oxford Harlequins 14
What a let down this game proved to be.The boys went on the pitch thinking we would have to just turn up to win.We were lacking in every part of the game and showed a complete lack of commitment.Before we knew where we were we were 14-0 down.A few harsh words at half time produced a much better second half performance but it was too little too late.Admittedly the standard of the referee was appalling but it was equally bad for both teams and we need to rise above this sort of issue and play our own game plan.We did not concede again in the second half but we could not drag ourselves back into the game.
Due to the format of the tournament we then went into the plate competition having scored one less try than Oxford Harlequins.
Bicester 0 Witney 7
This was our plate semi final and played in poor conditions again with the referee that had plagued us all day.It was a real battle of attrition between two fairly equally matched teams.We had several opportunities to take charge of the game but either failed to make the most of the opportunities or the decisions again went against us.In the end we were undone by Witney who made the most of their opportunity and scored late in the game.There was no coming back from that and our day was over.
What can we take away from the day when we started so well and then fell apart?
We must play to our strengths and stick to the game plans we work on in training.If we do this and have the right mental attitude and importantly COMMITMENT we can do much better.We will have the opportunity to put this right in the near future so lets make the most of it next weekend against Towcester.
We may not have had the best team but I think we had the best catering.Thank you to Benoit for the pastries,Alan and Richard for the hotdogs and Dawn for the flapjacks.Thank you also to Anne Grant for drying out our rather wet tent.
Bicester 35 Chinnor 0
A great start to the day and the boys played the way we know they can.The forwards worked hard sucking in the Chinnor defense and after several phases of play the ball was then moved wide and tries were scored.It was a really good performance and tries were scored by Ed,Giles 2,Tom 2.All tries were converted by Tim 4 and Max 1.
Bicester 0 Oxford Harlequins 14
What a let down this game proved to be.The boys went on the pitch thinking we would have to just turn up to win.We were lacking in every part of the game and showed a complete lack of commitment.Before we knew where we were we were 14-0 down.A few harsh words at half time produced a much better second half performance but it was too little too late.Admittedly the standard of the referee was appalling but it was equally bad for both teams and we need to rise above this sort of issue and play our own game plan.We did not concede again in the second half but we could not drag ourselves back into the game.
Due to the format of the tournament we then went into the plate competition having scored one less try than Oxford Harlequins.
Bicester 0 Witney 7
This was our plate semi final and played in poor conditions again with the referee that had plagued us all day.It was a real battle of attrition between two fairly equally matched teams.We had several opportunities to take charge of the game but either failed to make the most of the opportunities or the decisions again went against us.In the end we were undone by Witney who made the most of their opportunity and scored late in the game.There was no coming back from that and our day was over.
What can we take away from the day when we started so well and then fell apart?
We must play to our strengths and stick to the game plans we work on in training.If we do this and have the right mental attitude and importantly COMMITMENT we can do much better.We will have the opportunity to put this right in the near future so lets make the most of it next weekend against Towcester.
We may not have had the best team but I think we had the best catering.Thank you to Benoit for the pastries,Alan and Richard for the hotdogs and Dawn for the flapjacks.Thank you also to Anne Grant for drying out our rather wet tent.
Monday 6 October 2008
The taste of victory is sweet....
But it doesn't match Dawn's flapjacks:
(Health and safety disclaimer: no victories were maimed or injured during the writing of this post, but many flapjacks were demolished at lunchtime yesterday)
Saturday 27 September 2008
U13 Player Selected For Oxfordshire County Elite Selection
Congratulations to Max Durkin who has been selected by Oxfordshire RFU to enter the County Elite training squad in conjunction with London Wasps.His first training session is Sunday 28th September 2008.The squad and coaches are very proud of your achievement and wish you the best for Sunday.Under 13's Set Guinness World Record
Bicester Under 13's set a new Guinness World Record for the Most Rugby Conversions In One Hour with a total of 124 Conversions on Saturday 10th May 2008.Congratulations to everyone involved.Paul
Welcome to Bicester Rugby Club Under 13's Blog.Please feel free to use the blog to post comments on our progress this season 2008/9 and to post any photographs that you have from any of our fixtures.
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