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:

• Never gave up.
• 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.

Things to work on:

• Preventing opponents from getting early breakthroughs (Zulu Defence).
• 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)

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

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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: