Group Winners

The lead up to the Hertford County Festival had all the hallmarks of a disaster for Cheshunt Under 13's. The day after a trip to White Hart Lane for Saracens v Harlequins! The day after Cheshunt Seniors won the Cup! The morning of clocks going forward an hour! A months worth of rain in a week! Located on the furthest pitch from the clubhouse!

But thankfully Hertford RFC boldly proceeded where others were cancelling their tournaments. And what a well organised event it was.

The tone was set early on that Cheshunt were un-deterred by the weather with George's dad Dan single handedly carrying the team gazebo through the mud. Refusing any shared or team lifting. Definitely a scene worthy of any Dandy comic. All that was missing was the cowboy hat and red top!!

The first game was against Fullerians and the boys started strong. Considering our lads are used to a 4G pitch with no mud, some people were concerned hat they were fair weather rugby players more concerned with their hair styles and not used to the grit and sloppy mud of a farmers field. But they proved any doubters wrong passing confidently and hitting the centre line of the tackles. They almost looked at home in mud!

The continued pressure on the opposition both in attack and defence was noticeable and there were some great team tries in the game. A convincing win meant that Cheshunt Under 13's were on track for an amazing day of rugby, the only question was could they keep up the effort and skill through the long day.

Straight after Fullerians they were met with a team we have played before, Welwyn. We know the opposition and have always had a hard fought game with them. And today was no different. But the boys excelled themselves. The front row scrumming over the last few weeks by David, Harry and Sean has been exceptional. with the front row getting low, and Reuben had a newly taught technique of hooking that was working a treat. A month ago we were loosing our own scrums. Now we are winning all of our scrums and on occasions winning against the head. So much so that the backs were caught off guard when the ball unexpectedly popped out the back.

The opposition asked if we could share the food plan we have the team on, as they wanted the secret to how our team was so big and powerful. Obviously we divulged nothing to them, instead making out we hadn't noticed a difference.

Albie, George and Hadley seized on the opportunity of winning scrums and run in some great moves and kicks to see us beat Welwyn.

Newcomer to the team Alfie managed to get a try in both the first and second game, which was amazing to see. Fitting straight into the team, no one would of guessed that this was his first outing with Cheshunt Under 13's.

Following a lengthy break, and a burger the team faced Royston. They had also had a run of winning, so this was the group decider. And the lads rose to the occasion.

The passion and determination in the third game from both the players and the parents was something to admire. As we said to the boys, you can teach tactics and skill, you can coach fitness. You cannot teach determination, team work and the desire to win and look after you team mates. All of the boys had each other's backs and Cheshunt looked and played like a team. Their rucking was exceptional, and the tackling!! Oh the tackling, what a dream to see the boys not swinging people round but instead hitting the centre line with their shoulders. Bowie, Kai and Louie excelled at amazing tackling technique and cutting off lines to keep a firm defence.

With strength on the wings like Jonte and Louie nothing was getting through on the edges of the pitch. Like having two concrete pillars on the wings. The opposition must of tired from being hit so hard.

The Blake and Albie combo worked really well, with the ball being recycled through contact, and getting the ball spreading through the backs. Both George and Hadley had a great tournament, with some excellent drawing of players lines and passing into space. Which saw some great team tries coming through.

Freddie managed to gain some great runs through opposition defence, and his return to rugby from the period of being off has seen a sharp increase in both effort and skill. Keep it up! He came close to a few tries on Sunday, next week we will see one, we are sure.

The massive hits in rucks from Clayton meant that we were turning over balls that were not meant to be ours, this combined with crunching tackles from Louie, kai and Bowie saw passions flare from the opposition, but our lads kept their heads and didn't let it get to them. Leading them to a truly deserved win, which meant they were group winners!!!

And then Letchworth...... An early try from Letchworth meant that the boys were on the back foot from the start. That and the fact that they had exhausted most of their energy in Game 3. The game went from bad to chaotic. The referee coming off needing stitches to his shin, Matt jumping in to referee. Abuse from Letchworth spectators directed at the boys resulting in Wes asking them in no uncertain terms to refrain from acting like football fans. Players that were stamping on players on the ground. It was not an enjoyable game, nor was it in the spirit of Rugby as we like to play. Thus resulting in George retiring from the game with an injury and then Hadley (who never complains about injuries until a week after they have occurred!!!) suffering an injury to his left knee.

Unwilling to take the risk of moving 'made of steel' Hadley, Wes and Matt agreed to abandon the game. This resulted in the boys being taunted by the opposition. But our lads held their heads high and didn't respond. We will have our day against Letchworth next season.

For us the 4th game may as well of not been there, and we take nothing away from the game other than a determination to make sure we have a proper fixture against them next season.

The tournament ended on the 3rd match, and the boys should be very proud of the determination, team work and skill they demonstrated on the pitch. Some great foundations for the team moving forwards, and amazing progression from the start of the season to now.

Player of the day was Sean. His tackling position, rucking and movement across the pitch was great to see. Keep it up Sean, it's like watching a different player when your Dad turns up to watch you. It must be the motivation in Afrikaans.

Looking forward to taking all of this onto Bishops Stortford next week.