SATS the way to do it !

Today was always going to be about fun. First of all no warm-ups. Then some fun rugby activities. The highlight then being a chance to take on the Dad’s at rugby, and finally a chance to meet a rugby superstar.

The whole squad was there apart from Sammy. Callum was back from his Weymouth shoulder injury and ready to show people what the team had missed while he was injured on the sideline. The kids knew they were going to need re-inforcements when it came to the game vs the Dad’s.

The activities started with a goal kicking competition. This was always going to favour the backs but special mention goes to forwards Jedd, Eddie and Laurie who battled through to be with the last few kickers. As expected it was left to be a battle between Will H and Dave. The ball got placed deeper and deeper and still they kept scoring. Then Will missed short and high. Dave had a chance to win but his kick was wide and left. A few observations were made between the parents that their last kicks had mirrored their Dad’s normal golf tee shots!

The next game was drop goals and again it was a battle of the backs. Will H and Dave somehow missed and it was left to a contest between Alex and Tom H. Tom H came through as the eventual winner. Next year to even it upto the forwards skillset we’ll have a game of dig the ball out from beneath 15 bodies and I’m sure Stoner, Orgy and Liam will do it in the quickest time.

Dads vs Kids game

Was this was going to be a re-match of the Friday night coaches vs Stroud 1sts/2nds game? Some of the kids had come down to watch this demonstration of fabulous fast flowing rugby (honest Guv!). They had worked out the respective strengths and weaknesses of Jo, Phil, Mark, Russell and Rick who had played that evening. The main advantage the kids would have is they weren’t nursing a multitude of knocks, bruises and aching limbs – and that was just from the drinking games……

The Dad’s, just like Friday night, brought in some ringers to help – talent and speed wise. Callum’s cousin and Liam’s brother joined the Dad’s team which brought the average age down to 46. Chris O turned up as a last minute reinforcement but unluckily for us he must have been off to an Elvis Presley fan convention because he had slicked back hair and was wearing blue suede shoes (honestly he was) and so declined the chance to get them covered in Fromehall mud. Another handicap was that the kids were allowed to wear gum shields and boots and the Dad’s only had slippy trainers.

The one advantage we did have was that Jo was reffing, and also playing for the Dad’s so we were bound to get the advantage in the refereeing decisions….. …..or so we had hoped.

The game kicked off and Hammo ran the ball back. At just the right time he passed onto Arthur who carried on the attack. The ball was kept alive through both the forwards and the backs. The Dad’s had resorted to carry tackles which meant lifting the kids up and walking them back 10 yards before then allowing them to recycle the ball.

The Dad’s started well with a few good attacks out to the wing. Callum’s cousin found a gap and sprinted up the line and started celebrating early before touching down for the opening try. Unfortunately Jo was still in ‘Weymouth Rules’ mode and declared the seldom used rule of ‘showboating’ so the try was wiped off the scoreboard. The kids were buoyed by this and attacked deep themselves. Eventually the ball came out to Dave who swerved past a few tackle attempts and managed to slide through to score the opening try. 5-0 to the kids.

The parents then started to realise they were going to be beaten by pace so would need to slow the game down. The ball was given to various combinations of Bill, Phil, Jenks and Mark who rumbled forward for a few yards, drew the contact, and then passed onto the next battering ram to try and break down the kids defensive line. The kids held strong though and kept repelling the attacks.

The parent’s next plan of attack was to use the pace out on the wings. First of all the ball came out to Chris H and he tiptoed down the right wing and just as he was about to touch down he got tackled by Alex with a crunching tackle. Luckily for Chris he fell forward and touched the ball down for a try. He landed heavily and hurt his shoulder but it was OK – it had been for the good of a team try. Oh no, Jo had called it back for a handoff offence so it was still 5-0 to the kids.

The kids kept attacking and the Dad’s realised they would need to impose themselves on the game to make sure the kids knew who was in charge. It was decided that Geoff ‘The Enforcer’ Hilton would lead the line. Unfortunately he took his title too literally and came up with a succession of high tackles that were penalised. Geoff had claimed that the kids were ducking low, but it was more a fact the kids were faster and more agile that meant Geoff’s tackles were high and late. At one point Jo went searching for a sin-bin yellow card but luckily for Geoff he’d left them in his car. At the rate Geoff was going he was going to collect more cards than he got for Christmas.

The 2nd try for the kids came from another penalty. This time Russell was penalised for tackling a player without the ball. It’s amazing how quick these kids can pass down the line when they need to…

The tap penalty was quickly taken and Ryan got the ball. Before the parents realised what was happening he had weaved his way through the middle and scored an easy try. 10-0 to the kids.

At the next restart the parents got confused as various kids ran off the pitch. Just as we wondered if this was another obscure Weymouth kick-off rule we were reminded that they were just going off to sign thank you cards for the coaches so couldn’t be accused of being 10 yards off-side.

Having the reduced numbers gave the parents a chance. More gaps to exploit. They adapted their game plan and decided to use the stamina and pace of their marathon running parents – James and Edgars Dads were going to be the next weapon of attack. First of all Michael S got the ball and in homage to his Scottish roots screamed Rob Roy style battle cries as he sprinted towards the line. Unfortunately his execution was more ‘Roy of the Rovers’ and he stepped out of bounds to give the ball back to the kids with another well won line-out throw. At the next turnover Michael had learned his lesson so straightened his run and still screaming Scottish battle cries sprinted clear to give the Dad’s their first try of the day and pulling the score back to 10-5.

The kids started to realise that Michael was our best attacking chance so they built a defensive Hadrian’s wall of tackling prowess to keep him out (I am sure there is an SNP Election joke here trying to get out…) The Dad’s adapted quickly though and went to their other long distance runner Pete T and he swerved through a few tackles and ran in from long distance to make it 10-10.

The Dad’s were back in with a chance now to take the lead. They chanced tact and went to their football loving Dad’s for inspiration. First of all Geoff was denied when he thought he had beaten the off-side trap – sorry, Stroud defensive line - by a perfectly timed pass to Stu. This pass was adjudged to be forward so was called back. At the next Dad’s attack Stu got close to the goal line, sorry try line, and as the chance was there for the taking he did a John Terry (Moscow Champions League Final) and skied the perfect chance and fumbled the ball forward. The pressure had got to him….

The game slowed down to a battle of the forwards. At each scrum the kids used their numerical strength to put together a full pack of 8 with kids quickly learning the positions of Flanker and No 8. To counter this increased weight in the scrum the Dad’s were confident they could still cope with their own 3 man pack. Weight was never going to help. It was the kids superior scrimmaging technique that meant they won the majority of put-ins. At the line-outs Orgy was mixing up the calls to confuse the Dad’s and even throwing long to an on-rushing Keyan who battered the Dad’s defensive lines.

The kids attacked well and good runs by Laurie, Finn and Archie E kept them camped on the Stroud line. A few times they thought they had scored only to be held up by good Dad tackling. The Dad’s were feeling brave now and at the next turnover they ran the ball out from their own try line. The ball came out to Liam’s dad. This was the chance Liam had been waiting for. He dived in there and wrestled the ball from his Dad and then went on his own barrelling run. This was a repeat of what had happened in May 2014. I’m sure David wouldn’t be hearing the last of this over the Summer.

Jo called 5 minutes to play and next try wins. This focused the mind of everyone and both teams took it in turns to attack. The kids got down to the parents 22 and were given another penalty for another late tackle by a despairing Dad. Everyone on the pitch knew what was coming now. Hammo tapped the penalty and Liam ran onto the ball at pace. He managed to avoid desperate tackle attempts and rumbled over the line to score the winning try. The full-time whistle went and tunnels were formed as the players clapped each other off the pitch.

Final Score Kids: 15 – 10 The Dad’s

Awards

The kids now received their certificates and medals from Jo – with suitable words explaining how each child had progressed massively this season and contributed to the teams successful season.

Thanks were given to the coaches in the form of cards and bottles of booze – thank you - much appreciated. Delia – you should have some alcohol winging its way to you. If it gets lost in transit then blame Bill (your husband, not the Gloucester #12) !

Billy Twelvetrees from Gloucester, England, and British Lions fame wandered over to have photos taken with the kids and sign certificates and shirts. I am sure he is sponsored by Batemans because there will be a lot of rugby shirts that won’t want to be washed now and kids needing to buy replacements for next season.

Finally we all congregated over by the microphones and awards were given out to all the age groups. Billy and Stroud First captain Harry Foote were there to do the honours.

For the U11’s the Players Player award went to Will H.
Most Improved Player award went to Alex
Finally Coaches Player went to Dave. We really missed a trick here as we should have called out Tom, and then seen the look of shock as Billy handed over the award and then as Tom walked away saw he had ‘Dave’ stamped on his back !

Once all the awards were done the kids wandered off to eat food, smash crockery, do the assault course and throw passes into the cement mixer.

Eventually everyone went home to watch Tori’s fabulous slideshow video of Weymouth Festival.

See you all next season for more of the same. And for those of you feeling agile there is Adult touch rugby starting end of May on Friday nights at the club. Let’s see if “Team Phil” can get a hat trick of ‘Most Improved Team’ awards. We start from such a low baseline the only way is up !