Well Chosen (p)Hill – Stroud Coaches use modified team to pull out victory again

Stroud U12’s met at Churchdown-on-Floodwater for their first game of 2016. Most of them arrived by car but other options were available - they were playing at the transport centre of Gloucestershire. Cars were flying past on the M5, trains were chugging past, and even the paparazzi were flying overhead in their planes and helicopters. There was even a rumour that Eddie was going to sail his boat direct to the pitch through the flooded fields! Could the kids outshout the traffic noise as Chris requested or would the occasion be too much for them?

The Biblically wet weather conditions that had pounded Gloucestershire for the last 3 months had threatened to call off this game but credit to Chosen Hill for allowing us to play the games. For a 2 hour window the rain stopped and parents and players got to enjoy some rugby.

Stroud brought another large squad with them. With reference to the apolyptic weather and the rising flood waters Phil and Mark went to plan ‘Ark’. They had 2 players for every position – all that was missing was lead coach Noah (aka Jo) who was off skiing! Wasn't sure if it was the alpine resort of Matson or the Austrian Alps he had taken his annual pilgrimage to.

The ref called the kids together and explained the safety rules due to the bad weather. He then re-iterated that he didn’t want any back chat and to respect his decisions – unlike football which he detested. This dislike of footy became very clear when he then declared that we would be playing our games across the football pitch and cutting this up to shreds. It was a small pitch – narrow and short – so not much space to use our backs – and lots of extra confusing lines on the pitch making it difficult to work out the pitch limits.

Game 1

Stroud kicked off and the ball bounced out. Chosen Hill Former Pupils (CHFP) won the lineout and kicked deep for touch. Stroud then won their own lineout with Mr T and Hilly got quick ball out to the backs. The ball arrived at Arthur and he went on a run to the right and made good ground. The ball came back to Stoner and he cut back to the left, ran over a few players, and scored in the middle to give Stroud a 1-0 lead.

CHFP kicked off and Stroud ran the ball back. Again a ruck formed and the backs got more quick ball to attack again. Will set up the attack well and more yards were gained. A few phases developed with strong play from Laurie and Liam. Another attack through the backs caused an overlap on the right and Alex came up from Full Back to help the attack. He was held up close to the line but an alert Keyan picked up the ball at base of ruck and dived over to score Stroud’s 2nd try.

At the next kickoff it was Jo’s turn to run it back. He went on a weaving run on the right wing and was unlucky to be pushed out. CHFP lost the lineout and the backs attacked to the left this time. Dave saw a gap and straightened his run and scored to make it 3-0. The coaches then started to rotate their large subs bench to give everyone a good runout and try players in slightly different positions.

Orgy took the next kickoff and ran it back well and was unlucky to knock on in the tackle. He made amends though and won the scrum against the head. Stroud were dominating the scrums and forcing CHFP back everytime. Stroud passed the ball through the backs again and Archie E attacked strongly. Play broke down with a forward pass though just as we thought we were going to score again. CHFP were not lying down though. They took this opportunity to attack and only repeated strong tackling stopped them from getting close to the Stroud line. All players were putting in good tackles but Mr T, Keyan and Stoner were leading from the front and imposing themselves on the game. The attack broke down and ref blew for half time giving Phil and Mark the opportunity to do some more sub changes.

2nd half started with a few phases of scrums and lineouts shared equally with both teams. A penalty was awarded to Stroud and Liam took the tap penalty and barrelled towards the try line. CHFP did well to stem the attack. Stroud weren’t to be denied though and attacked to the left. James and Harry got the ball out quickly and Edgar on the left wing had a chance to score. He was held up but did well to set the ball back and Stroud attacked right and Dave scored to make it 4-0.

At the next kickoff Archie E was unlucky to knock on but given the conditions everyone did really well to protect the ball as well as they did. Stroud won the scrum again though and set up the ball well and Lucas and Callum combined well to make some more ground. The ball came to Riley and he tried a few moves. He was well supported by Finn. Stroud won a scrum and again the forwards won the ball with strong pushing from Lucas, Callum, Liam and Harry. Flash had moved into the scrum half role and got the ball and set up another attack. This time Will got the ball and Alex called a switch move and took the ball at pace going back against the attack. This gained Stroud more ground but an alert CHFP tackle stopped the attack before Alex had chance to offload a try scoring pass.

Instead the forwards cleared out well at the breakdown and Stroud attacked again with James and Finn keeping the ball alive in the backline. Archie E made some good ground and when stopped more good clearouts by Liam and Harry helped keep the ball alive for another attacking passage with Alex, Finn and Edgar. Again Edgar was held up and this time CHFP got the turnover. A scrum was awarded close to their try line. Again Stroud pushed hard and forced CHFP backwards. They managed to get the ball out to their backs though but the ball was dropped in the try area and an alert Flash dived on it to score to make it 5-0.

In the last phase of the game CHFP kept attacking and keeping the ball alive. They were a good squad and were starting to grow in confidence. Harry and James put in some good tackles but CHFP kept the ball alive. It came out to one of their big forwards and he picked up a head of steam and threatened to score but Alex bravely tackled him low to deny a try. CHFP got a scrum though and attacked to the left and this time a few missed tackles meant they were able to score in the corner for a well deserved try. Final whistle went with the score at 5-1 to Stroud.

Game 2

Yet more sub changes and experimentation was the order of the day. Alex was moved into Fly Half position to give Will a well deserved rest. Luckily the Hilly, Alex, Dave back line would have a chance to succeed because they played at primary school enough times together.

Just before the game started we realised the mass sub changes had given us a 14 man team. Perhaps that explained our dominance in first game – had Phil and Mark played a 15 man team? The kids were so muddy you couldn’t really tell them apart anyway……plus Mark declared his Maths skills only worked Monday to Friday when at school when he was paid to add up. The ref also declared on safety grounds that he wanted the scrum shove slowed down a bit because we were forcing them back too much.

CHFP kicked off and Keyan ran the ball back. The ball came through the backs and James nearly scored. CHFP reacted well and turned the ball over and kicked deep. Finn recovered the ball well and went on a mazy run back. He was well supported at the breakdown by Callum and Lucas. Stroud kept the ball alive and attacked again for another few phases with the forwards. The ball came out to the backs and Finn took on the ball at speed. He went through the defence and instead of touching down on the shortened pitch he was last seen crossing the M5 and hitching a lift to Cornwall….

The ref awarded a drop out to CHFP. They made the mistake of kicking to Keyan and he ran back down the right wing to score as we all shouted to him to remember we were on a smaller pitch than normal. 1-0 to Stroud.

CHFP kicked off and the ball got stuck close to Stroud try line. CHFP were awarded a scrum and Orgy again won the hook. Hilly put in a good pass to Alex who then kicked clear. The ball bounced around and a very brave Arthur dived about 10 metres (water and mud assisted) to secure the ball amongst the flying boots and hippos that were also wallowing in the mud.

More attacking play by Stroud gained more ground. Lucas and Riley did well in this phase. CHFP did well to stop a try and kicked deep. Joe caught the ball well and ran it back but was penalised for a handoff. CHFP attacked from the penalty but a turnover forced by Liam gave Stroud the ball back. Stoner picked up the ball and again went direct to try line – via a few CHFP players that were brave enough to try but fail to bring him down. Mindful of the Finn mistake in not touching down Stoner dived as soon as he crossed the line. This time though he had gone down too early – it was the football penalty box. He double moved to move 1 yard closer to score properly but the ref called this a penalty. Rules are rules and the ref is always correct so the Stroud players just accepted the decision.

The next few minutes was shared between Stroud and CHFP. Stroud were awarded a penalty and Keyan took it on to score to make it 2-0. Half time was taken and the last re-jigging of the subs bench put Will back on as Fly Half and moved Flash back to Full Back.

2nd half started with another Stroud attack. Will did a perfectly timed pass to Dave who scampered down the left wing to score for 3-0. At the next kickoff Stroud again secured the ball with Keyan and Mr T. Stroud attacked via both backs and forwards to put pressure on CHFP try line. This time Stoner took the final pass and scored for a 4-0 lead.

CHFP did well in the next phase to deny more good Stroud moves. They turned the ball over and attacked well but a great tackle by Laurie stopped them in their tracks. The ball was kept alive and they attacked to the left. Just as we thought they were going to score Flash put in a great tackle to stop them touching down. Stroud won their own lineout from another accurate Orgy throw in. To relieve the pressure they kept the ball between Laurie and Keyan who both went on good run and passes to each other. CHFP again somehow managed to stop this attack and again ran back to the left. Stroud didn’t want to concede any try so kept their discipline and managed to get their own turnover. Instead of kicking for touch Will saw the opportunity to attack and the backs ran from their own try line out to the left wing. Keyan took the ball on. As the defence closed in he passed to Dave who took on the attack on the left wing. Dave was running out of space as the full back went to close him down but Keyan had not given up – he had kept up and Dave did a perfectly timed pass inside and Keyan took the ball on and touched down for a fabulous try and 5-0 victory. The best one of the game and a fitting way for the game to finish as the ref blew his full time whistle. The last passing interchange was similar to the Billy Twelvetrees to Rob Cook to Billy Burns finish at Glos Rugby the week before when we had our team Xmas outing.

Wrap Up

Final Score was 50-5 over both games. It was played in excellent spirit in difficult conditions and this was shown as the players formed tunnels and clapped each other off the pitch. Thanks to the ref for officiating the game well and explaining his decisions clearly to the players.

Even the CHFP parents and coaches commented how well we played the game in all phases – the last try being the highlight.

There was no Man of the Match award. Phil and Mark agreed it was so difficult to pick out specific players due to the overall performance of everyone so a ‘Team Award’ was given instead.

At this point the rain started again so everyone headed back to the Ark, sorry cars, to try and escape the sodden car park and go home to watch films on a rainy Sunday afternoon – “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” in homage to the surrounding transportation reminders we had experienced all morning. In their haste to avoid the rain various items were left behind so hopefully the Black Bag of Doom - aka the Tardis - had space to store them.