Flying High Super Stroud put 135 points on the Grounded Supermarines

Stroud U12’s had a long trek to get to Swindon to face Supermarines who boasted some of the best facilities we’ve seen. Plenty of car parking, lots of pitches, large clubhouse, plenty of hotdogs and a bar without much of a queue and space to sit down and chat. What else do you need on a Sunday morning?

The trip over was a long one. It was quieter than normal in the Samak party bus as Dave had left 1 of his lungs on a football pitch in Cinderford on Saturday, and the other was caked in super strength medicine to try and get him match fit. Dave was convinced he wouldn’t he able to play as he could hardly breath, let alone eat or talk, but we all knew that he had his kit with him, just in case he could make a 5 minute run out with consultant Delia’s permission……

Warmups commenced, Dave was excused much to the disgust of his team mates who performed airplane style shapes in homage to being at the home of the Supermarine Spitfire factory. The kids didn’t understand their history that well so some of them looked more like Clark Kent in Superman.

As we were playing out of county there was going to be a simplification of rules which Jo negotiated with their coach. Basically 12-a-side. Choice of kick off or receive. No pushing in 5 man scrums but Orgy could hook. 1st game would have no lineouts – replaced with throw-ins. Bizarrely for the 2nd and 3rd games their coach then said we would do lineouts, and would allow hand-offs. Keyans face lit up - not allowed to play Number 8, but could hand off tackles to help him on his rampaging runs……

The pitch was short and narrow so that wouldn’t necessarily be to the advantage of the Stroud backline. Supermarine had a large squad so could rotate plenty of fresh legs in. They had won recent games and played well against Minch and Cheltenham North so Stroud could be in for a battle if they didn’t bring their A game.

So now for the hard bit – the match reports and keeping score, Coach Mark has already challenged me that this will be hard work. Here goes…………….

Game 1

Supermarine (SM) kicked off. Hilly ran it back. Play broke down and SM had a throw in. Stroud turned it over and the ball went through the backs to Arthur who turned up field and scored in the right corner to give Stroud an early 1-0 lead.

More attacking rugby to make it 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, 8-0. Ref blew for Half. Change a few subs, 9-0, 10-0, 11-0, 12-0 and then full time whistle.

Game 2

Much of the same except SM played well in 1st half. Final score 9-1 to Stroud.

Game 3

More tries for Stroud – Final score 6-1

This reporting lark is easy. I do trust my notes. I guess I’d better add some editorial content so I can prove that Keyan scored as many tries as he claimed.

Game 1 – Extended Version

So Arthur scores the first try and Stroud kickoff. A good kick chase put pressure on SM. They lost the ball to a Liam turnover and Will ran left and the ball came out to Finn on left wing who was held up on the line. Not to be denied Stoner picked up the well set ball and touched down to make it 2-0.

SM kicked off and Mr T caught it cleanly and ran it back well. The ball went through various Stroud hands to keep the attack going. As the ball got close to the line we thought we had scored again but strong SM tackling held us up but Alex saw a gap and picked up the ball at the base of the ruck and dived left to score for 3-0 lead.

Stroud kicked off and forced another turneover which Finn took advantage of and ran down left wing to make it 4-0. Stroud kicked off again and good gang tackling forced SM out of play. Before we could work out how to take a throw-in a quick thinking Stroud throw went to Keyan who burst through the line to make it 5-0. SM kicked off and this time Finn took the responsibility to run it back. SM did their best to slow down the Stroud attack with determined tackling and rucking. SM won a turnover and attacked themselves but Orgy and Liam combined on the tackle to knock the ball loose. Keyan saw his chance and picked up the ball and ran direct to score and make it 6-0.

SM kicked off and Stroud again ran it back strongly. Will got the ball and ran right and just as we thought he was going to tiptoe down the line a good covering SM tackle forced him to look inside and with a perfectly timed pass he offloaded to Joe who took the ball on at pace and scored a lovely try to make it 7-0.

Stroud kicked off and Arthur put in a big tackle to force a knock on and the first scrum of match. Orgy won the hooking contest and Stroud unleashed their backs again. The ball was lost though and SM did a good attack themselves. They were forced into a turnover by a Fin tackle and Alex at full back picked up the ball and ran it back deep into SM territory. He was tackled but good support meant Stroud won the ruck and Hilly quickly got the ball out to the backs who ran right keeping the ball alive through multiple hands. Joe received the ball and saw a gap and cut back inside to score for an 8-0 lead. Half time whistle went and the first 10 minute period was complete. It had been a hurricane of attacking rugby with both players and parents struggling to keep up with the passages of play. Even the reporters notebook had caught fire with the speed of writing.

Subs were introduced and the 2nd half started with a Stroud kickoff. SM knocked on and Orgy won the scrum for Stroud. Will called a switch move and Arthur cut back inside against the grain and galloped down the wing untouched for a 9-0 lead. SM kicked off and Will ran it back and passed onto Archie who sped up the left wing for a 10-0 score line.

Stroud kicked off and SM mounted a few attacks themselves but good play by Harry and Riley (pleased as punch with his new body armour) kept SM bottled up. Lucas got the ball and went on a good run. Callum was supporting well but the ball got turned over in the Stroud backs. SM had a scrum close to their own try line which they did well to win. Unfortunately in their haste to clear their lines the ball dropped loose in the try area and Will jumped on it for an 11-0 score.

SM kicked off deep and pressure was kept on the Stroud line. SM won a turnover and were determined to score but Stroud didn’t want to leak a try so kept them out with strong tackling. Laurie forced a turnover and Stroud turned defence into attack and ran the ball out. James was unlucky to knock it on as the pitch opened up and he saw the try line sparkling in the distance.

Stroud won the scrum though and the ball came out to the left. Dave ran left and then cut back inside and timed a perfect pass to Will who scored for 12-0. SM kicked off and Orgy ran it back. At the breakdown Stroud won the ball again and Dave took it on and again found his partner in crime Will. He sprinted down the left wing and was close to scoring but a boot on the whitewash was called out of play and the ref blew for full time and a 12-0 Stroud victory.

Game 2 – Extended Version

Both Stroud and SM mixed up their squads again and the game started with a SM kickoff. The game broke down for a few phases and Stroud were awarded a line-out. This time the boys lined up as normal and the familiar Audi lineout calls were heard and Orgy delivered a pinpoint throw to Harry who cleanly caught it and passed it back to Hilly. Stroud attacked well and Finn and James combined to make some good yardage. SM were awarded a penalty and they gave it to their big guy who built up a head of steam. Laurie was upto the challenge though and brought him down with a well timed tackle. SM kept the ball alive though and their rejuvenated backs attacked again and were forced out of play deep in the Stroud half. This time Orgys lineout throw was intercepted by SM and they scored an easy try unchallenged. 0-1 to SM.

Stroud didn’t hang around though. They caught the kickoff and ran it back. At the resultant ruck Will called for a dummy switch and the SM defence froze as they tried to work out which way the ball would go. Dave was there to benefit from the space and ran right to outpace the defence to make it 1-1. Subs were called for and Archie volunteered his Donor card and donated a lung to allow Dave to carry on playing for another few minutes.

Stroud kicked off and Joe put in a great kick chase. SM were playing a lot better though and kept the ball alive. Jedd and Mr T took it in turns to put in big tackles. Jordan was also playing well at the resultant breakdowns. SM changed tactics and kicked long for touch. Stroud won the lineout via a Mr T tip back. Will then returned the favour and kicked deep himself. Stoner was there with a well timed tackle to slow down SM. The big SM forward took the ball on but group tackling with Callum and Harry slowed him up and Joe ripped the ball loose. Stroud attacked themselves and Riley made some good distance. SM were awarded a penalty and kicked for touch. SM won the lineout and the ball came to their big guy. Jedd was alert though to the threat and forced a turnover. The ball came back to James close to Stroud try line and he managed to put in a good kick under intense pressure. Finn put in a great tackle on the SM fullback and the ball came lose. A well supporting Arthur picked up the loose ball and kept running up the right wing to give Stroud a 2-1 lead. Half time whistle went and more subs were rotated in.

Stroud kicked off long and SM knocked it on close to their line. Stroud won the scrum and went left with Will to score untouched as SM drifted too wide assuming we would get the ball out to our pacy wingers. 3-1 to Stroud.

SM kicked off and Liam caught it well over his shoulder. He ran back to the left and gave a good pass to Jordan who then passed to Keyan who scored to make it 4-1.

Arthur scored immediately after to make it 5-1. I genuinely didn’t have anything written in my notepad for this so I’ll have to make something up – shock horror I hear you say….. So Arthur caught it and ran in a straight line and touched down with 3 defenders hanging off of him.

Stroud kicked deep and Joe did a good tackle and then turned the ball over. Keyan was alert to this and took a simple pass to score for 6-1. The next phase resulted in a Stroud scrum with Will running to the right and then offloading to Dave who cut back to the left and scored to make it 7-1. Another lung was left on the pitch so Dave was subbed off for Delia to do another medical substitution from the next donor card carrier.

Will was subbed off and Alex stepped into Number 10.Before we knew it Stroud were camped on the SM line again and this time Hilly saw his own gap and dived round to score for 8-1 lead. Another kickoff and another breakdown that Stroud dominated with good clearouts by Jedd, Jordan and Laurie. The last passage of play was another Stroud scrum victory. A surgically repaired Dave took the ball right but was tackled. The ball came back inside to Joe who cut back inside to score again and a 9-1 victory as the full time whistle blew.

3rd Game – Extended Version

Stroud kicked off and SM attacked left. An alert Alex tracked the ball well and timed his tackle well to force the player out of play. Stroud won the lineout and Riley got the ball and made some good moves. Archie supported him well and made some more gains. Play broke down and a few messy phases ensued.

Stroud were dominating the breakdown though and Hilly was getting quick ball and having the unenviable task of passing to either Keyan or Stoner who were screaming for the ball, or passing it out to Will who would then setup a different combination of back moves. On this occasion Hilly gave it to Will who passed to Alex and then onto Arthur who was tackled. Play came back to the right and Liam was well positioned to take a direct line. Desperate SM tackling eventually slowed him down though, but all this meant was that the ball went back out through the backs and Riley then attacked down the right wing and ran out of play. SM had a lineout that they managed to win but quick pressure by Stroud backs forced a dropped pass and Alex dived on it within the try area for a 1-0 Stroud lead.

Stroud kicked deep and SM ran it back but they were penalised. A quick thinking Will took a quick tap penalty and waltzed into the try zone untouched for a 2-0 lead. SM kicked off and Liam ran it back well. Stroud kept the ball alive and James did some good moves. Stroud lost the ball and SM attacked Strouds line but Stoner was there to stop them. Alex stole the ball and ran up the middle to relieve some pressure. Orgy took the ball on and Lucas also had a strong run. SM were awarded a scrum and attacked from it but a good Alex tackle thwarted that attack. Arthur and Jordan combined well but SM forced a turnover and scored an opportunistic try to make it 2-1 at half time.

More subs ensued. Coaches Phil and Mark had confused themselves with their sub planning so random players ran onto the pitch to play out the last half.

Stroud kicked off but Will was harshly adjudged to have only kicked it 9.99m so a half way scrum was awarded to SM. They won the scrum and attacked but Dave ripped the ball loose in the tackle. Archie passed out to Joe on right wing. Play was kept alive and the ball came back to the left via Finn and Will. Dave took on the final pass and ran straight for a score and 3-1 lead.

SM kicked off about 3 times and ball kept going short so Stroud had a scrum. They won this and went right. Finn passed to Archie who cut back inside to attack the line. We all thought he had scored but it was a triple move that the ref didn’t allow. Stroud were awarded a scrum though which they won and Will gave a simple pass to an accelerating Dave who crashed through the unprepared SM defense and scored for 4-1.

Stroud kicked off and SM ran it back but Lucas was waiting for them and forced them out of play – probably a better long term bet than receiving one of his tackles. Stroud were adjudged a non-straight throw so instead Orgy took his revenge by winning the next SM scrum. This time another backs move was called and this time Finn came into the line at pace drawing the defence but instead Wil passed out to the left and the ball found its way through all the backs to Archie who scored in the left corner for a 5-1 lead.

SM kicked off and tried a new tactic – low and hard at 100mph. Poor Will was the recipient and tried to catch it but knocked on. All we could hear was the Eeyore call from the sideline as a cruel Chris brought Will back down to Earth with a bump. I’m sure Will will be following Faringdon rugby match reports waiting for an Orgy howler he can take revenge on.

SM had a scrum that they won but Hilly was enjoying this and dumped their scrum half on his backside. The resultant errant pass bobbled loose and Keyan picked it up and scores down the middle for a 6-1 score. The full time whistle went and Stroud had dominated in all phases of the game for a total victory.

Wrap Up

Final score over the 3 games was 27-2 or in proper scoring 135-10.

Players clapped each other off the pitch and the coaches compared notes. Man of the Match for the forwards was Harry with special mention to Orgy for his hooking prowess. Man of the Match for the backs was Joe with special mention to Riley.

The coaches compared notes and it was nice to hear the Supermarine coaches comment on the way we play and how they want their team to play like we did.

Don’t normally do this but here is a try chart to show how it was a shared team effort and even if you didn’t score a try you were definitely part of a fab team performance.

Player…………….Game 1………..Game 2 ………Game 3

Arthur…………………2………………… 2
Stoner…………………1
Alex…………………….1……………………………… 1
Finn…………………….1
Keyan…………………2……………………2…………1
Joe……………………..2…………………..1
Archie………………..1………………………………..1
Will…………………….2…………………..1………….1
Dave…………………………………………2………….2
Hilly………………………………………….1

Game Score…….12-0………..……..9-1………….6-1

We all went home to enjoy the rest of the day. The Samak party bus was a lot nosier on the way back – not celebrating the victory but beat boxing and singing songs. If only Dave was still missing both his lungs so he couldn’t add to the 60 minutes of caterwalling.