Stroud U12's go close in Landrover Cup but narrowly fail to escape group phase.

Rain threatened, the wind was up, small narrow pitches were marked out - it had to be festival time again! It was Landrover Cup day organised by Gloucester Rugby and the winner had a chance to go to Twickenham for the Premiership Cup Final. Only the top 16 teams in the county were invited and we were there on merit.

First problem was going to be navigating the parking arrangements. Space was in short supply and as Dean Close was Gloucestershire's Premier Prep school with 20k/year fees or 30k for boarders we were worried that we’d be paying London parking rates of £20/hour. Luckily Arthur’s mum had won the 400 Club recently so her £50 winnings would be spent on parking and not the romantic Valentine’s meal that Jonathon had promised Louise….

Game 1 vs Bredon

Bredon kicked off and recovered their own short kick and quickly set up a number of attacking phases. Good strong tackling though by Stoner and Mr T caused a knockon which gave Stroud a scrum which they duly won. Will kicked long to relieve the pressure but Bredon’s full back did a great run back and set up another attacking plateau. They attacked both left and right with quick ball and this forced some gaps in the Stroud defence which were exploited with a try in the middle to give Bredon a 1-0 lead.

Stroud were not disheartened though and they chased down their own kickoff and put pressure on Bredon. Bredon were penalised and Stroud had a tap and go penalty that Keyan barrelled forward on and as he was crossing the line was harshly adjudged to have handed off so a penalty was given to Bredon. They went to kick for touch but Orgy showed great reactions to catch the ball cleanly and run it back. The ball continued onto Liam and he threatened the line but another well timed Bredon tackle forced Liam to off-load in spectacular style to Dave who took the ball at pace and scored in the left corner to make it 1-1.

The rest of the 7 minute half alternated between Bredon and Stroud attacks with both teams showing equal poise in attack and defence and cancelling each other out. Both wingers Joe and Archie E made some good runs for Stroud after good attacking ball was won by the forwards and Hilly got the ball out quick to the backs who attacked down both wings. Half time was taken and a few subs were taken.

2nd half started with a good Bredon run back. They were very quick at the breakdowns and showed equal skills getting the ball out to the backs at pace with a great showing of hands to keep the ball alive in the tricky conditions. Strouds defence was a good match though and they forced Bredon out of play with a big Stoner tackle. Liam won the resultant line out and was well supported by Keyan who carried on the attack. The ball came out to Will who found a gap and exploited it and at the perfect time passed to Dave who attacked down the left wing. Good support from Lucas and Laurie won the ruck and Hilly got the ball out quickly to the back line. Unfortunately one of the passes was intercepted by Bredon and they scored an easy try to make it 2-1.

Again Stroud showed great spirit and attacked from the kick off. Liam took on the ball and made some good yardage. Bredon forced a turnover but were pushed out of play. Stroud again won theior lineout with an accurate Orgy throw to Keyan. The ball came out to the right and Dave found himself a gap on the right and dived for the line to score but the ref harshly judged a drop so came back for a Stroud penalty for Bredon off-side. Will took a quick penalty and Keyan ran left to score straight away and make it 2-2 and set up a dramatic finish.

Bredon kicked long and Stroud struggled to control the ball cleanly under great Bredon pressure. A turnover happened and Bredon then setup a few attacks of their own but Stroud’s resolute defence kept them out. Just as we thought we’d done enough somehow a Bredon player squeezed through a gap and scored in left corner for a 3-2 lead. Stroud quickly kicked off but the hooter went and we’d been denied at the end by a very strong and competent Bredon team. A great team effort in the 1st game which bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

Final Score: Bredon 3 - 2 Stroud

Game 2 vs Longlevens

Next game was against Longlevens who had pipped us 1-0 in the County Cup at Matson. Could Stroud get their revenge?

Stroud kicked off and put Longlevens under pressure. We were awarded a scrum that although we were forced back a bendy Mr Orgy somehow managed to hook it back and Flash now playing scrum half dug out the back to get clean ball to the backs. The ball came out to Arthur and he showed good attacking poise to make some good gains with various Longlevens players failing to bring him down. Longlevens resorted to some spoiling tactics at the breakdown and were penalised. Stroud took tap penalties with both Keyan and Liam taking it in turns to act as the battering rams.

Stroud were awarded a scrum which they managed to win well. Flash went blindside this time but was pushed out of play. Longlevens won the lineout and kicked deep. Dave was playing full back having swapped positions with Alex. He took the ball cleanly and managed to run through a few tackles. He showed good strength to keep his legs churning and good forward support from Eddie and Callum setup quick ball for Flash to go on a sniping run and ignore the 3 man overlap and score the first try of the game. Great vision and technique to find the gap and back himself to score.

Longlevens kicked off and Dave took the run back and play settled down with a few more Stroud attacks with Harry on the wing and Jedd providing good support. Hooter went and everyone stopped for some well earnt drinks.

Longlevens kicked off the 2nd half and recovered their own short kick. Longlevens attacked but more stout defence kept them in check. Stroud were given a penalty and Will kicked long for touch. Stroud again won their own lineout and attacked through Riley. Play broke down and ball came out the other way to Dave who offloaded to Edgar who was unlucky to be forced out of play. Longlevens attacked from their own lineout but a strong tackle from Arthur stopped them. Stroud then attacked themselves and threatened a 2nd try. Good pressure on the line was nearly rewarded with a Lucas try but somehow he was held out by about 3 Longlevens tackles. Longlevens won a lineout and went to run the ball out. Quick pressure defence from Will forced them to change direction and Will was taken out of the game by an onstructing player but the ref decided to ignore this blatant penalty and Longlevens attacked down the right wing and dodged a few poor Stroud tackles. As Stroud chased back in defence good support from other Longlevens players gave them a try in the right corner and equalled the score at 1-1. Before we even had chance to kick off the hooter from hell sounded and again we’d been denied at the death. This time a draw was snatched from certain victory but again it was another good team performance against one of our bogey teams.

Final Score: Longlevens 1 - 1 Stroud

Game 3 vs Frampton Cotterell

So 1 close loss and 1 close draw. Could we go one better in our final game?

Stroud kicked off and Frampton Cotterell’s (aka FC) big guy caught the ball and went on a devastating run straight back up the middle and knocked over a few of our players to score for a 1-0 lead. Not the start we wanted……

Will kicked off and FC ran it back again but this time Keyan stole the ball in the maul and attacked himself. Good Stroud pressure went unrewarded and FC attacked themselves. Somehow Arthur ripped the ball out and attacked himself. He managed to get himself close to the line and good support from Jedd, Mr T and Orgy forced him right onto the line. Stroud sensed an opportunity to score so most of the Stroud and FC players piled into the maul. It collapsed and we waited for the refs sign. A try was awarded and a bemused Arthur jogged back to the half way line wondering what had happened – had he scored or had someone else touched it down for us. It still wasn’t any clearer 1 hour later during tem debrief so we agreed it was a team try. Even Alex 30 yards away at full back and the 8 subs were all given an assist. Arthur been the honest chap he was declared he wasn’t involved in any downward pressure so everyone got a credit of 1/20 of a try each – apart from Arthur.

FC kicked off and both teams attacked in equal measure. FC kicked from deep to relieve pressure but Alex picked up the bouncing ball well and ran up the left wing dodging a few tackles. More Stroud attacks from Lucas and Stoner set up a good platform. FC did well to steal the ball though but Hilly didn’t like this so took it upon himself to steal it from their biggest player – David vs Goliath springs to mind. The ball came out through the backs and Riley had a chance to attack…. Kaboom, Bang, Kapoow - he was hit hard and did well to keep control of the ball as he was knocked out of play.

FC had a lineout but Jedd did well to jump and win it. Just as we attacked again the half time hooter sounded with the score 1-1.

2nd half was a FC kickoff and they recovered their short kick. Stroud forced a turnover though and Will kicked long to relieve the pressure. FC attacked but Stroud forced another turnover and Laurie went on a good attacking run, well supported by Archie E. Stroud were starting to dominate now and good attacks by Eddie and Callum created space for the backs to attack. Dash went on a typical weaving run and as play broke down the ball was skilfully kept alive and came out to Edgar who saw a gap and attacked down the line but was forced out of play. FC won the lineout and did a short kick. An alert Lucas picked up the ball and passed to a charging Liam who crashed over the line for a 2-1 Stroud lead.

FC kicked deep and Laurie saw his chance to shine. Somehow he dodged about 5 tackles down the left wing to threaten a Stroud try. He was so kick he outrun the Stroud support players. Eventually they caught up as Laurie was slowed up by some good FC tackles. FC stole the ball but were quickly forced out of play. Stroud again won their lineout with an A2 Audi call. The ball quickly went through the backs and Arthur made good ground as was held up just short. Good forward play won the ruck and setup another attacking platform but play was stopped with a nasty shoulder injury to Callum. After some treatment the hooter went and game was finished with Stroud finally earning the victory they so richly deserved.

Final Score: Frampton Cotterell 1 - 2 Stroud (Arthur 0 !)

Their match report at Frampton RFC

Wrap Up

We waited around to make sure we didn’t run a repeat of Matson and get dragged back into the tournament after everyone had left for their cars. This time it was only top team through and this was deservedly Bredon who had won all their games but had the biggest fright from Stroud. We had Won 1, Drawn 1 and Lost 1, Scored 5 tries and let in 5 tries. If we’d played 6 minute halves we could have gone through as group winners!

We had come joint second with Longlevens in our pool but as we had scored more tries than them and had a moral victory over them in 2nd game we declared ourselves as clear 2nd place! Therefore we are one of the top 8 teams in the county – well done kids! With only 12 Premiership teams we are therefore in the top 100 clubs in the country…. now that’s positive journalism!

Team debrief was held and the coaches mentioned how proud they were of the whole team for their performance today against the best teams in the county and the effort they showed in all phases. Man of the festival was awarded to Liam for the forwards but who would get it for the backs? Arthur was still embarrassed for the try he ‘scored’ so we all agreed that as he was the only player that hadn’t scored – remember everyone else scored 1/20th try each - that he therefore deserved the backs award for his attacking and defensive play, even though he scored zero tries!

Arthur press interview at Stroud Journal

Next few weeks its back to big pitches and longer games which play to our strengths. At least when we have the County Cup Finals in March we should go there with good confidence we can compete at the top level against any team in the county.

FYI – Minch lost all their games in their ‘Group of Death’ so even though we have yet to play them this year we can claim to have finished higher than them in the Landrover Cup. Bredon then lost a close semi-final to Cleve who faced Clifton in the final – score unknown.