End of an Era……but what a season to end on…….

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…….

……a merry band of young men from Stroud formed an unbroken Alliance and went to take on all the evil forces in the Universe…..

Time to celebrate our U16 squad with a season review. A fantastic U15s season of 13 dominant victories and a few close loses was going to be quite an achievement to match. Victories over County Champs from Oxon, Essex and Wilts had set the bar very high, but still Cinderford and Clifton had our number.

Chris had done a fantastic job with the fixture list again – hard games all season and more out-of-County champs wanting to play us. Surrey, Wiltshire, Oxon, Worcestershire and Herefordshire were all added to the fixture list along with the normal rivalries within Gloucestershire and Bristol-Bath area. Last season was a 1000+ miles travelling. This time we’d need a spaceship to get us around the Galaxy to take on the evil Stormtroopers in many cataclysmic battles.

Never standing still Stroud U16s had strengthened over the Summer. Flanker extraordinaire Jake flashing his C3PO wide grin had left the dark side (Painswick) and come to join the forces of good. His droid companion Lofty – somewhat more mobile than R2-D2 – had followed him – and like R2-D2 was adapt at unlocking the biggest puzzles with his speed of thought and agile footwork. Still we needed another big body to help out in the forwards. Tori – wearing her Princess Leia hair buns – went on a recruitment drive (Nailsworth or Naples?) and found a towering Italian prop/lock/#8 called Carlo. He was strong as an Ox and fantastic in the heat of battle, but still learning the language and very animated in his expressions so he earnt the name Chewbacca!

Just as in the Star Wars films the Alliance would take any help it could and the 3 new players were warmly received and soon became key contributors to the U16s team.

This was the last season together before they would move on into Colts and/or Glos Academy rugby so they wanted to go out on a high. Just like George Lucas 2019 would be the end of an era as the last Star Wars film was also released……… Stroud also had 11 games in 2019, just like George had penned 11 films……..

First game up was “Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace” – arch rivals Minch were in town. They had an annoying character just like Jar-Jar Binks. He wound up Dave something rotten. But Good triumphed over Evil and Stroud won 36-19. Good battle though – light sabres and all - and nice to gain bragging rights early in the season.

The kids were bemused by the Star Wars references. They had grown up with You Tube and “Fast and the Furious” and Marvel franchises. They thought the match reporter had gone mad (they were right – Corona lockdown had affected his mental well being!).

Next game was away in Bristol so we all jumped in the Millenium Falcon (aka Samak Van) and Han Solo flew us down to St Brendan’s in Bristol. More of the same – backs attacking in waves with signature moves – all cloned from the same strong forwards platform – it was “Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones”. Victory to Stroud 71-0.

Next up was Cheltenham. Had a good battle with them last season on the astroturf. But we wanted revenge – 3rd game of season so “Revenge of the Sith” had an appropriate ring to it. 70 minutes later we had dominated the game and won 50-5. The team was strong, and getting stronger. The tougher fixtures coming up would test us to the max……

Match day #4 – “Episode IV - A New Hope”. We went back home to where the dynasty started – not Tatooine but Fromehall. Banbury – Oxon-Berks-Bucks champs - were the visitors. We’d had a fantastic battle with them last season and edged them in a thriller. The backs were poised to attack the Banbury Death Star. They all jumped in their X-Wings and swerved everywhere to avoid the defenders and score fatal blows from all over the pitch. The little old market town was taking on the mighty metropolis and winning. Boom ! Final try from Dave as he dived into the trench…... Death Star exploded. Stroud won 57-7. The boys were getting stronger game-by-game.

Next game was Old Pats away – always a good game. The weather was horrid. Frigid. Almost as cold as the ice planet Hoth. We had to be careful. “The Empire Strikes Back” were the coaches last words as the players jogged out to take on the wave of AT-AT Walkers an TIE Fighters. Next thing we knew we had won 52-5 thanks to a dominant performance from the pack showing that Stroud could win games anyway they needed to.

Our Big #4 was back for the next game - “Return of the Jed(i)” quipped Mr Hayes – always good to have the occasional joke in a match report . We were away to Bristol for Dings – aka “Clifton B”. This would be a good test of where we were. The game was close upto half time. Then the Stroud Ewoks showed their skills and cunning and adapted brilliantly to take down the mighty Bristolians 49-17. The worlds fastest flanker Perys scored the final try and with that the Death Star exploded again in another victory for the “little people” vs the metropolis. They were dancing in the streets back in Stroud……

Things were getting serious. It was Cinderford away. We always did badly there. Our only ever victory against them was a last gasp drop goal clinching 17-15 thriller in a Cup game (but it’s the only competitive game we had so counts the most…). It was a defensive masterclass from every player. Cinderford were bottled up with nowhere to go. Who can forget the Laurie swallow dive under the posts (copyright Chris Ashton)? Stroud were dominant in every phase and won convincingly 41-12. That’s one big monkey off our back shouted the parents. “The Force Awakens” quipped Coach Samak as he realised it was Episode/Match #7. He knew the boys were building into something special – but it was a force for good that we were witnessing.

Now things were getting tenuous – really? “Rogue One” was in town. An imposter. Not a real franchise film – just a hanger-oner. Berry Hill were next on the fixture list. Good film, good victory. But an imposter compared to the real McCoy so not worth much publicity. We won 71-12. Boom!!

The next game were tour visitors and Surrey county champs Farnham. Friday under lights at Fromehall is always a fantastic occasion and this would be no different. Their late arrival meant we only had a “one-half” game. 30 seconds in they score. Rest of game we neutralised each other in an enthralling battle between 2 great teams. We had one more chance. The Stroud pack were driving to the line……the crowd were in full chorus…

“One more try”, “One more try”, “Give it to the Last Jed(i)”

But Jed was held up as the whistle went. We went to play the 2nd half but the caterers had to feed the kids so Farnham claimed a 5-0 win, but as it was only 35 minutes we gave them 0.5 credit only. So not a real loss. We were always fab in the 2nd half - the unbeaten season run was still on….. As it was Friday in Stroud we all went to the cinema to watch more Star Wars films…..

Away to Ledbury next. Not the best game – missing quite a few Glos Academy players. We played more as individuals and not as a team. It was “Solo – A Star Wars Story” again a fake film and a fake Stroud performance compared to the blockbusters we were used to. But we won 31-17.

All eyes were focused on the next match. Away at Glos perennial County Champs Clifton. Had never beaten them. It was the week before “Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” was released but no one cared about the last ever Star Wars film. “The Rise of Stroud” was getting all the local headlines. Clifton were as strong as always but Stroud hung in there and were always within a try. A typical strong 2nd half Stroud performance got us back into the game and we were camped in the Clifton half for most of it. Just like the film no one knew what would happen until the end. Who would win Good or Evil? With a darting run Lofty got the go-ahead try and Stroud claimed the victory 12-10. Another strong showing in all areas of the game and the Blue machine went marching on.

Xmas arrived and we had unwrapped most of our presents throughout the season on Sunday mornings seeing how well the team was playing.

January 2020 started OK. The Glos Academy boys were getting called up in increasing frequency so the team was constantly getting re-jigged. The injury bug also kicked in so for most games we were down to a core of 15-18. We beat Longlevens away 21-12. Lost in the fog at Evesham 19-14 and drew with Matson 31-31 – so still good performances against good opponents.

February 2020 arrived and it all went wrong. Coronavirus took over. The NHS took Delia away from us so it was unsafe to continue so the remainder of the rugby season was wiped out. Being a responsible law abiding citizen I am following the UK Government and RFU rules and have decided to expunge all the 2020 results from the record books. 2019 is still good though…….

Final 2019 season stats: Played 10.5. Won 10. Lost 0.5 (Farnham). Scored 470, Against 109

In the fairness of journalistic integrity I will have to talk about the rest of 2020 though – the team still missing many Academy/injured players. Lost to Minch away 19-12. But over the 2 legs we won 48-38 so we go through as winners. Positive vibes kids…. Lost to Banbury away 2-0 (the match report never lies). So over both legs we claim an aggregate victory 57-9. Another victory to us. Last game was away at North Mids County Champs Worcester and we held in there until last 20 minutes but eventually lost 42-5. The score really doesn’t show how close it was – and they had 2 full squads to choose from – mainly Worcestor Academy players. So let’s be positive and call that a close loss.

Final 2019-20 season stats: Played 16.5. Won 11, Drew 1. Lost 4.5 (Farnham, Ledbury, Minch, Banbury, Worcs). Scored 553, Against 234

March and April was 5 games cancelled and we would have won them all of course - in the match reporters reports anyway.

So better than our full U15 season of 13 victories and 7 (close) loses. Points wise we were on course to match the 778 points, and defensively we were a lot better and not close to the 546 conceded. And this season we had tougher games and played better as a unit – offensively and defensively. Teams we were beating 40-20 last season we were now beating 50-5. That shows the improvement across the board.

Well done to all the players. You were all magnificent. A real pleasure to coach and just be around for the banter. Special mention to the contribution on and off pitch for the 3 newer players. Jake and Lofty – but you were well known to everyone via Painswick/Marling/Academy rugby – but especially Carlo who has been fabulous. He’s learnt English, English RFU rules, friendships and been a fantastic contributor on the pitch. Always giving 150%. Your birthday party last year showed how popular you were with all the squad.

It’s a shame we didn’t get to have a Presentation day to celebrate the season properly but Boris limited the gatherings to max 2 people and we’d have hundreds want to come along and celebrate your last season. Next season it’s Colts and other distractions like work/higher education/girlfriends/motorbikes. At least this year you didn’t have GCSE’s to impact your March-April rugby fixtures. Best of luck wherever you go - 6th Form/College/Apprenticeships/Hartpury/Glos Academy.

Hope to see you over the Summer when lockdown removed and the only Corona we hear about is the one in the Beer fridge. Be great to have another team gathering for BBQs or currys. Hopefully rugby will start again in September for those of you wanting to carry on – watch this space. Until then stay inside and stay safe.

Will it be “Return of the Jed(i)” in September? (copyright Chris Hayes). Hope so after his recent bout of Coronavirus.

If you want to relive the good times go back and look at Guilia’s photos and remember how good we were this season. That will put a big smile back on everyone’s face.

Final word to say congrats to the senior First XV team on their unbeaten season (21 from 21) and promotion to South West league. Our lads could be at that level 2 seasons from now. Gives Coach Phillips a quandary to try and convince Ali he can squeeze 1 more season from his creaking body and get battered on the pitch in Devonmouth on Saturday, then battered in the pub in Plymouth Saturday evening, and be back in time Sunday to watch his son play Colts and get battered as well!