The Final Dance: Stroud beat Cheltenham by Myles

It was the last game of the season, and for the U18s their final game as a M&J in the blue and white of Stroud. As a parting gift to the players Jane had made it extra special by arranging it under lights at Fortress Fromehall. As a parting gift to the parents Russell had organised Vegas to do the catering so the parents could all see the final game as the 2021-22 Colts squad.

Who were the opponents? Everybody wanted to play at Stroud under lights on a Friday night. Saracens and Leicester declined as they had some important Premiership and European games coming up and might need to call upon their Academy kids. Minch refused to play because they had won the last game and wanted to claim bragging rights for rest of their rugby careers as “winner takes all“. Sky TV were called in to help but they refused to pay the 10k broadcasting fees. In hindsight a bad financial move as they could have sold it on “Pay per View“ for a hefty profit.

Within 2 minutes of putting our availability onto the fixture network Cheltenham Tigers had bagged the fixture. They were intent on revenge having lost 25-22 at home and then losing at Fromehall 17-13 a month ago. 2 well matched teams ready to go at it hammer and tongs with a long weekend to aid recovery, and then 4 months before the next season starts.

By 6:30 the car park was full. A big crowd was building of all age groups. From U6 to Seniors and then Club Veterans like Samak/Phillips and club life president Russ Hillier everyone was here to watch the exciting Colts teams finish their season. Previous team mates or current injured ones (and parents) were also in attendance as they could feel something special was going to happen. M&J Director Nicky was rueing the lost Sky TV money and wasn’t able to sell match tickets at the turnstile as the crdit card machine was too busy in the club bar doing a roaring trade. Instead she went the raffle book route and made a healthy profit on that. Great prizes available and more tickets to be sold at Presentaion Day next Sunday.

Social Media had been abuzz all week. Elon Musk buying Twitter was trending #2 on twitter, but #Return-of-the-Dave was at #1. Cheltenham got wind of that and went on a big recruitment drive and got lots of DPP/Academy players into their squad. They really did want this victory. But so did Stroud so we dusted off the U16 roladex (yes I’m that old!) and Jake-RC and Lofty were also added to the all star cast. It was going to be a Friday night Blockbuster and no one needed to go to Cineworld or Vue and get fat on popcorn. Fresh air, a Stroud pint and a bacon bap were the order of the day.

Both sets of gladiators, sorry players, ran out into the Arena, sorry pitch, and were cheered out by the younger Stroud M&J section forming a tunnel. As my lad said that was a real highlight for him to bookend his career from “little to large“ with running onto the pitch via the M&J “Guard of Honour“ tunnel and walk off the pitch via a tunnel as a winning Colt/Senior at the end of the game. He could almost get a career as a poet....or match reporter to give his old man a rest!

Forwards: Stoner, FreddieW, Ryan, Laurie, Darion, FreddieP, Mackenzie, Mr T
Backs: Lewis, WillH, Dave, Myles, Arthur, Dougie, Alex
Subs: Lucas, Jedd, Jake17, JoeM, JoeE, James, Callum, Rhys, WillC, Jake18, Lofty

The adrenaline was coursing through the players veins. The whistle went and Will kicked it too deep so back for a Cheltenham scrum on halfway that they duly won but with quick pressure defense by Stroud they had to resort to a deep kick to Alex that was run back with intensity. Too much adrenaline at the breakdown and Stroud conceded a penalty that Cheltenham took quickly and broke into the Stroud 22. Good defensive work held Cheltenham out but another penalty by the posts and Cheltenham took the 3 easy points to take the lead. That wasn’t in the script, but Stroud knew how to fight their way back into any game so we weren’t worried.

Cheltenham knocked on the kickoff so Stroud had a scrum that they won and attacked through Myles. A turnover at the breakdown and Cheltenham kicked it away and Mr T had a good run back. Will saw a gap and aced a 50-22 kick that gave Stroud an attacking lineout. Reliable Laurie caught the FreddieW laser throw and Stroud were away. Mr T crashing up inside. Then quick hands to the right but Cheltenham defended well. Back to Mackenzie to punch a hole in the defensive line but couldn’t cross the whitewash. Darion was there like a flash and with renewed confidence from his Senior debut last week he picked up the ball and Rhino’s his way over for a well deserved try. He was a model player and growing from strength to strength as the season progressed. First to training, first to reply to the Spond messages, first to score the try on the night. How apt. You could see what it meant to him the way he celebrated. Good conversion and Stroud had settled their nerves and led 7-3.

FreddieP was on kick return duties in typical combative style. Will took the long kick option but the 50-22 didn’t reach touch. Cheltenham had positioned themselves well and ran the ball back very well, until a diving tackle from Lewis stopped them as a try looked on. Myles was next up with a tackle. Cheltenham earnt a penalty but Alex managed to keep it in play as they missed touch. Will’s clearance kick was partially charged down but it didn’t phase him and he nonchalantly just caught it in heavy traffic (Stroud was still in grid-lock on the A46) and set Darion off on a run. Casual as you like. No big match nerves for our Captain. The ball was kept alive through intricate passing and loop moves. Dave carried upto half way. As half of Cheltenham went to close him down the ball came back inside to Myles who now had to run through this mass of defenders. He ping ponged his way through and managed to stay both in bounds and also upright. Then by some miracle of muscle management he offloaded to Dave who accelerated up the wing, fended off a few tacklers, and managed to stay in bounds while avoiding the last ditch tackler. With lungs bursting he then cruised under the posts for a fantastic try and a great interchange of passes from our own 22 upto the try line. All that we were missing was the Samak phrase “Gas, Gas, Gas” that echoed around Fromehall from U9 to U16 age group games. Will’s kick was good and 14-3 was the lead.

It was champagne rugby. Next up was FreddieP running it back again for 20m. This time an outrageous dummy pass sprung him free for another 30m run. Laurie was on his shoulder to take the next pass and break into the 22 until he was hauled down. The forwards were everywhere hunting as a pack. The backs were still getting air in their lungs after Dave’s try. Mr T took the ball on and looked to be scoring but was forced into touch by the flag. Cheltenham won their own 5m lineout and realising how successful Stroud were at running from deep they repeated the lesson on us. Again it was Lewis who was there with a chase back tackle to stop the play developing into the Stroud half. Cheltenham went for a diagonal kick but it couldn’t be collected so Stroud had a lineout in their own half. Won as normal. No surprises there. Then Will kicking long and a lovely bounce that Arthur collected at pace and as he got tackled he offloaded to Darion who wanted try #2. He was tackled short so Ryan had a Rhino run that carried 3 tacklers but couldn’t cross the whitewash. Cheltenham smuggled a turnover and tried to run out again but both Freddies were there with stout tackles. The Tigers went to a clearance kick that was partially charged down so they got the lineout throw on their own 22. Time for a breather after a hectic 15 minutes – players, ref and match reporter all gasping for drinks of different flavours!

Cheltenham won their lineout and attacked left. They were showing great skill in backs and forwards and Stroud could not lose concentration for a second. Dave and FreddieW were putting in dominant tackles and forcing back players much bigger than them. Eventually Stroud gave away a penalty so Cheltenham kicked to the Stroud 22 but couldn’t cleanly win the lineout. Mackenzie hacked the ball up the wing and was then first up with the chase tackle. Cheltenham didn’t panic though and kept the ball alive and worked an overlap. The winger powered down the wing with a try on offer…..until Alex chased over and put in a try saving tackle. Better still the ball was knocked loose and Alex then hacked it back up the wing and put in a chase. Cheltenham saw the gap at the back and kicked it back but FreddieW had seen the threat and covered back and ran the ball back well. Next it was Stoner time as he ran through and over some desperate tackles. Same again as Dave got the ball and dished out some punishment in his run. But Cheltenham were loving the challenge and defended brilliantly to stop the runners and then win a penalty. The lineout throw went loose and Stroud pounced. Quick accurate hands from Lewis got the ball out to the backs and fast hands and flat passes released Dougie up the wing for a great run. Then a pass onto Arthur and he took was close to scoring but Cheltenham defended brilliantly and got another turnover and then with plenty of space to attack ran it out from deep. A chip over the top looked dangerous but Captain cool Will just chased back, danced around to avoid the tacklers and then kicked it out to remove the scoring threat.

Tigers won their lineout but that just gave FreddieP a longer run up to put in a bone crunching tackle on their #1- and force a knock-on and scrum restart. Cheltenham won the scrum against the head but had to kick the ball away quickly. This time FreddieP was on lineout catching duty. Lofty now at 9 set the backs off and quick change of direction and they attacked. More great hands from all the backs set Dave off. Space disappeared so Mackenzie punched up the inside. Cheltenham were scrabbling over as play was moving so fast. A long Will pass went out to winger Dougie and he accelerated to the promised land but Cheltenham were there in force. A lovely inside pass to Myles and under immense pressure he managed to break the line and score a try. The kick from wide right was missed but Stroud were stretching their lead to 19-3 but the amount of effort to get here was immense.

Cheltenham’s kickoff went straight to touch so back for a Stroud halfway restart. The Stroud scrum fired up the big engine and won the push easily giving Mr T a great attacking platform. He drew the tackler and the backs attacked right, then back inside to Jedd who made good yardage. Stroud lost control at the breakdown so Tigers had a scrum. They attacked well but only as far as Myles who forced them back. Cheltenham kept the move alive and found a gap to exploit. Another try looked on but again Alex was there to tackle them into touch by the flag. FreddieP won the lineout and from under their own posts Stroud attacked. Fantastic hands and excellent offloads were the order of the day. Inside and outside runs and inventive passing was a pleasure to watch as they broke into the Cheltenham half and 7 points looked on. They were one pass from glory but it went to ground so we came back for an offside penalty on the Stroud 22. Will kicked the penalty to halfway and Laurie aced the lineout. Mr T crashed up the middle but more powerful tackling forced a turnover. Tigers kicked again and this time Dougie was well positioned to run it back well. Laurie then took on the attack and another Stroud try looked to be brewing. But Cheltenham hadn’t read the script and instead forced a turnover at the next breakdown and imitation being the sincerest form of flattery put together a fabulous set of moves between backs and forwards, offloads a plenty and pinpoint passes to work some space and score a great try. Now we know what it feels like to be on the receiving side of some of our amazing tries! The conversion kick from wide was missed. Seeing how tired the players were with the end to end attacking the ref checked his watch and realised that 35 mins was up and blew for a well earnt rest.

Half Time: Stroud Colts 19 – 8 Cheltenham Tigers

Changes a plenty as Stroud had a strong bench of “Eddie’s Finishers” to rotate on. When you have 3 or 4 well rested Glos academy players joining from the bench you know you have a good squad and the 2nd half will be just as electric as the first one.

The ref counted the players again. He was convinced there must have only been 7-a-side with the pace the game was played at and the end to end action, and the lack of penalties. Convinced he was still playing the 15-a-side format we started again. Cheltenham kicked off. Will kicked back and then Cheltenham did a 50-22 to us. Well played Sir. Shows Cheltenham were not going to disappear quietly. They won their lineout and attacked the Stroud line but good team defense kept them out. A gruber kick through and Stroud knocked on so Cheltenham had a scrum on the Stroud 5. Don’t fear. A front 5 of Ryan, Stoner, Lucas, Jedd and Laurie on the pitch so Cheltenham got pushed off their own put in. Dave did something he’s not done in 2 years. He kicked the ball and didn’t take the contact run. Dougie was on kick chase and a great tackle into touch of his opponent. Laurie won the lineout, then Jake-18 (aka Tommies captain Jake) crashed up inside wearing the tightest fitting pair of Stroud U15s shorts we’ve ever seen. 3 years of weight lifting had put some extra bulk in those thighs so they were skinny fit at best – but aerodynamically efficient and Stroud were using everything to their advantage. The ball was quickly recycled by Lofty and Dave attacked left and set JoeE off on a great wingers run that earnt a penalty as Cheltenham got desperate to stop the attack.

Stroud had a lineout on the 22 which was Laurie time. Dave and Dougie attacked right but couldn’t break the defensive line. A penalty was given away and for the first time in the game we had 5 minutes of “less than champagne” rugby – more a classy Prosecco - as the teams traded lineouts, scrums and knock-ons. Stroud were still edging it though with powerful running from Dave, Mackenzie and Jake-18. The Prosecco was finished so we went back to a magnum of Bollinger Champagne for the rest of the game. The attack was expertly moved left by Lofty and Will and Jake-17 carried on his Dursley form and brushed off the tacklers and crossed the try line. In his eagerness to give Will an easier kick he tried to run it under the posts but Cheltenham saw the plan and forced him 2cms into touch so no try awarded.

Tigers had a goal line drop out that went long. Will ran it back with aplomb. Cheltenham competed well at the breakdown and stole the ball. They worked their way up the pitch and into the Stroud half with some excellent passing. Stroud were in retreat. Cheltenham were threatening and got into the 22. They drove towards the line and a try seemed certain. Somehow the ball was jarred loose and Lucas bravely dived on it. Stroud turned defense into attack and Dave ran it out up the right wing towards halfway. Cheltenham chased over and tackled him into touch and irony of irony Dave took out medic Delia. 10 years of keeping him match ready and Dave returns the favour by nearly breaking Delia’s leg in his last game. We all looked around to see who would treat Delia as she couldn’t self medicate. Something linked to Doctors ethics according to Google. Husband Bill dusted off his plumbers toolkit and threatened to operate. That was enough for Delia to call for a pint of Thatchers and walk off the pain and deaden the bruising.

Cheltenham won their lineout but ball control lasted 30 seconds as Jake-18 was first into tackle and as the runner offloaded to the next attacking back headed towards Myles. Myles was ready for pass or tackle. Cheltenham gambled wrong and kept the ball into the tackle. Myles stopped the runner, then twisted him and then ripped the ball away and sprinted into the Tigers half. He stretched his legs and managed to outrun the cover tacklers and score a fantastic try under the posts from 60m. Easy conversion and Stroud were leading 26-8 but the scoreline didn’t show how close the game was and those 2 missed Tigers tries in the first half were the difference.

Tigers didn’t panic and won a penalty on their kickoff as players competed in the air. They kicked to the Stroud 22 and won their lineout and drove to the line. They were stopped short. They came out to the backs and ran out Myles again. This time ball retention was #1 priority and they didn’t score but they also didn’t give Myles a 95m try runback. Cheltenham changed direction and came back left and their speedy winger scored a great try in the corner. Conversion missed at 26-13. Game still on.

Cheltenham knocked on the kickoff. Stroud had a scrum on the 22 that was duly won. Never in doubt as they were now uncontested! Lofty passed to Will who made the perfect pass to the perfect centre run. Myles went through untouched at 25mph and scored a great try. Considering that every other attack in the game there was full contact, committed tackling with no easy cms given, let alone metres it shows you how on-form the Stroud squad were to find the mm precision pass that unlocked the Cheltenham defensive wall. Easy conversion and Stroud back to a 33-13 lead

JoeE ran back the kickoff this time. Then Jake-17 had a good run. Will kicked long and WillC on the wing did a great kick chase and strong tackle. Dave came off for a rest and lung inplant. Realising his medic Delia was still supping the cider he thought better of surgery and returned the favour and patched up Delia by buying her another pint.

The game restarted with a Cheltenham penalty and lineout. Jedd was tackling well with good support from JoeM and Callum. Cheltenham had to kick to touch so that meant automatic turnover as Laurie was winning every lineout going. Will kicked away and Tigers ran it back strongly until FreddieW upended the runner and forced a knock-on. Stroud won the scrum and Lofty sniped right down the wing and then Will gruber kicked into the 22. Tigers won their lineout by throwing the ball 10m away from Laurie. Cheltenham kicked deep and Alex fielded it well. Stroud ran it back and WillC kept the move alive. The ball came left and Stroud looked to be in scoring mode again but a loose pass drifted forward. Cheltenham were now equal at the scrum….as still uncontested. They put together a stunning attack and covered 60m through various combinations of players and passes. Offloads for fun. They scored in the left corner for another well deserved try. Kick missed at 33-18 but still showing they were Stroud’s equal and any lapse would be penalised.

Stroud kicked off and quickly won a penalty that was kicked to the corner. The lineout went long and Stroud lost the ball so Cheltenham had a scrum restart and then tried to run the ball out. Fateful move. Rhys and Callum dislodged the ball and Stroud were on the attack. The ball went left and Jake-18 crashed over from close range. In his excitement of scoring he did a Hulk Hogan wrestling pose and his U15’s shorts ripped. With Delia still unable to walk straight – dodgy knee or 4 pints cider – you decide – we sent on Bill to patch up Jake. 2m of muscle tape later he was patched up and ready to go again. Honest it did happen. I might have got the score wrong repeatedly. I might have missed half the action as it was too quick for me to right down. But we definitely had Bill as an honourary medic! Good kick and 40-18 lead.

Stroud knocked on their kickoff and Tigers recovered. Lewis was there with another strong tackle. Again Tigers didn’t back down and kept the ball alive. Another great set of passes released their right winger and again Alex was the dependable last line of defense and again stopped another try. It was only temporary though. Mr T intercepted the ball and ran it back but Cheltenham earnt a penalty at the breakdown. A quick tap and they forced their way over for another try on the right. Although Stroud had leaked 4 tries they had been so strong in defense that Tigers hadn’t kicked any of the conversions from wide so that was another 8 points saved. Kick missed at 40-23

Stroud kicked short and FreddieW put in his next big tackle. Unfortunately the players legs were not on terra firma so he earnt himself a yellow card. Cheltenham took a quick tap but couldn’t make much yardage. Massive tackles were coming in from all angles. James and Arthur were in the middle of it all. Everyone was still putting their bodies on the line to keep the Stroud lead intact. Stroud had a scrum restart and Dave and Will attacked right. More mesmerising passes kept the ball alive and Will exploited a seam to run down the line. The cover tackle came over in the 22 and Will offloaded back inside to Alex who juked inside to score another try but Jane’s flag was up for an errant stud in touch. Chris Organ was a bit less generous with his crowd feedback. He wasn’t blaming Jane – he was heckling Will as he had done for the last 12 years. Eyyoorreee!

The final play was a scrum restart on the 5m line and Cheltenham then passed forward trying to find another perfect seam to exploit the rock solid Stroud defence. The ref was running on empty, the players were running on empty and the crowd were emotionally drained. Best to blow the whistle and that was that.

Full Time: Stroud Colts 40 – 23 Cheltenham Tigers

The players formed tunnels and congratulated each other. FreddieW was rueing the yellow card as he had to go through last and get the slaps. Photos were taken with both squads together as the game had been played in fantastic spirit. Players had spent 70 minutes pile driving each other into the ground but you helped your opponent up because you knew he was going to get you back, but then you’d clatter him again as well. 20 minutes later the photos were finished. It was like a wedding making sure you had the right players in the right photos to put in the scrapbook…..or Instagram account for Generation Z.

People were still querying the score as it had been a breathless night with end-to-end action and the match reporter had 400 pages of action notes to refer to, but had lost track of the score multiple times. 39-23 he declared. Coach Samak was convinced it was 40-23, but what did he know as he was only a qualified maths teacher. We went to the ref – as the match authority and closest to the action. He declared it as 40-18. We were all confused. On countback and after compiling the match report (that is always known to be 100% factually accurate) we agreed that Coach Samak was correct (again!) and it was 40-23. Remember kids we always train you to respect the ref and his decision is final and always correct. Respect authority. He will never change his mind. Based on that I will record the match as a 40-18 victory as it helps artificially bump our season stats to look more impressive – more on that later….

Cheltenham deserve so much praise for the way they played the game and added to the spectacle. It could have been easy to collapse at half time and have the 2nd half peter out. Instead they gave as good as they got and scored some fabulous tries themselves. They did to Stroud what we do to other teams. Great hands, running lines, defensive work, set plays. They were doing magical things to keep the ball alive and keep Stroud stretched defensively. They matched Stroud in the 2nd half and that made Stroud play even better and meant the final season game meant even more to show how hard it had been to win.

The ref deserves a lot of credit for keeping the game flowing, and keeping up with the players. As he said afterwards it was such an exciting open attacking game and one of the best games of the season. It was like a game of 7’s but with 15 on each side and played for 70 minutes not 14 ! No wonder he was exhausted at the end. Again as a young upcoming ref he was social media savvy and was tweeting his comments soon after…. “Last night I had the pleasure of refereeing one of the best Colts rugby matches this season. An very open game played with both sides showing real talent and respect for one another. This photo was the cherry on the top. Thank you
@StroudRugby and @Cheltenhamrugby @GRFUrugby” Link and photo available here

So he was challenging the match reporter to a game of Twitter Tennis after I queried his score keeping. Never one to back down I will now attempt to do this match report in a 140 character tweet to show how media savvy I am. “Stroud win epic vs Tigers. Gr8 game with open attacking rugby & thunderous tackles. Stroud won 40-23 & the match reporter is always right”

To prove the match reporter was good at numbers he spotted a trend on the night. It was the number 25. It had been subliminally affecting the whole outcome. The crowd thought he had finally lost his marbles (note to self – it happened many years ago)…let me explain…..and if you think I am making this up (again) there is only 1 factually incorrect statement in the list below…

• 25 players in the Stroud Colts squad who took to the pitch
• 25 injured/ex-players watching – great to see Beau/Ben/George/Isaac/Theo/Flash/Orgy/Callum etc
• 25 Senior players watching prospective new team mates and wondering how they will keep up with the pace and skill shown
• 25 = Shirt #10 + #15. Will and Alex were the only 2 players who played the whole 70 minutes
• 25 = Shirt #11 + #14. Arthur & Dougie were electric on the wings
• 25 = Shirt #12 + #13. Centre’s Dave and Myles scored the majority of the tries
• 25 = 2+5 = 7. The game was played at 7’s pace all night – as the ref commented afterwards
• 25 = Age of the ref – had to be that young (and sober) to keep up with play!
• 25 = Number of times I got the score wrong
• 25 = Shirt #2 + #5. The lineout machine that is FreddieW to Laurie
• 25 pints = The match fee we promised Lucas if he scored a try and kicked the conversion
• 25 gallons = The amount of water Lucas drinks in a game
• 25 = Foot size of Mr T
• 25 = Tackles FreddieW put in as one of the smallest players on the pitch. And to celebrate his 25th the ref gave him a card!
• 25 mph = the top speed Myles reached on his 2nd half try runs
• 25 = average number of attacking phases before a try scored
• 25:1 ratio of supporters to players. – 100’s were watching
• 25 = Years left in Jane’s future Colts coaching career
• 25kg = how much food we had to cook to feed the players
• 25 = Curry nights the coaches have planned for next season now we have weekends rugby free
• 25mm = how many mm Jake’s foot was in touch as he tried to run his try under the posts
• 25cm = how many cm Will’s foot was in touch when offloading inside for another disallowed try (official Chris Organ measurement)
• 25 = How many minutes you have wasted getting this far into the match report
• 25 = Hours taken to produce said match report
• 25 = Number of lines you’ve just read as I start to get very tenuous

So only one statement was wrong. We only promised 5 pints to Lucas and luckily he didn’t score so the coaches drunk them instead.

In my personal unbiased view that was one of the top 5 junior rugby games I’ve seen. It’s always special under lights with a big crowd. It compares very favourably to tour visitors like Old Brentwoods/Farnham/Chobham and our Tours away or Cup Finals…….
…..But my #1 game is still that U14 County Cup knock-out game vs Cinderford where we beat them for 1st time on a Will drop goal in injury time from wide left and Alex had put in about 5 try saving tackles to keep us in the game! Cinderford still talk about it as well !!

The game also summed up the U18’s journey the last 12 years. What we saw in 70 minutes at the highest level is what had evolved over many years – and repeated many times on wet and dry Sundays from 6 to 18 years old:

Great kicking and ball distribution by Will, pounding runs by Mr T, Laurie lineout magic, Stoner crunching tackles, Darion going Rhino (and getting a score!), Lucas, Jedd and James and the rest of the forwards for powering the scrum as a real weapon, Dave for his tries from deep (and wide, and short, and over people), Alex “safe hands” and try saving tackles, Arthur for his kick chase and rip tackles. New to Stroud U18s JoeE and WillC for handling the wing position so well.

But it doesn’t stop here. The U17’s have contributed massively to the Colts success this year and the Cheltenham match. Myles managed to “out Dave” Dave with his try hat trick performance from deep. Lewis, Dougie, FreddieW and FreddieP were immense in the tackling and taking down players twice their size, big runners like Ryan, Jake and Mackenzie smashing everywhere. The other U17 forwards and backs like JoeM, Callum, Rhys and Jonty who have not played every week but when have started, or come on as subs have not shown any drop off in intensity or skills which shows how well rounded the squads is and players can move between positions without any drop off in team performance.

Next years Colts will be just as good as this years Colts with the U17s developing even further, and based on the U16s Ciren Friday night game a few weeks ago plenty of excellent players and coaching staff joining from that setup that will keep Jane busy with more enjoyable and committed rugby.

U18 Players 6 Season review from U12 to U16 and then U18 Colts

As the coaching and back office team debriefed last night its been a fantastic journey from U5/6’s upto Colts level, and then seeing some players go on to play Senior rugby – even more special for them sharing that Saturday pitch with Mk1 and Mk2 coaches to truly pass the baton on!

The support from players and parents in all years has been great. A nucleus of 10 to 15 players consistently from U6 onwards and players joining for a few seasons towards the end or leaving part way through. They’ve all contributed to the rugby career of the current Colts players.

As you will see lower down the stats for their career show how good they’ve been as individuals and as team players. But this wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Club and the coaching they have received. We also list their other contributions to rugby in other roles:

Front of House – the coaches

• Jo - Club chairman, GRFU ref, DPP coach, adhoc M&J and school coaching
• Phil - Facilities manager, Electrician, Adhoc barman
• Mark O - Safeguarding officer, School’s liason, Presentation Day BBQ
• Mark 1 - Senior player/manager/coach/match reporter, M&J adhoc coaching
• Mark 2 - Senior player/coach
• Jane - Colts coach, adhoc refereeing

Back Office

• Delia – Medic (mainly for our opponents! Plus keeping the coaches fit for senior rugby)
• Jenks – Team admin, S&C coach #1, carrier of big kit bags
• Chris H – Fixture secretary. Responsible for global warming for the amount of miles we drove as U15 & U16 to find competitive fixtures. Collector of match pitch flags
• Organ tour services – Liaison services for rugby tours. No accommodation off limits - any standard cataered for. Ilfracombe Colditz or Weymouth Caravans. Top quality guaranteed
• Russell – Collector of training cones and rugby post protectors. S&C coach #2. Occasional match reports. Spond spammer

The Players…the important people....

As well as doing amazing things with Stroud rugby the U18s have gone on to represent their schools/counties etc as well so here’s a flavour of their achievements since U12s when 15-a-side became normal. And to test your brains over the long weekend I’ve made some of these a quiz….

• 6 Colts played First XV this season (quiz 1). Plenty more could have made it if were older (Mr T!!)
• Colts runners up in league, and 2nd best in the County
• U18s in previous years have beaten various County Champions Banbury (Oxon-Berks-Bucks), Old Brentwoods (Essex), Bideford (Devon), Chippenham (Dorset-Wilts), Clifton (Glos and represent best of Bristol). And we narrowly lost 5-0 to Farnham (Surrey)
• U16 unbeaten in 2019 but then Covid/Academy call-ups de-railed the rest of 2020
• U16 - Carlo the Italian forward who learnt English on the rugby pitch and now with Ealing Trailfinders. Will he wear the blue of Italy?
• U14 County Cup runners-up
• U13 Won 7 out of 8 in county cup “fun league”
• U12 County Plate Winners
• Various festivals trophies – Weymouth etc

Now for the outside of Stroud RFC success:

• Archway – runners up in EDF U14 Glos Schools Cup (quiz #2 – 8 players involved)
• Marling – U15 National Cup last 16 and South West Final. Last state school left in competition and lost to eventual champs Wellington College (quiz #3 – 9 players involved)
• St Peters/Tommies/Hartpury – Top level schools rugby last few years & Rosslyn Park 7’s
• Hartpury AASE National U18 Champions – Dave got a gold medal (not on Ebay yet) as starting #12
• Other local schools – all players in First XV for Maidenhill, Redknock, KLB, Thomas Keeble
• GRFU County squads and Glos schools representative squads
• Gloucester Rugby DPP to U18 Academy – via the schools and club nominations we must have been #1 contributor in the early years
• Gloucester Rugby Academy U17 When the squad was reduced to approx. 30 Stroud RFC was 25% of intake. More than other clubs or private schools. That number 25 is in this report again!
• Touch Rugby 7’s – even the coaches/backoffice team winning Touch Rugby trophies – more for social effort than rugby skills!

Quiz answers:
Quiz #1: Senior Players: Will, Dave, Laurie, Stoner, Alex, Darion
Quiz #2: Archway Players: Dave, Liam, Hilly, Lucas, Big Mac, Joe-S, Euan, Haydn
Quiz #3: Marling Players: Lofty, Jake, Alex, Arthur, Archie-E, Fin, Jedd, Mr T, James-S

Now for the U18s last 6 seasons review. Luckily because I did the stats/presentation report at end of each season this info was easy to get hold of, and reading the season summary reports brought back some fabulous memories. U16s (Star Wars meets rugby) and U14s are the best read.

Age....Wins.....Losses.......Scored.......Against.......Web Site Link
U12...........11.................3.................689.................297.............Season Report Here
U13............6.................5.................930.................400.............Season Report Here
U14............17.................3.................730.................367.............Season Report Here
U15............13................7.................778.................546..............Season Report Here
U16............11................5.................553.................234..............Season Report Here
Colts..........13.................6.................634.................361..............To Do Next Week
Total...........81.................23..............4314...............2205.............N/A

NB - Doesn’t include festival games for games won/lost. Just normal full length matches

So that’s the end of an era. How do you finish your final match report after that? Well to give a shout out to Jo who started this journey on day 1 and lived and breathed it every day inbetween we need a football quote because that will become his new passion as he will learn to love the game!

“They think its all over. It is now !”