M&J News – 20th September 2022

U13s Shine at Kirkby Lonsdale Festival

A trip to stunning Cumbria was the perfect way to kick off the new season in style for Lymm’s u13s. The Kirkby Lonsdale Kickstarter Festival is designed to ease players into new rules in a fun and relaxed way and it certainly lived up to expectations. Lymm travelled the furthest of any club and brought the most players and parents, so a huge thank you to everyone who made the journey.

We played five matches against decent teams from across Cumbria and Lancashire, and finished the day unbeaten. A tight draw against Vale of Lune was followed by wins against Bolton, Southport, Keswick and our hosts Kirkby Lonsdale. Our expansive style of rugby is now being fused with some great tackling and rucking. However, as always, it was the way that our u13s conducted themselves on and off the pitch that was the source of much pride. All games were played in great spirit and we even loaned a couple of players to teams who were short.

If you get the chance to visit Kirkby Lonsdale for a game, take it. It’s a lovely club. The festival has set us up for our busiest ever season of fixtures, and one that will provide our squad of 35 boys ample opportunities to develop their skills.

The Under 15’s have been busy already

The Under 15’s got the season started with a 3 way pre-season tournament at Kirkby Lonsdale.

Three games were played versus Kirkby Lonsdale, Vale of Lune and Keswick & Cockermouth Ospreys.

A great day was had by all in glorious sunshine.

Saturday 17th Sept and its off to Barnet Elizabethans RFC.

After an early start from the club and a swift journey down, we were welcomed with coffee and bacon rolls and re-acquainted ourselves with the coaches and parents at Barnet Elizabethans RFC. We played each other at the end of our U14 season and we promised a return trip.

We were down on playing numbers following a few injuries in preceding weeks so our boys were up against it with little cover. The injured players however were enthusiastic supporters on the side line with everyone playing their part.

Before kick off we all joined together for a minutes silence for Her Majesty the Queen followed by a minutes applause for King Charles III which ws impeccably observed by 70 + players, coaches and parents.

Formalities over we commenced our first game.

V Barnet Elizabethans – W 5-37

We came out of the blocks well shaking off the cobwebs of the coach journey and whilst we conceded a try the boys played well and finished strongly.

V Fullerians – W 0-27

Our opposition had travelled the short journey from Watford. The boys started strongly again continuing where they left off in the first game. Forward dominance was matched with some fantastic support and offloading and our defence was rock solid. Another win secured !

V Barnet Elizabethans A – W 0-37

After discussion with their coaches we agreed for them to play their A squad. The game was played at a fantastic pace and our boys stepped up their defensive sets with great line speed which put huge pressure on Barnet. They struggled to compete with the pressure and made mistakes and our boys were dominant around the ruck too – if slightly over zealous on occasion resulting in a number of penalties against. Despite this we dominated throughout and with our teams playing to the patterns we have been working on and expanding play at pace we scored some brilliant unanswered tries out wide.

It was a brilliant day with all games played in a fantastic spirit.

Barnet Elizabethans were  great hosts and after dinner and presentations, our parents were invited to join the Barnet Bus – we may have won on the field but with a home bus conductor we didn’t win off it!

Having said our farewells and agreed to meet again we made our way to our overnight stay in nearby Elstree and some team games.

Sunday 18th September – v London Irish RFC

W 5-37

Up bright and early, some of the boys enjoyed an early morning swim before we made our way to Hazlewood – the home of London Irish. The facilities were very impressive with 8 pitches and several hundred children on various of them.

We had been warned by Barnet to expect a much tougher test with a team “who ruck like no team we have ever seen”. Always keen for a challenge we prepared ourselves for a tough test.

London Irish had a large squad so we knew that it would be a hard day at the office. The game kicked off and it became obvious that the similarities in the colour of our playing shirts might cause confusion when we had a pass intercepted and Irish scored.

The team composed themselves after a quick chat behind the posts and went again. Irish came out of the blocks very fast and it was clear they were used to being the pressurising team and making opposition make mistakes. Our boys however responded well by recognising how to move the ball wider and to work through the middle where they were not committing around the rucks.

Our line speed and defensive aggression which was so prominent in Saturdays games appeared again and we soon started to press the Irish each time they attacked. Gradually we broke them down with our patterns of play and we then moved the ball well to score 5 unanswered tries. The boys got better and better as the game went on.

It was the icing on the cake for a fantastic weekend. After coaches and parents had a celebratory pint of Guinness we made our way back to Crouchley Lane.

We had a brilliant weekend with some amazing team bonding, some great rugby played and some new bonds with other clubs made. Mission accomplished !