A match of two halves at Ruislip

The first glimmers of spring and Hampstead had a long trek to Ruislip for a test - where we had intentionally sought out a stronger team. As our somewhat threadbare team warmed up next to a large pack of thirteen-year-olds, there was definitely a bit of trepidation, but by the kickoff we were up to 15 and ready to go.

Both teams started out a little off the boil, with the tackling a bit weak on both sides. One try all after 5 minutes, and we were a little worried this was going to be an exhibition. The boys did tighten up though, with some much-improved rucking, good passing and some strong running lines allowing Hampstead to start to build some control, and started to score somewhat regularly; with good team tries on both sides of the pitch. Ruislip did get across once more in the half after a few errors let them build territorial pressure, but overall we were very proud of the efforts, especially after a few injuries meant that we almost never had any subs available.

The start of the second half started as the first had gone, Hampstead probably on top, but not quite able to execute on the line breaks. The big Ruislip subs then started to tell: pinning Hampstead back and slowly chipping away at the score line. It was pretty inexorable at this stage, repeated big runners battering at the line, and though the boys were holding up reasonably well they were just running out of energy (and bodies). The game finished as a relatively convincing Ruislip win, but there was a lot to take from it. Some very good passing (highly complimentary opposing coaches), continued rucking improvement, and as almost always a rock-solid scrum. Probably have some work to do on keeping the energy levels up (especially with any fewer subs) and working hard as a team to stop the bigger teams. All in all though, lots for the boys to be proud of.

Author: Andrew Honan (U13 coach)