Leaving behind the swamps of Hampstead, the u12s headed for the pristine artificial fields of Ealing. Arriving in the ice fog that has been the usual over the winter, it felt likely to be a battle of attrition, though this time did have a rest between matches.

The first match saw the boys take on Grasshoppers, in what set up as a tight battle. The first few minutes saw Hampstead on top, with cold hands and a few decisions meaning that they couldn’t punch through. Grasshoppers hit back strongly though, with a very quick thinking and accurate scrum half feeding a number of strong runners. The boys did the defensive work, and managed to hold out until half despite being camped in their own 22. The second half was really more of the same, good defensive work being let down by some imprecision in the counter, and some slack discipline letting the other side off the hook a few times. It continued tight to the wire, and a decision one way or the ball sticking to the hands the other could have decided it, but the match finished 0-0, a real defensive struggle.

The second match saw the boys take on Ealing 2, almost a rematch of the one defeat so far in the league. The match started well, with some good tackles being made on a team centred on a single powerful runner. Though Ealing did punch through once after a few phases, the boys kept their heads, started audibly reminding each other the rules, and scored 3 quick tries to go well in control (great to see the mix of styles as well, punching through the middle and feeding the wingers). Ealing kept pushing, and did manage to get another to go into the break down only 3-2. The boys raised it a notch in the second though, combining ferocious tackling with some of the best hands we’ve seen from them all year - even apparently designing plays on the fly. A 6-2 win against one of the biggest clubs in London is definitely something to be proud of.

Really happy with all of them- great efforts, skill and commitment to keep fighting.

Onwards towards the end of the season