Thursday, 16 July / Saturday, 18 July Wrap-Ups

Thursday, 16 July

First, we have to finish the reporting for Thursday evening.

U-11s: Coach Jim Woods adds to the previous U-11 reporting: The kids played great and Dave Hughes and Layton Golding were terrific in both reffing and coaching. Jim, who is the coach of their team was a very nice guy and he was praising our team after the match. I also had several of their players come up to me to thank us.

U-17s: The stalwart Fort Hunt U-17s who traveled to Chantilly were Peter L, Nick A, Mike P, Joe Tr, Austin W, Ryan K and Mark P.

The final score was Fort Hunt 14, Chantilly 48. The Fort Hunt scorers were Mike P (1 try, 1 conversion), Nick A (1 try), and Joe T (1 conversion).

The Fort Hunt man of the match was Mike P for his tenacious defending, solid tackling, and the dashing try he scored from an incredibly well-placed clearing kick from Mark P.

Saturday, 18 July Wrap-Up

U-11s: Coach Jim Woods reports: Our kids played great. We stayed spread out more than ever, made very few emergency passes, and ran some great runs. Claire almost had her first try, but got stopped just shy of the try zone, and passed off to Connor for the try. Andrei had some incredible runs with some amazing dekes that left Winchester sprawled on the ground. James H really got into going for any ball that was on the ground and wrestled some nice pick ups for us. As usual James W played with grit and determination, making sure that every touch counted. Cooper just seemed to never give up and was were he needed to be every time. Fiona had some nice runs and made sure that her passes were on target.

So, we were able pretty much to stop most of the long runs by our opponents that we have seen in the past, and were able to break up many of their plays.

The final score was a win: Fort Hunt 30, Winchester 25. Tries were by Connor (4) and Andrei (2) I think, from the ref's position, I was trying not to see our players individually, but Jim has the score sheet. Man of the watch went to Cooper, for his all around great play.

Great day, guys

U-13/U-15/U-17: The day had all three tackle sides hosted at BRYC. The format was a little screwy, as BRYC has now combined with Vienna, and SYC showed up as well. So, in true rugby fashion, we set a round-robin schedule and we borrowed players from each other so as many young men as possible could play as much rugby as possible.

U-13s: We started the morning by placing two of our U-13s with SYC per quarter as they played BRYC, so all of our U-13s who came out got a warmup in SYC jerseys. We then played two periods against BRYC, with a couple of SYC players filling out our side. Play was pretty even, with a lot of wide runs taking advantage of the very wide pitch.

Then we played two quarters of Fort Hunt against hosts BRYC, with a few SYC mates filling our numbers. The final score was something like Fort Hunt 5, BRYC 25.

The Fort Hunt scoring was from Jack K (1 try).

The U-13 man of the match was Ruslan P, for the second match in a row, for his unceasing running absolutely straight up the field with the ball, and his fierce defense and contact in rucks and mauls. An honorable mention goes to Jack K for his long chases and cross-field defenses saves, including two full-field defensive chases with successful open field tackles to prevent the score.

BRYC did a great job of hosting us, with food and drink after the match, and even a spirited rendition of "Father Abraham."

U-15s: The U-15s took the field with a few of their U-13 mates playing up, and against the same SYC team that had beaten us by one point on Thursday evening.

SYC scored first in the first and second quarters, leading 12-0 at the half. But then Fort Hunt caught fire, and by the last minute of the match we were up by 7. A long kick coupled with a lucky bounce put SYC within a conversion of tying the game right at full time, and when our players (illegally) yelled during their missed conversion attempt, they were given another attempt, which they then made, to save the tie at Fort Hunt 19, SYC 19.

Our U-15 play continues to mature and improve rapidly, with better skills and on-field decision making over Thursday evening. The light is going on for our players; our guys really are starting to get the nuances of the game, and the types of immediate decision making that makes the difference in the match.

The scoring was Colin G (3 tries) and Chris B (2 conversions).

Man of the match was the Fort Hunt scrum players, for a particularly good, sustained 30-meter drive into the try zone and a Fort Hunt score. They performed well in the loose, and in the lineouts, providing the grit that wins games. Honorable mentions go to Nick A for his leadership at scrumhalf, and to the one-two punch of try-scoring and conversion, Colin G and Chris B. Chris even attempted a drop goal in open play--a Fort Hunt rugby first. His line was dead-on, but it fell just short. My offer still stands of buying a round of pizza for the team in the name of the first player to score a drop goal in open play.

After the SYC match, we combined to play another two U-15 quarters against our hosts, BRYC. The score was approximately Fort Hunt 24, BRYC 10. We had tries from Nick A, Austin W (2), Anthony A (2, and playing up!), and Chris B. Chris B also made two conversions.

BRYC hosted the U-15s very well, too, with chow and drinks after the match.

U-17s: The U-17s did not play as an official team due to our and our opponents' lack of numbers. But for those hard-core 17s who showed--Nick A, Austin W, with Chris T injured but present and cheering for his mates--we managed to work them into the U-15 play so everyone got some game time (covered in the U-15 report).

Upcoming

We will train on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

On Thursday evening, the U-11s will travel to PAC (Alexandria), and the U-13s/U-15s/U-17s will be at Vienna. Game day email to be out soon.

On Saturday we will have our last regular season matches, with the U-11s traveling to Winchester, and the U-13s at home v. BRYC/Vienna, U-15s at home v. Vienna, and the U-17s at home v. Howard County. The game day email will be out in a few days.