Thursday, 16 July Wrap-Up

Another great summer night--but hot!--for rugby:

U-11
SYC Blue at home: Coach Dave Hughes reports: Okay, so Springfield is a good team. We lost 55-10 (11 tries to 2) . But through that we had some great play from our team. Fiona and Claire were selected as Women of the Match for Fort Hunt. They both kept in on the plays, made good passes and catches, broke up some of Springfield's plays, and just would not give up. Andrei had one try, also would not give up and really tried to cut their men off from running away with the ball more than they did. Simon, who had the other try, played a short but great game. He had a wonderful run but got knocked right into the try zone and cut open his knee again. We will miss him for the rest of the season, he is a great kid who has a long rugby future ahead of him. Alden had a great game as well, and ran to keep himself in the game; some nice catches and passes. The rest of the team played a good game, and continue to improve. Our weakest points were some costly desperation passes that resulted in interceptions and tries. This is where some kicks would have come in handy. All in all the U-11s played well and have learned a lot, and nobody killed the ref.

U-13
At SYC: These were the same guys we played last week, losing by a wide margin. Their home-field advantage meant lots of depth, and they substituted often. We played tens due to our low numbers, with a few of our U-15s playing down to fill the side out--thanks, men. The final score was Fort Hunt 0, SYC 74. SYC has some extremely talented and experienced young rugby players, and our disorganization worked against us. Our biggest weakness continues to be ball fixation, and not rapidly marking offensive players preparing their attack.

Man of the match was Connor C for his tackling and his outstanding rucking, often by himself. Will C gets and honorable mention as a man of the match runner-up.

SYC chose their Fort Hunt man of the match, and selected Ruslan P.

U-15
Our 15s got their four mates back from the U-13 match, and with the help of three BRYC mates, took the field with a full 11. The game opened very evenly, with one each unconverted try by both sides. SYC moved out in the second quarter with three unanswered scores, but Fort Hunt roared back in the third quarter, finally finding their groove. The game came down to the last minute, with Fort Hunt up by four, until a late SYC unconverted try gave them the victory: Fort Hunt 26, SYC 27.

SYC was surprised by our performance; they expected a lopsided victory. They had a lot of depth, and fed fresh substitutes in on a frequent basis. Our men kept up the pressure, playing hard and fast from the beginning, with excellent tackling and rucking, and seriously improved team play, moving the ball well and supporting each other. This is the best this side has ever played, and gives me a great deal of hope for a full and competitive U-15 side in the tournament on 2 August.

The Fort Hunt man of the match was David F for his dozen or more outstanding tackles, and his fierceness in the rucks and mauls. Honorable mentions go to Peter F and Connor C.

The scoring was: tries from Colin G (2) and Peter F (2), with 3 conversions from Chris B.

U-17
We'll send this wrap-up separately.

Saturday
The U-11s host Warrenton at home on Saturday morning. Jim Woods is in charge.

The U-13s/U-15s/U-17s will be at BRYC. John Dacey is in charge.

We will practice on Tuesday evening.

--Coach Dacey