Our run in to the end of the season looks like this, with rearranged league matches:

12/02/2012 - training (poss match with U14A's)
19/02/2012 - Kings A's Away
26/02/2012 - COBHAM B's Home
04/03/2012 - LON IRISH B's Away
11/03/2012 - training (WARLINGHAM poss fixture tbc)
18/03/2012 - CHOBHAM B's @ Raynes Park
25/03/2012 - training (WARLINGHAM poss fixture tbc)
01/04/2012 - ESHER B's Away (last match of the season?)

Please can you let me know if you are going to be AWAY for any of these matches - especially the Kings match which falls over half-term. Cheers David 07802 243119

Thanks to Simon for the Match Video!
http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100368
An excellent match with the forwards playing some great pick and go and the continuity was the best so far this season with really low body positions going into contact leading to clean ball for the next phase.
Outstanding player awards went to Tom Cooper (fly-half) and Alex (2nd Row) who made some great runs and recycles superbly and to Luke HS (flanker/No8) who also scored a great try from the back of a five meter scrum and also tackled and won ball for us all match long. Finn also scored an awesome individual 80 meter try - cant wait to see that on video.
Tries: Luke, Finn (2), Conversions Jack (1)

Welcome back. Great to see a full squad out and all 7 subs were used to good effect. We should have won this match more easily with our forwards dominating scrums, rucks and mauls. Outstanding player award to Marko for second match in a row. We messed up several good chances (especially in the first half) but poor passing and catching let us down. However, our distribution from the breakdown was good, so well done to Thomas Cooper and in particular Cieran and George who got outstanding player awards. As I said before our forwards aggression, cohesion and body position were great.
Check out the video (thanks to Simon E) to see your individual contributions. Thanks also to Rebecca for washing the shirts and to Simon A for providing the water.
Matt scored our three tries and Jack converted two.
Thomas Bracegirdle has some strained muscles in his back bit otherwise OK - no broken ribs despite pitchside fears.
http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100367

I am very proud of all the boys despite this being our heaviest defeat in the last three seasons. Sometimes you have to admit that we played close to the best of our ability and commitment and were beaten by a faster, larger, fitter, and better organised team. I asked for more aggression, better tackling, better body positions and the team gave all of that but it wasnt enough. Looking at our players coming off the pitch showed me that every effort was given and it was a credit that the team opted to see the match through despite going 40 points down.
I think we have the toughest two league fixtures out of the way and so I am still confident that we can stay up in Div 4 provided we play with the same intensity and skill in the next few matches.
Outstanding players: Joe Ribton, Marko, Kallum, Seb and Thomas B
Happy Christmas - see you all on Dec 8th v Rosslyn Park (away). Details to follow. Cheers David (07802 243119)

A tough match, perhaps we thought it would be easy after a good period of pressure in the first half saw Thomas B run in the first try which Seb converted?

However Kingston came back strongly with three of their own to go in 15:7 at half time. We scored two more tries in the second half (one by Miles in the corner and a great individual effort from Thomas B under the posts and we narrowly missed out on a four try bonus point when rash and Joe Ribton made good runs to be held up over the line. Unfortunately they scored three more tries in the second half which they converted.

They were better organised and committed only enough forwards to the ruck or maul to win the ball and then had forwards to create gaps in our defenses - none of their tries came from first phase ball - they just offloaded and supported better than we did.

Thomas B, James A and Rash won Outstanding Player Awards but Jacob, Marko, Joe, Not, Kallum all played their hearts out and had nothing left to give at the end of the match. A good effort but one which we all need to learn from.

Tries: Thomas B 2, Joe 1, Seb 1 (and 3 conversions)
http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100329
Check out the video (thanks to Simon). You will see a mixture of excellent rucking, passing and tackling and also some poor body positions, some dithering and some standing over the ball all of which allowed the opposition to take our ball too often. Outstanding Player Awards to our wingers Miles and Luke particularly for their great tackling and to Alex for another great effort both in tackling and ball carrying over the gain line. It was great to see James Harris back and he made some lovely line breaks, and passed well and tackled impressively. Thanks to Joe for playing with a badly sprained finger and Jack for playing out of position at flanker. Other players who gave particularly good performances were Finn, Seb, Rash, Ben, Not and of course our prolific try scorer and speedster Thomas B who passed far better than last week!

Tries: Joe Ribton 2, TB 2, Jack 2 conversions.
http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100317
Excellent win against a Div 3 side (admittedly with many of their A team players missing). Our rucking, line out and scrummaging worked really well, especially in the second half. Once we got the ball wide our wingers, full back and outside centre were able to make good ground. Joe Ribton's quick thinking allowed him to pounce on a badly tapped down opposition throw in to get his first try, but he scored a trademark pick-and-go from No8 in the second half to seal the match.
Camberley had periods of good pressure too, but top tackling in the end prevented them from scoring more tries. Seb at full back deserved his outstanding player award in that regard pulling off many try saving tackles. Thomas Bracegirdle also tackled extremely well. Alex Steer carried well into the tackle on many occaisions. Ben's hooking and throw-ins won us a lot of ball. Joe Tyler got his second outstanding player award for dynamic driving in the rucks and good decision making.
In future, backs need to organise more quickly and stand more steeply on our possession on second phase ball to give our wingers and full back the chance to hit the line at pace and with space.

Matt scored 4 tries, Finn 1, Marko 1, Miles 1 (Ben 1 for opposition!), Seb 5 conversions Jack 1
Much better scrummaging, tackling and rucking saw off a determined opposition pack with very little firepower in their 3Q's. Cieran, Jamie, Finn and Jack distributed the ball well to allow our wingers to score. Jacob, Rob, Marko and Kallum tackled particularly well. Rash made good decisions, gaining ground and offloading well. Joe T and Joe R won most of the scrums for us with powerful 2nd row drives.
Outstanding Player Awards to Rash, Joe T and Matt
Also big thanks to Alex, Not, Ben, Sam and Harrison for playing for Chobham!

Poor tackling from the backs and poor rucking from the forwards lost us the match. However it was a better scoreline than last seasons fixture and we welcome new player Joe Tyler. Thank you to Thomas waters and Jacob for making the effort despite being injured and knackered. Back of the match was jack with 15 confirmed tackles and Not for greart body position and determination to try to win ball. Well done to Matt for a superb individual try.

A good start to the season with a 4 try to 1 win against tough opposition. It was great to see so many players coming off the bench and making a big impact. Jacob's and Luke's tackling and Alex's running with the ball impressed me. Adi was calling "Fire" letting everyone know that we could win ball or reset for next phase if "Ice" but we still need to develop better communications. Noah made a couple of excellent tackles on players bigger than himslef and had a neat little switch with Jack to make good ground before sadly fracturing his wrist. We all wish him well. George deputised for Ciaran very well at scrum-half.
Tries: Thomas Bracegirdle 3, Finn 1, Conversions: Seb 1, Jack 2
Video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100277

Please see: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100202 for a video.

What a match! Thoms B at outside center, scored early on and the whole team competed very well in the first 15 minutes. We then lost concentration and let in two easy tries to end the half 21:7 down.

We needed to score early in the second half making the most of the slope but went another two tries down. The score was now 33:7 against us and we looked out of it. Amazing self-belief and determination (plus sticking to the game play of getting the ball to the backs) turned the match on its head as we scored four tries in 12 minutes. Thomas B, scored his second; Seb, on the wing scored 2 and Finn at Inside Centre scored 1. Seb had a kick from wide out to win the match but just shaved the outside of the post.

Due to our points difference from previous matches we top the league! Well done, a great end to a great season. I am very proud of all the players that have played for the B's this season and look forward to seeing most of you at the floodlit finale on Wed 6th April.

Brilliant win against Esher Reeds ensuring promotion to Div 4 next season. Joe (capt) scoring two tries, Thomas B one and Finn scoring a fabulous 70 metre run in at wing for the fourth and a bonus point. Seb got two conversions and Jack one. Jack and Jamie were Outstanding Players for their tackling and James A and Kallum were Outstanding Players for their tireless work in the forwards.

An excellent team effort with forwards and back combining well to score 8 tries.
Our scrums and rucks were solid and Harry (outstanding player award) ripped well in the mauls. We got the ball out to the wings on many occaisions and both James W and Miles played extremely well to get outstanding player awards. Finally Joe played an immense match and won an outstanding player award at No8 and captain. Again good tackling (particularly from Jack at full back) meant that we held out for our 4th consecutive clean sheet in league matches. Well done!
One friendly at home next week and then two away league matches before a floodlit finale to the season on Wed 6th April.
Tries:
Harris (2), Kremer (+ 4 conversions), Barr, Ravic, Ribton, Tyrrell, Anderson

Excellent team rugby from everyone, forwards winning good ball and the backs using the space well. 4 tries by Seb on the right wing and 1 by Miles on the left wing, plus a try for James Harris at outside centre showed how well we moved the ball. Jack also scored 2 tries in close support. The most satisfying thing was not letting Southwark score as they made several line breaks but great cover tackles (Marko especially) kept them out.

Windy conditions made it a tough ask to get conversions, but Seb did get one!

Our forwards worked well as a unit and we scored an interception try by Thomas B to take a 7:0 lead which we held until nearly half-time against a side that is two leagues higher than us. Although we did miss tackles, if you analyse the match carefully by reviewing the video (thanks to Simon) you can see Jack, Jamie, Seb, Noah, Miles, Thomas B, James H all making excellent tackles but these players were also all side-stepped and beaten at one point or other in the match. I think that this says more about the strength and agility of the two Old Ruts centres than it does about the overall quality of our tackling. Having said that there were probably two "soft" tries where we barely slowed the runner.

The real reason we lost the match (and particularly by a heavy score line) was that we kicked possession away 16 times in the match and only made ground or regained possession twice! Two of their tries came directly or indirectly from our kicks. We must be more patient and keep possession. Our rucking was excellent and if we had recycled the ball by taking tackles and going to ground early I think we could easily have scored another couple of tries and by NOT kicking we owuld have denied them two of their tries. Had that happened we could easily have ended up winning.When we did indeed recycle the ball well we made good ground - which gives me confidence in my analysis. Watch Finn's excellent "pick and go" forwards try after Joe's good charge and good maul which turned into a ruck (22:40 minutes into video). Nevertheless, I am pleased with the progress we are making against tough opposition.

Video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge#100166

Great work from our captain Joe to score two (nice pass back inside from James H for the first). James H scored two and distributed well and got off some good kicks under pressure to get an Outstanding Player award.

Look at how poor the forwards body positions are in the mauls - thats why we were driven backwards. In the rucks though we were good and that's why we got got clean posession! Finn (Outstanding Player award) is a good player to watch in terms of body position and making good decisions about joining, picking up at the back of the ruck and standing off in defence. Also good work can be seen from Jamie, Thomas W, Marko, Rob and Mike.

Thomas B scored again after a great team effort. Forwards rucked well for clean ball and the backs ran on to the passes to create the space. I think Thomas has scored in every match this season! Well done to Seb for getting all 5 conversions.

Video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100000

We played well but got beaten by a team that played better and harder. Our forwards improved a lot over the Old Alleynian match and rucked and mauled well, reacting quickly and driving as a unit with low body positions - exactly what we practised and focused on in training. Unfortunately Battersea were able to get enough ball (especially from line outs) to release their backs. They had some seriously quick and skillful runners and passers in the backs. Their first try is a beauty. Our tackling was as good as I have seen - especially Marko and Seb (outstanding player awards for their efforts) and it was great to get a try back against the slope in the second half.

Battersea look like winning Div 4 so it was a good measure of our improvement and level.

Firstly thank you to Rebecca for organizing the lunch which I thought went down very well with adults and players!

Thanks again to Simon for match video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100153

Outstanding players: Ben and Harry for throwing in well on a windy day and Paddy who made some excellent charges.

On reflection it was a match we easily could have won against opponents in a higher division. Good things were our tackling and scrums. However we were poor in our handling and our forwards were just not as hungry or determined. We were not there at the breakdown in numbers and when we were our body positions were not good and we did not put enough effort in. Look at the video and see what I mean : )

Finally we have a Facebook Page (thanks to Seb). Search groups for: Wimbledon Rugby U14 B's or you could be Jack's friend by finding him by searching: jackrocks97@live.co.uk then he can join you - 15 so far & parents welcome too!

Cheers David

A second convincing league win away from home 50:5 versus Guildfordians sees us into the Christmas break in great shape with more than 30 players registered to the B squad.

Thanks to Simon again for the match video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100139

Our strength in depth was demonstrated when (after going three tries up) we substituted Joe, Paddy, Marko, Mike and Ben and still kept the momentum going dominating their forwards and winning a huge amount of quality ball.

The scrumming and line-outs worked well and our rucking was improved with good body positions and tighter binding. It was hard to pick out an individual from an excellent pack performance but Rob Farr again caught my eye with a really solid and unselfish contribution at flanker for an outstanding player award.

Our backs tackled superbly and worked together well and unselfishly to deliver the ball quickly and in space to the outside centre and wings. I think it shows real team quality that three out of the eight tries scored were by the wings and another three by the outside centre. Noah scored the try of the season (so far) after a lovely weighted cross-field kick from Jack which needed to be dibbled delicately twice, the second time cutting back inside to beat the cover defence. This, along with several other excellent line breaks earned Noah an outstanding player award alongside Thomas B who scored his second league hat-trick demonstrating his deadly pace. Finally, I must mention Seb who put in a superb kicking performance getting 5 out of 8 conversions, some from wide-out.

Tries: Jack, Thomas B (3), Joe, Seb, Jamie, Noah Convertions: Seb (5)

We must not get complacent; we have probably played 2 of the weaker teams in the League. Things to work on are:
- Knowing when to create “guards” to give the scrum-half better protection
- Getting to the breakdown quicker and in numbers
- Practicing restarts

Please watch the video - thanks to Simon E and Simon A (umbrella “grip”):
http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100115

What a great start to our season recording a big win over Rosslyn Park A team. Everyone played well but I should have made more of Thomas B and Joe Ribton's fantastic hatricks in the post match talk. Not and Jamie also both scored a try and Seb converted 3.

Outstanding player awards went to Rash, Finn and Mike.

This game was definitely won by the forwards who dominated the opposition pack after our chairman John Woods gave us a special training session. Rash came on in the second half making a great forward run from the restart, presenting the ball perfectly when eventually tackled, then made a great tackle himself and finally destroyed his opposite prop and consequently the Rosslyn scrum. Awesome rugby from a young man who has not played before the start of this season! Finn had another excellent match, with two devastating runs and excellent scrummaging technique. Mike got the third outstanding player award for top tackling, ball winning and most importantly good vision to pass out and set up two of our tries. The other forwards that are worthy of a special mention are Thomas W and Paddy for aggressive mauling.

The backs tackled magnificently with Jamie and Jack making 20 tackles between them. Miles (already an Outstanding Player award this season) played a near perfect match, making at least two try saving tackles among many others and gaining significant ground every time he carried the ball. He was very unlucky to be held up over the try line twice.

Thus Sunday we have another training session at Wimbledon 10-12am with John Woods and then a match against our U13A team. The week after that we have possibly our toughest League match of the season against Esher Reeds combined B team playing away at Esher.

Well done again, I was very proud of the whole squad. Cheers David 07802 243119

A fantastic game and a fully deserved win against a Battersea side that had eight U15 players.

Please watch the video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100104 (thanks to Simon great quality, great sound-track and even some gentle mickey-taking of the ref!) Most importantly there is something to celebrate and learn for all the players.

Every try was scored by a different player (with two from the forwards) which demonstrates how much of a team effort this was. Everyone gelled and the forwards did a superb job of rucking and scrumming to give Ciaran and the backs the best quality possession this season.

My favourite moments are Rob’s quick thinking to pick and go round the blind-side for the first try, Not and Paddy’s perfectly executed switch for the second try, Marko’s outstanding tackle on their tallest player running full speed from a penalty, Rash’s great tackle early in the first half, Alex’s awesome penalty take and run (in slow motion on the video), Seb’s drop kick conversion from the touch line and finally Jamie’s round the back pass and his cross-field kick for Thomas to collect and score. Watch carefully towards the end and you will see a perfect example of “jackling” where a Battersea player tackles Jamie and then gets to his feet so quickly he is able to steal the ball before anyone else gets there!

Outstanding player awards to Ciaran (bossing the forwards, good decisions and excellent distribution), Jamie (top tackling and unselfish early ball distribution) and Marko (tackling, body position and aggression).

Try Scorers:
Rob, Jamie, Paddy, Noah, James, Seb and Thomas B. Conversions: Jack (2) Seb (2)

Video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge/100087

After conceding two early tries, Joe Ribton lifted the team with a fantastic cross field run and scrag tackle that gave away a penalty but saved a certain try. A few minutes later he broke through after Rob Farr won the ball with a tackle and quick thinking to grab the ball and pass to Joe for a captain’s try sending us in 17-7 down at half time.

I asked for a bigger effort the second half, with more first time tackles and quicker reactions to the breakdowns especially the rucks. The team did exactly that and we won the second half with tries from Paddy and then a last minute beautiful move involving the forwards and backs.

Paddy took the ball, feeding Not who made a great run going to ground to set up a ruck about 7 metres from the try line on the left hand side of the pitch. Marko was in close support and kept Not from being pushed into touch. Harry joined Marko and with other forwards then secured the ball for Cieran to pass to Seb through Noah to Luke and finally to Fynn to score in the corner. The try was brilliantly converted into the wind by Seb to win the half at 7-12 and bring us within 5 points (a bonus point in the Leagues!).

Jacks tackling was fearsome and Jonathan was rampant at flanker making several awesome charges up the pitch earning them Outstanding Player awards too. There were so many other excellent performances but Rasharn, Callum, Marko, Rob and Paddy in particular made great contributions and are developing rapidly as key players.

Tries: Paddy, Not, Fynn. Conversions: Jack and Seb

Video: http://gallery.me.com/s.elledge#100081

This was a tough fixture against a well organised team in the division above us. Despite being in their half for long periods and making some great breaks they tackled well and we turned over the ball to them too often in rucks, mauls and from poor passing. We also kicked away possession a little too often - Seb 3, Jack 2, TB 1 and Luke 1 making a total of 7 times in the match.

Battersea scored two tries in the first half and one in the second by one player who was big, strong, quick and determined and who shrugged off more than one tackle each time mmm! The other try came when we kicked a loose ball straight to Battersea instead of falling on it.

Overall, a satisfactory match with a lot of new faces to integrate and Not, Paddy, Rash and Callum all made great contributions. I believe that when we get more practice (especially tackling, rucking and passing) and when we get more organised we will beat Battersea when we play them again later in the season.

Congratulations to Jacob, Not and Miles for Outstanding Player Awards.

Adi and Jack collecting the U13 Surrey Division 6 Shield