Henley Festival

The Rifles (Green team):
Once arrived, setup and divided into our teams the Rifles, coached by Ross and Matt, started the morning off with a little warm up and pad work session. The idea was to get the boys focused and ready for their first game. This is harder than it looks for our side as it like trying to wake the dead!!!!
Rifles v Alton:
Quick summary for this game as it's one us coaches want to forget. The Rifles or should I say 'Zombie Squad' played a hard Alton team. They won, Bracknell didn't. The End..
Rifles v Tring:
Due to only a one game break the boys were very much still a part of the zombie squad but some players were starting to come alive.
Tring were probably the best side in the tournament and if we had faced them later in the day we feel it would have been a tighter game. Another loss but things were getting better..
Rifles v Henley:
By this game a few of the kids were getting upset by the way things were going and started not wanting to play!!
The first half was very much the same as the rest and the coaches were just thinking we're in for a long day when something happened!!!! That something came in the form of Dan 'the Ox'.
Dan decided he'd had enough of losing and was going to do something about it. He carried the ball strong and hard into the opposition and suddenly Bracknell were taking the game to them.
Half time came and finally the coaches had something to work with. The team talk focused on who wanted the ball more. 'Dan wants it, he's showing he does. Who else wants the ball, who else wants to win?'
The whistle blew for the 2nd half and now the 'Rifles' were firing. Every boy fought for the ball. Bracknell started pushing players away from the rucks and were getting more of the ball. And if we have the ball we can score and that what we did.
This game ended in a thrilling last second winning score by Taylor who found width around the outside and used his pace to get to the line.
Rifles v Abbey:
Even after a long break in games the boys were still in the same mood and took the game to Abbey from the kickoff. Now all the boys were hitting rucks hard and keeping ball. Their defence started to press up and Abbey found the intimidating sight and sound of the Bracknell's defensive line to much to handle and rifles romped home to an easy win.
Rifles v Reading:
By the looks of things this was the last game played by any of the teams throughout the age groups and a great one to finish on.
With the Fusiliers having finished their games they watched on as the Rifles put in their best performance of the day.
With the likes of Taylor 'the missile' and Sam tackling everything that moved and Harry, Jack, Dylan and Alfie clearing out all the rucks the game was staring to take shape.
Bracknell were winning all the ball and even when Reading got it it wasn't long before they made mistakes under the Bracknell pressure.
At the scrums the boys even started to have a game plan. Win the scrum, Owen pass to Harrison at fly half and he hits Dan the Ox to smash it up through the back line. This created 'front foot rugby' and got Bracknell passed the Reading defences. Rugby is easy after that and it showed. Dan would finally get tackled by about 5 of their players, Bracknell would clear the ruck out and Owen linked well with his backs who scored most of the games try's in the corners or through easy broken defences.
Again this was a easy Bracknell win by the time the full time whistle blew and I can't really remember Reading having the ball.
This was a great day and the Rifles did themselves, their coaches and parents proud.
Sometimes turning things around the way our boys did is better than winning every game. It shows great strength and resilience to be able to muster the inner beast in us all when things aren't going to plan.
This beast is what every rugby player needs in themselves and hopefully, with time, the boys will be able to turn it on and off when needed.
A few thing the boys need to think about before next weeks festival are:
* Start the next game as we finished the last.
* The pitch is very wide, use it!!
* The ball moves faster then any player so pass it.
* Look up, find the spaces and attack them. One player can't run through everyone on the pitch!!! Passing is easier.
Well done boys.
Fusiliers (Black Team)
Today was a long day for the boys, coaches and I know the parents too! However it was a very successful one, we have a small squad of players, so there is a lot of work for our boys to get through compared to other teams. Winning seven out of ten matches is something they should all be proud of. As coaches we are all very proud of the rugby they played, and the way that they played.
I’m sure most of you do, but please share my Sunday ramblings with the players. I do this post primarily to share what we are doing with the parents, but it is good to re-enforce with the boys too!
Matt will share some specifics of the green team ( we’ve had multiple names, so I will stick with the shirt colour today) but below is a summary of the Events for the Black team today!
Played five, won four, lost one.
BRFC 3 v Tring 1 ( Tom 2, Theo 1)
- strong start to the day, Jamie started a trend of winning pretty much every scrum, ours and the opponents, which gave us excellent ball. We also saw strong and aggressive clearing at the breakdown from Charlie, Jamie and Josh.
- we are working hard to get some structure from scrum half, to fly half, and to get space for our backs to shine. This is something we are going to keep pushing, and given the size of the pitch it gave us opportunities to score all the tries in the corners!
BRFC 6 v Banford 0 ( Tom, Theo, Dylan *2, Luke and Tristan)
- the theme continued in match two, and gave Luke the opportunity to score a good try in the corner.
- one area we have to work on is ensuring the boys respect the ref at all times, a young mister English spent most of his journey home talking about this!
- we were the stronger team, but the quality of rugby, and movement of the ball was the real reason we won this match - it’s a team game!
BRFC 6 v Reading 0 ( Lucas, Dylan *2, Masen, Tom *2)
- this was possibly the performance of the day, we simply did not let Reading get into the game at all.
- the try of the day, for me, was scored by Lucas, but made by another strong run by Tom, who offloaded in the tackle to Charlie, who then popped it up for Lucas to score. Flowing rugby, great support play, and excellent hands making it count.
- Masen then scored. Today was his first festival, as with Josh, and both played very well. Some big hits put in by both of them.
BRFC 0 v Henley 1
- this was a hard fought game and we were very close to an equalising score at the end of the match.
- the boys are very competitive, and desire to win is strong, but it’s just as important to lose well, and not complain about why. Someone once said you learn more in defeat than victory!
- we also lost Luke to a shoulder injury, good news is it is just bruising so we hope to have him back as soon as he is ready!
BRFC 3 v Reading Abbey 0 ( Tom 2, Theo 1)
- by this point the boys were shattered, and it showed.
- they did very well to defend a lot of possession, and reach the break level.
- in the final half they gave everything, and by remembering to get the ball wide they found the space and energy to score 3 times
Final thoughts for the players today
- the ref is always right, even when he is clearly wrong! I have never seen a ref change his mind, and will just penalise our team more!
- don’t kick away possession, it should be a last resort, and means we will be defending again
- keep the shape and get the ball wide, it’s where we score!
Well done to everyone, it is a team game, and as a forward I remember the backs getting all the glory in scoring, but us doing the hard work to let them do it. The team performance is the only thing that matters!