Knights U13’s Take on Tournament Challenge and Show Their Worth

Wow, what a great start to the second half of the season following the Christmas break and straight into a sixteen-team tournament in the posh end of Bristol. Luckily for the moms and dad’s it was a bright sunny day for them to stand on the touchlines shouting on the Knights team for about five hours. Also, the parents were delighted to see Ian making a cameo coaching appearance and supporting Mel and the lads getting them warmed up and thinking about how they were going to play this tournament. What a good job he did as we fired all guns blazing into the first match – thanks Ian and Riley took the mantle of captain for the four matches played.

Knights – 15 vs Cleve – 5
We’ve played Cleve before and the last two times we’ve met they have beaten us but this didn’t put the Knights team off and they knew if they started well they could have the measure of them and so they did. The team started brightly and it was good to see the forwards such as William, Lucan, Theo, Rylee getting their hands on the ball early and making driving runs. Then Wilf cut through the Cleve defence like a knife through butter splitting them apart and scoring the first try. Then Cleve attacked but Knights soaked up the pressure with Captain Riley, leading from the front making a try-saving tackle. Jayden ripped the ball, to Jack who carried the ball into the Cleve defence. Wilf sold their defensive line a great dummy and ran half the pitch for another try. Wilf was on fire. Cleve are not a team to take lightly and they put the Knights team under pressure and scored a try themselves. Then Wilf and Jack took the ball three-quarters up the pitch, we were strong at the ruck. Harry passed to Yoshi who also dummied and ran through their defence for a try. Josh had the ball and took the ball to Cleve’s try line but the full-time whistle blew which meant Knights couldn’t capitalise on the pressure to score another try before the end of the game. Knights were dominant with good tackling, rucking and supporting each other. A win against Cleve left a sweet taste in the mouth.

Knights – 10 vs Harlequins – 5
Here we go again! The last two times we had met Harlequins they had also beaten this Knights team although the last game was only by one try so the lads knew if they could get momentum then they were in with a chance. This game was a lot tighter but Knights gave a solid all round performance to take the win. Quins started pressuring the Knights defensive line but the Knights defence soaked up the pressure with strong tackling along a tight defensive line. Wilf broke deep in the Knight half and ran three quarters of the pitch to score the opening try. Great work! Quins came back quickly with a try of their own. Highlight of the match was a cross field kick by Yoshi which was caught by Wilf and led to a Knights penalty. It was taken quickly and Yoshi went over for the winning try. Great team effort was shown in tackling but also thinking quickly, supporting each other and making sure they took the win. This was now the best performance the team had ever had in a tournament. Well done lads.

Knights – 0 vs Winscombe - 25
At this point Judge Jim was called in to help the lads with their warm ups as Ian was overcome with too much excitement from the first two games. We have always said it’s not about winning or losing but it’s the way you play that’s important. This was the Pool C final with Knights and Winscombe both winning their previous two games so it was set to be a close well fought match. Maybe it was the wait between games, fitness, confidence or something else but the Knights team under performed in this game. Basics is so important in rugby and Winscombe repeatedly ran past not one or two but four Knights defenders all of them missing tackles and ran in tries for an easy win. This felt like a real let down after the two terrific performances from the previous two matches. Tackles, tackles, tackles lads….

Runners-up Semi-Final
Knights - 5 vs Gordano – 5 (Golden try – extra time – Gordano)

This is the first time this Knights team have got to a semi-final and you could see they didn’t want a repeat of the game against Winscombe. This game was so even, there was very little difference between the two teams. This match saw Rocco and Riley making some strong tackles. Jayden making charges through the Gordano defensive line with four Gordano players hanging off him at least a few times. Gordano took the first half with a try. In the second half Knights were putting Gordano under pressure and Yoshi ripped the ball and went over for a try. Then Samoree was bursting down the wing but unfortunately got tackled before the try line and the full-time whistle blew. Everything was evenly poised but by some kind of horrible miracle Gordano just tipped it by scoring the golden try in extra time.

This was a great overall team performance, one of the best we have seen all season so it feels hard losing a semi-final, but you did yourselves really proud. Beating two teams which have beaten us a few times and taking Gordano all the way into extra time. You bounced back after playing a poor game showing strong commitment and spirit to support each other. A couple of take homes for practicing in the week: tackling, pressing quickly but as a whole line not in 1’s and 2’s and scrummaging, Big thank-you Mel, Jim and Ian for getting the best from the team and the parents who braved the winter temperatures for their boys.

Wilf – three tries / Yoshi – three tries
Captains man of the match – Yoshi
Guest coach man of the match – Jack
The Hit Man – Riley
Man of the match - Jayden