mini matters week 22 sunday 28th january 2018 · tournament with their team staying on the pitch...

Datchworth Rugby Football Club



MINI MATTERS – Week 22

Sunday 28th January 2018

Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters,

This weekend Datchworth Mini’s were hosting Stevenage; the temperature was mild and the pitches

were a bit muddy but it sounds as though most age groups enjoyed some good rugby…

Datchworth U6s Vs Training:

The first spell of relatively mild weather meant a record attendance of 25 turned out for the U6s this

week. We are certainly building a healthy crop of young talent and it was great to see so many in

attendance this week for a roll around in the mud...literally!

Due to the wintery weather, last weekend the U6s training pitch didn’t take much to make it a place

where pigs would be just as happy as our under U6s! As we went through the session it was clear

that a number of the team were trying to win the muddiest player award - Skye, I think this went to

you, full marks for the facial muddy war paint!

We started the session with some run and

swerve relays and then ensured everyone

was suitably warmed up with the usual bean

game. Due to the conditions, it was only

right that we squeezed in a game of stuck in

the mud and this set everyone up quite

nicely for the rest of the session which

included ball carrying and try scoring drills,

an assault course and two games of the

teams’ favourite, Bulldog. This is always very

competitive and with 25 players competing

this week it was even more difficult than usual. All the team did

exceptionally well however and continue to improve, constantly

looking for space and showing some great footwork.

I say this every Sunday, but it is true that player of the week is

now so difficult to choose due to all the squad always giving

their best. The enthusiasm and energy from every member of

the team is fantastic each Sunday no matter what the conditions

are like. This week’s player of the week however went to Harry

T. Harry has shown some real focus in trying to improve his

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/datchworth/


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passing over the last few sessions and this showed in this weekend’s drills. Great performance this

weekend Harry, well deserved!

Datchworth U7s Vs Stevenage:

Our pitch seemed to have turned into a mud bath this morning, however we welcomed two teams

from Stevenage as this week’s opposition.

It was another pretty cold and windy week, but even so we put in a stronger performance against

Stevenage with some great tackling from Felix and excellent running from Bo and James. George did

a great job organising defence well.

We had more players than Stevenage so it fell to Coach Dave to keep the children not playing warm

and motivated, running them up and down the field, chasing one player with the ball to try to collect

the tags. Hopefully our visit to Enfield next week will bring some warmer weather!

We welcomed a new player this week, William, who put on a shirt and belt and got stuck in within a

minute or two of joining us. For a first week, he did a great job, and showed a few of the team how it

should be done. Well done William!





Three U8 Stevenage tag rugby teams arrived at Datchworth this Sunday. After warming up in our

squads, we split into teams and played some great tag rugby against the three opposing teams. Our

players ran well and showed some great dodging which allowed them to score lots of fantastic tries.

They also supported each other really well ... great teamwork U8s!

Well done to Edward, our player of the week this week!


A nice sharp tackle clinic warmed all the players up this morning along with 30 second bursts of on

your toes mirroring your partner’s movements. The warm up set the tone for the whole session. Our

opponents visited with 10 players so we decided to rotate

our 4 teams around Stevenage. We played 4 × 15 minutes’

continuous games. We had our usual group huddle before

the games and our challenge this week was to turn our

tackling into a form of attack and not let the opposition in

to our half!!

For three of the four games, Stevenage only scored on a

couple of occasions. We turned the ball over on nearly

every other occasion pushing the opposition backwards to

their own try line. Stevenage to their credit kept at it but

we were relentless with every Datchworth player making

hits.

Meanwhile on the training paddock we concentrated on

restarts giving our players challenges from different areas

of the pitch using dummy runners, pivots, loop arounds

and quick passing. The challenge, take the moves in to the game, no one person just running in tries

for fun, emphasis on team. Wow....boy did we see some moves!!




It was not all about beating Stevenage it was important they got benefit from the session which they

said they did. Nice coaches and players from Stevenage behaviour from both clubs a credit. Balance

achieved.

Huddle at the end, praise for everyone coaches challenge to all, the bar is set high we don't slip back.

Player of the week, Harry Munns who listened and played some great rugby.


After last week’s sub zero temperatures it was good that the kids could actually feel their hands this

week while trying to play rugby! We welcomed a strong Stevenage side and played a round robin

tournament with their team staying on the pitch while we rotated our teams to play them.

Stevenage gave our boys a lesson in rucking which will stand them in good stead going forward. They

showed excellent technique and were very aggressive at the ruck which made it very difficult for us

to gain any momentum. The Stevenage defence was also

strong and they constantly put us under pressure.

It was good to see the Datchworth boys respond to the

challenge and take the opposition on at full tilt. It was

certainly one of the most eagerly contested games we have

had this year. When coming up against sides like this we

need to learn to back our handling skills and move the ball

wide early to use our pace and take the ball away from the

heavy contact areas.

It was great to have such strong opposition and all the boys

will have learnt a lot this morning. Tomas k stood out for his

aggression in both attack and defence and was awarded the

man of the match.


On a pleasant Sunday

morning once again the

U11’s had great numbers

with 23 boys and girls

turning out. First up we

played our blue team but

included Tom P in the

centre so he could hone

his skills in the back line,

every one played well

and we won comfortably

without conceding a try.

What to do next against

the same Stevenage 10




that played the first game. We decided to restrict our green team to six paces with ball in hand and it

was a pleasure to watch as no one took any contact and we ran in 9 tries in the first half. All in all we

had a really good days rugby, Charlie and James were given player(s) of the week!

I must also mention the effort the Stevenage team put in after being completely over run in two

games they wanted to play a third and never gave up. An example to all Teamwork, Respect,

Enjoyment, Discipline and sportsmanship.


The U12s had another great squad turn-out

this Sunday and it was good to see every

player of the squad make a contribution to

the team. We played two games against a

physical Stevenage Town side but in both

games the handling and distribution of the

Datchworth boys saw us come out on top.

The forwards contest was an even match up

but when we found space the Datchworth

boys were scoring with ease. The first game

was an 8-0 (40-0 in ‘proper’ Rugby scoring);

the second game was 6-2, (30-10). There

were lots of good performances again today

from across the squad; Ronan, Oli G, Kobie,

Owen, Thomas and Elliot were all excellent

with the ball in hand; Nelson and Fabian

were powerful runners this week; Alex

Donovan and Kyle contributed for both

teams today! James Bedford did very well

filling in at full-back, William Paine and

Matthew McGinty were both brave in the

break-down. But this week it was great to

see Jack Ingram get stuck in at the

breakdown and it was really pleasing to see the attitude, commitment, bravery and try-scoring of

Harry King who was our deserved Player of the Week. Well done to all and thanks again for more

great photos from Warren!

Datchworth Youth Rugby – Round Up:

• Datchworth U13s vs Welwyn friendly result: 60 - 10 loss

• Datchworth U14s vs Bedford friendly result: 31-17 win

• Datchworth U15s vs Royston Cup result: 37-10 win

• Datchworth U16s vs Chess Valley Cup result: 50-7 win




Youth Rugby Sunday 4th Feb:-

• U13s - Training pitch 2 / 3 • U14s - Home Friendly vs Welwyn Pitch 1 - 11am KO • U15s - Training pitch 2 / 3 • U16s - Training/game Bishop Stortford with the U17s • U17s - Away League game vs Bishops Stortford

Girls Rugby Update: Warrior Camp

Datchworth RFC hosted our first Girls Warrior Camp on Sunday afternoon attracting new girls to the

club and boosting numbers for our future u13s Youth squad. We were very lucky to have Hannah

Botterman with us for the whole session and the girls enjoyed the novelty of playing Stuck in the

Mud and being chased down by an England prop forward. Some big thanks goes out to her. After

introducing the newer girls to the game, we finished with what was intended to be some light

contact work. The girls had other ideas and put on a very impressive display of tackle bag

relay. Following the event, we have potentially doubled our numbers of girls in the under 11s and

opened the door to building both an u15s and u18s. We will aim to run another camp before the

close of the season so please keep up the recruiting efforts. It’s all starting to pay off.

The Ladies Touch Rugby sessions on Monday evenings are starting to gain some traction and great

fun is had by those who attend. I’d like to encourage the mums and older sisters from the club to

give them a try. You can either get in touch with Lynne beforehand ( [email protected] ) or

just turn up. It’s a 7.30pm start.

• Datchworth Girls Promotional Video: https://youtu.be/vTFQOMQ9ENU


mailto:[email protected]

https://youtu.be/vTFQOMQ9ENU



Mini Mid-Week Training: Continues - WEDNESDAY 24th JANUARY

• The first sessions are approx. 6:30 till 7:30 and the second session 7:35 till 8:35. Details and

locations as below:

Age Group Time / Date / Location Notes

U10s 6:30 till 7:30 PM – Flood lit training pitch Wed 10th Jan Confirmed Session

U11s 6:30 till 7:30 PM – Flood Lit training pitch Wed 10th Jan Confirmed Session

U12s 7:35 till 8:35 PM – Flood lit training pitch Wed 10th Jan Confirmed Session

Mid-Week Training Pitch Space Allocation as usual at the two-time slots:

Other Club News & Event Information:

Senior Rugby

The First XV enjoyed a solid bonus point, home-win against Hitchin on Saturday afternoon. With

good support the boys came home 25-17 winners. The Second XV also beat Hitchin while the 3rd XV

fell short away against Cheshunt. Well done to the First XV and all of the Senior sides.

2018 Datchworth Rugby Club - Mini and Youth Dinner and Dance:

For those people who secured 2018 Dinner and Dance Payments can I now please ask for any

outstanding payments by the 30th January. Payment of £55 per ticket can be made either by Cash or

Cheque passed to you age group manager or directly to Nicola Howard, (made payable to

Datchworth RFC), or a bank transfer to the Datchworth RFC club account (with reference Name age

group and dinner dance);

Club Payment details:

· Datchworth RFC

· Sort code: 16-00-30

· Account No: 10019884

· Reference – 'Dinner Dance’ and age group

Following confirmation of payment tickets can be collected from Nicola.




Next Weekend’s Mini Arrangements:

• Next Sunday the Datchworth Mini Section (U7 to U12s) are away at Enfield Ignations – meet at

10AM in Enfield for a 10:30 Kick Off.

Enfield Ignatians Rugby Club

Donkey Lane

Enfield

Middlesex

EN1 3PL

Club house tel: 0208-363-2877

Sunday Parking Arrangements:

Thanks to all the U11 parents who arrived early and helped control car parking this weekend…

Warren S for helping collect the cones at the end of the morning. I am delighted to say that I have

not been made aware of any parking issues from this weekend.

Mini Section Fixtures Plan – 2017/18 Season:

Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section

Provisional 17/18 Season

DRFC Parking

Duty

23

Friday 2nd Feb

U11s & U12s – Flood Lit Fixture – Away @ St Albans RFC - Friday Night Game & Social 7PM

N/A Friday

04-Feb DRFC Away Vs Enfield Ignations at Enfield TBC

Youth

24

10-Feb U10s @ Allianz Park Saracens Festival

N/A

11-Feb Training at Datchworth

- U9s Away Vs Bishops Stortford U10

25

18-Feb DRFC Away Vs Letchworth at Letchworth

Youth

26

25-Feb Charles Morris Cup Weekend Vs Welwyn RFC

@Datchworth U9

27 4-Mar

DRFC Minis Vs Chess Valley at Datchworth (U7 to U11)

U8

U12s Training at Datchworth

28

11-Mar

DRFC Minis Vs St Albans at Datchworth U7

29 18- Mar

DRFC Minis Vs Old Grammarians at Datchworth U12




30 25- Mar Hitchin Festival U7s, U8s, U9

Training at Datchworth, U10, U11, U12 TBC

31

1-Apr

Easter Sunday - No Rugby

Easter Sunday

Closing Notes & Roundup…

It was a mild Sunday morning at Datchworth and while the pitches were still very soft and muddy

from the recent rain-fall we were able to enjoy some good rugby in all of our age-groups through the

Mini and Youth Section; in addition, the girls Warrior Camp was well supported and on the back of

excellent wins for the senior First and Second XV on Saturday it really was a good weekend for

Datchworth from U6s to the over 40s!

Have a great weekend and see you next weekend,

Best wishes,

Andrew

Andrew Howard

Chairman – Mini Section



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mini matters week 22 sunday 28th january 2018 · tournament with their team staying on the pitch...

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