Warlingham u12s v Stade Francais (D), Dartdordians (W), Haywards Heath (L), Architectura (L)

Squad: Ben S, James, Josh, Max Barry, Rocco, Russell, Sam L, Tom, Zach

v Stade Francais
With three players from Dartfordians making up the starting XII, the Warlingham players surprised themselves (and their parents!) but coming out of the traps fast, with good cohesion and a desire to play for each other. SF are a well-drilled side, but they were knocked out of their rhythm by a pressing defence with James and Max wrapping up the ball quickly for their team mates to ruck over aggressively. Out wide, SF also found the space limited by Zach and Josh's ceaseless closing down of the ball carrier and some good covering by the Dartfordian players.
In the heavy traffic, Ben S and Sam L both took the ball up aggressively and (most importantly!) kept possession in contact. Warlingham kept pressing both in defence and attack and SF's need to commit players in midfield left an overlap for Max to go over for a 1-0 lead. With both sides contesting the ball in the middle of the park, there was a very congested midfield which created an interception opportunity for SF to tie the match at 1-1.

v Datrfordians
Facing their new-found friends, Warlingham were joined by tree recruits from Haywards Heath. From the kick-off, Russell decided that it was his mission to tackle every Dartfordian player at least once and hats off to the young man, he stuck to his task. Russell is perhaps the closest we have to a pure no.7 and when he wasn't tackling he was making some abrasive runs with the ball in hand. Rocco did a lot of work at the ruck to retain possession and keep the momentum going forward. If England's world cup winner no.6 Richard Hill was aged 12 and playing in Croydon, he would play like Rocco. Sticking with the England team of 2003 vintage, Tom came out of the line very fast to chop down Dartfordian's big runner in true Wilkinson style. The reason I'm going on about the strength of the team in the middle of the park is because this was an all-Warlingham affair. Our guests from Haywards Heath played out wide and profited from our direct approach and strong support play to run in three tries. As for the fourth try, this brings us to Zach, who out-splashed Chris Ashton with a swallow dive of truly epic proportions! In later life, Zach will learn that such feats will earn applause on the field, and a rather expensive round of drinks in the bar afterwards ;o)

v Haywards Heath
Sometimes we come up against a very well-drilled, skilled team who do the basics very well. I don't imagine this was the same as facing an All Blacks u12 side, but at times it felt like it. Well done to the lads for sticking at it. There were some heroics in defence, but by committing to defend the midfield we left gaps out wide and the HH players put it out to the wing time and time again. Lesson Learned.

v Architectura
Although we lost the game there was a lot more commitment and some strong runs against a very well-organised opposition. After a wake-up call in the first half, Ben-S led the charge through the middle of the park and James, Sam L, Rocco and Russell won the rucks. Max, Josh and Zach all went on mazy runs through the Spanish midfield put we couldn't find the final pass, which left us facing an inevitable fast counter-attack. Honestly, what is the point of inviting Spanish players into one's home if they don't do they decent thing and wave us on to their tryline? Actually, I really liked the Architectura team - their website is well worth a look. good club ethos. A nice bunch of young hombres.

A BIG HAND to all of the players for giving it their all.

Learnings? when we know what we're doing and we play for each other, we play better and we enjoy it a lot more!
Phil