Sunday saw most of our Minis section travelling to Guildford for the first of many festivals to come this season. U8s Head Coach Keith Wall gives his insights into their experience of the festival

“The overriding message from our first festival this season is that we were very pleased with what we saw from the kids; they defended their lines doggedly, and ran in some great tries while getting used to the jump up in pitch size.

There were some things noted to be worked on through training, but being a live competitive environment, festivals give us coaches great intel as to what needs to be tackled and tutored the next time we’re back on home turf. In the coming weeks at training, we will work hard on the kids' spatial awareness on the bigger pitches, their passing to achieve greater distances, and of course, keeping them sharp in defence by improving fitness levels.

We’re rightly very proud to be coaches for the U8s, and we roll on to Richmond on Sunday full of expectation!”