Under 7s at Olney

First of all I would like to say what a pleasure it was to visit Olney. Not only were they very well organised (to the point of starting and ending all games simultaneously), but they were most generous in lending us players when we started running short. On a cold morning, they made sure that our kids were running about as much as possible, and when we did start to lose players, they ensured that we had enough to carry on. Great to see.

We arrived at Olney with 15 players. This is an ideal number as it allowed us to spilt into three squads (Red, Green and White) of 5 players. Thanks to Olney's efficiency, each team was able to play 5 matches - the first time this season that we have managed this many games. This is ideal preparation for the Bedfordshire Mini Festival in a fortnight's time where we can expect to play 4 or 5 matches, so it was great to give the kids a taster. I am sure we had a lot of tired little players on Sunday evening!

Bletchley Under 7s were also there on the day, but regretfully we did not get a chance to play them. This is fully understandable as Olney had at least 6 squads. Out of the 15 matches played, we won 6, drew 5 and lost 4 so not a bad return for the day. On aggregate, we scored 111 tries to Olney's 112 so that gives you even more of an idea of how well balanced the competition was. I would say that Olney are one of the very best teams that we have come across this season. Scores and scorers are given below.

It is always difficult to pick the Man of the Match, and this week was no exception. This is partly because we were split into three squads so each coach only really got to watch his own squad. Honourable mentions are due to:

. the whole of the While team (Ben, Isla, Joe, Archie) who played the morning with just 4 players as our 5th man disappeared before we started the first game. So, no sub available and quick turn-around between games (to stop them getting cold) meant that they were playing rugby solidly all morning. Despite this, they were undefeated in their 5 games, but more impressive was that all 4 of them scored at least one try in three of those matches. Ben's try scoring (13) was great but his defence was even more impressive and Joe's 20 tries were mostly as a result of his great support play

. to Harrison and Daniel of the Green Team who not only scored a shed load of tries, but kept going all morning and kept smiling too!

. to Lucas of the Red Team who scored his debut try in only his second match for the team, and then went on to score 8 (count 'em) more!

But the winner this week was Gethin for a near perfect all round performance. He scored lots of tries (13), was exemplary in defence, carried on playing regardless but most importantly had a great attitude all day. Well done Gethin.

Luton Red Team 6 - 9 Olney
Tries: Lucas, Gethin (4), Sammy
Luton Red Team 4 - 9 Olney
Tries: Lucas (2), Gethin (2)
Luton Red Team 4 - 7 Olney
Tries: Lucas, Gethin (2), Sammy
Luton Red Team 10 - 7 Olney
Tries: Lucas, Gethin, Sammy (8)
Luton Red Team 11 - 8 Olney
Tries: Lucas (4), Gethin (4), Sammy (3)

Luton Green Team 6 - 9 Olney
Tries: Daniel (3), Harrison (3)
Luton Green Team 7 - 7 Olney
Tries: Daniel (2), Harrison (3), Harvey, Ollie
Luton Green Team 8 - 7 Olney
Tries: Daniel (2), Harrison (4), Olney Player (2)
Luton Green Team 9 - 7 Olney
Tries: Daniel (2), Harrison (5), Ollie, Olney Player
Luton Green Team 6 - 6 Olney
Tries: Daniel (2), Harrison, Ollie, Olney Player (2)

Luton White Team 9 - 6 Olney
Tries: Ben (2), Joe (7)
Luton White Team 7 - 7 Olney
Tries: Ben (4), Isla, Joe, Archie
Luton White Team 9 - 8 Olney
Tries: Ben (2), Isla, Joe (5), Archie
Luton White Team 8 - 8 Olney
Tries: Ben (3), Joe (5)
Luton White Team 7 - 7 Olney
Tries: Ben (2), Isla (2), Joe (2), Archie

Jimmy
Under 7s Coach, Luton RFC
jimmy@lutonrugby.com
07806 716312