Old Cats U14 vs London Irish

Old Cats U14 first outing for 2017 saw them travel to London Irish. After some of the parents were dragged away salivating from the prospect of a full Irish breakfast washed down with a Guinness before 10:00AM, the warm up commenced.

Cold crispy morning and cold hands are not a good mix, however Nick did his magic in ‘geeing up’ the boys. Kick off and it was a fantastic advertisement for youth rugby for first 20 minutes. Either side could have drawn first blood. We need to remember that for quite a few of the Old Cats boys it was their first time playing rugby on a 4G pitch which has its own perils. It was looking like first blood was going to go to Old Cats with Drew making one of his now customary strong runs, which is a force when he gets into his full stride, but he could not place the ball over the try line.

London Irish got their wake up call from this and upped their game. They were looking to draw in Old Cats which then left areas exposed and in came their first try. LI second try came from some basic errors and missed tackles from Old Cats. First half whistle could not come fast enough for Old Cats as they were now on the ropes. If you ever needed an example of how mental attitude can change a game, this was it. Same team for Old Cats, but the first 20 minutes Vs the last minutes of the first half was a completely different team for us and LI made us pay dearly for this.

Second half and LI continued to get the upper hand, however this did not stop Old Cats from competing. Our rucks were solid, continuously forcing errors from LI and then with a great darting run from Seb going over for a well deserved Old Cats try. Then came Charlie with a fantastic break up three quarters of the pitch coming agonising close to the LI try line, only to be tackled by the LI fullback.

Overall it was a frustrating game for Old Cats. The first 20 minutes and moments of the second half demonstrated that we can take on and compete against talented teams like LI. However it shows that if you are not on your game for all of the time then a talented opposition will ruthlessly exploit any weakness you show them. Tough love and honest feedback was given by the Old Cats coaches. This was a match which we could/should have won!

The opposition coaches were full of praise for the Old Cats boys spirit and awarded Seb a well deserved the man of the match. High prises for Beau and awarded him tackler of the match.
Final Score:

LI – 37: Old Cats 7
Try – Seb x 1; Conversion Ross x 1
MoM: Seb; Tackler of the match Beau