On a sunny day which would not of been out of place in August, Old Cats U15 went on the road to Old Ruts. Last season there was only 2 points which separated the score, so it was set up to be a good match.

Pitch seemed slightly narrow which we thought would suit Old Cats. KO and Ruts came out blazing, some soft tackles from Old Cats let Ruts in under the posts. Time check – yes only a minute on the clock! In fairness the coaches did not need to say a word, the boys huddled and they knew they had to sharpen up quickly otherwise it would be a long shift.

Kick off and our whippets sprinted up the field and started to put pressure on Ruts in their half. Forcing errors, being physical. Then came a move which was a true team try. Ball secured by the forwards, up through the backs and Seb finishing off and then converting. 5-7 to Old cats.

With nerves settled a bit the rugby tussle started, two sides giving their all. The ground was firm and it was if we were at Epsom race course with 30 stampeding teenagers making the ground shake. Next came Ross for a try over the in the corner. 5-12 to Old Cats.

Ruts were a spirited bunch and they would not let the game go and from a well worked team effort went over the line to ensure we went into the break all even at 12-12. It was set up to be yet another thrilling rugby game from the U15 team.

Kick off and whatever the Old Cats team said to each other during half time worked. Unlike the start of the first half, the second half Old Cats came out really strong for Seb to finish off for his second try. Then with Ruts needing to chase the game and Old Cats confidence high, in went Chris for the first of his 4 tries.

Drew also opening out his tally with a blistering run.

The game ended 12-52 to Old Cats.

As always it was a real team performance, but lads to pull out for a special mention:

Wills – let’s just call him the ‘tackle monster’!
Seb – full of running, got a brace of tries and slotted 6 conversions.
Beau – Geeing up his team mates from the side line when he was sub and then came on for a really strong performance. Took the physical aspect of the game full on.
Alex D – put in a really strong physical performance in the middle of the field.
Callum – Really unlucky in not opening his try tally for the season. He was on for a try in the corner, but a very poorly marked out pitch meant his try attempt was 5 metres short.

Man of the match has to go to Chris. With 4 tries in one half which put the game beyond the reach of Ruts.

Special call out to the Ruts team and coaches. Played in a true spirit of the game. Ensure all players had match time, which slightly imbalanced their team for the second half, but wanted to keep going when the score line reached 40.

Tries:
Seb x 2
Ross x 1
Drew x 1
Chris x 4

Conversions
Seb x 6

MOM – Chris.