This weekend saw the U13’s head down to sunny (yes really it was) Clacton-On-Sea to take part in the “MiTour Essex Challenge” for our 2017 tour. Both the boys and the parents had a great time throughout, bonding as a team both as players and supporters. Many thanks to Tanya Hodge for sorting out the Tour Hoodies for those that wanted them – they really looked great!

Saturday morning saw us have some fun and games down on the beach in the glorious sunshine, and also spending way too much money on the arcades and amusements on the pier! In the afternoon we headed to Clacton RFC for the first of our games of the weekend, playing what were essentially “friendlies” before the main event on Sunday.

First up was Ash, who are from around the Canterbury area, and our lads were fired up from the outset, giving us a try fest to enjoy for our first game on tour. Once again the forwards were strong in the pack and at ruck time, and Benjy and later Ollie as hookers were able to secure great ball in the scrums enabling Thomas Paine to get it out swiftly to the backs. Josh Bradley was on fire together with Danny leading from the front, and the sheer force and skills of Sam, Matt, Callum, George, Josh Moffatt, Cameron and Thomas Beechey behind was outstanding throughout.

We saw some great tries which I will try to summarise here. Early on, Will Goff took a great pass from Connor Attoe inside his own 22 and then ran the whole length of the pitch sidestepping several defenders for his first of the day; Josh Staddon dummied then threw a beautifully weighted long pass to Connor Bridge who was already at full speed and ran 50 yards to the corner for his first try; Another side step and Dummy from Josh Staddon flummoxed the defence and he crossed the white wash; Danny threw a beautifully delayed pass to Connor Bridge who then haired up the left wing again for his second; Sam handed off a defender like he was swatting a fly and headed over for his first; Josh Moffatt threw a beauty to Spencer, who then popped an inside pass to Josh Staddon for him to charge over again; Sam once again at full speed charged through several defenders to grab another; and finally Thomas Paine ripped the ball from an attacker in the tackle, and then floated a pass out to William Field who showed us his side stepping skills to head for the try line. With just one try against us, we took our first Win of the weekend 45-5.

After a short break, we were then up against local rivals Verulamians. It’s odd that we have not played them for several seasons as they are so close, but it took a trip to Clacton to be pitted against them once again! This was a very different game to the first, with Verulamians playing some strong and aggressive rugby up front, and getting the ball to a couple of very fast and capable runners. Even so, we held up well and gave as good as we got, and the result could easily have gone the other way, but a first half try from Sam and second half burst from Connor Bridge wasn’t quite enough to see us win this encounter, with Verulamians taking it 15-10. The boys had to learn where to beat them before tomorrow.

The following morning, after a big feed at the Toby Carvery the night before, and Anthony Joshua beating Klitschko firing the boys up, we headed back to the tournament for our second afternoon of rugby. With Colchester for some reason not turning up, we were once again against Ash and Verulamians, but also local team Braintree.

This time the match against Ash was not quite the same try fest as before, but still a fantastic show of both attacking rugby and huge defensive efforts on the line to stop the opposition from scoring. Tries came in the first half from Will Goff who took a beautifully floated pass on the run from Danny to then pin his years back for a try, and then we saw a perfectly timed pop pass from William Field to Josh Staddon who was charging on his shoulder to cross the line. In the second half Will Goff once again showed his side stepping prowess to see off 3 defenders before crossing the line, and we ended with a clean sheet win 15-0.

Next up was Verulamians once again, and having heard that Braintree had beaten them 25-5 earlier, some of the boys were feeling a little apprehensive after our loss to them the day before. However, when the whistle blew they forgot all about that, and put on another fine display of rugby. Our forwards outplayed theirs in several areas of the game, and our aggression levels were where they needed to be. Our scrums were dominant, and through one of the many turnovers in the first half we were able to steal the ball and get it out to Connor B who raced for the line to take our only try of the first half. There was much of the same in the second half, and putting them on the back foot meant the backs were able to get the ball once again, with Josh Staddon and Will Goff both getting another try apiece. Solid defence once again meant we took a clean sheet win 15-0.

With two wins under our belt, Colchester not showing up, and Braintree also having recorded Wins over Ash & Verulamians already that morning, it was decided that our 3rd Group game would in essence become our Final for top spot for the weekend, rather than us playing each other once in the group stages and then again straight after in the final. By this point however, our lads were knackered, and it was a big ask of them to put in a final big effort against a team that hadn’t played on the Saturday, and presumably hadn’t been out on tour all weekend either!

However, the boys did put on a strong showing and left nothing on the pitch. Defensively we gave it our all, but we just couldn’t get much ball at all, and spent a lot of time defending inside our 22. We were two tries to nothing down by the end of the first half, and injuries and sore bodies were taking their toll. In the second half however, a moment of genius from Josh Staddon on his 10m line saw him notice space behind the black and yellow wall of the Braintree defence, into which he kicked a perfectly weighted clearance shot, which he then chased down beating several defenders on the turn. Arriving just a split second before the defence with no time or support to pick it up, he then fly-hacked it up the pitch and chased again. Still with Braintree defenders hot on his tail, he then kicked the ball once again on the chase, with perfect weight on the kick for it to bobble over the line, where he beat the last chasing defender to fall down on it to score what must be the Try of the tour! Queue ecstatic jubilation from the Datchworth supporters!!

That was how it stayed until the final whistle, with us losing just 10-5 in the Final, but the determination of that last gasp try summed up the determination and togetherness of the team at the end of a thoroughly enjoyable tour for the Under 13’s, and the end of a great season for the boys in Green!