The Rugeley U11s went into their second game of the season following a tough first game where they struggled to get going from kick off. This week they were “up and at ‘em” in the first few minutes and then the tries kept coming. With our best squad numbers in a long time and a reduced number on the pitch, Rugeley were able to rotate players more often, giving some of the inexperienced players more game time.

The game ebbed and flowed throughout with some excellent multi-phase play. The battle at the breakdowns was impressive as Rugeley were able to dominate more often than not. At set pieces, the pods were starting to take shape and will soon become a powerful weapon for us and our scrum was dominant with more balls won than lost. So many positives for only the second game of the season but, as ever, they have given the coaches just as many things to build on as we work towards our next match!

As this week’s captain, James did well with the added responsibility and got on the scoresheet. TJ carried on his impressive try tally and did well to look for space and exploit gaps as they opened up. Harry P caught an impressive interception and immediately picked out Phoebe with a pin point pass allowing her to knock a defender out the way to score her first try in Rugeley colours. Connor and Harry S worked hard at the breakdowns and won back vital possession. Bailey was solid in defence making a good number of key tackles especially impressive at it was his first ever game with Rugeley. Ryley and Kylan were also playing their first matches for the U11s and both scored on their debuts. Ryley with his mazy runs and Kylan taking half the Cannock team with him. Charlie continues to grow in confidence and was more than once in the thick of a maul, fighting for possession. Reuben was strong with ball in hand and took on the Cannock defence to make ground and Molly’s handling was excellent as she hit the gaps and made Cannock commit defenders. Rodney was able to dictate the pace of the game and looked for support to move Rugeley into attack.

The player of the match is TJ. Well done from all the coaching team and next week we'll do a presentation after training.

As a coaching team, we would like to thank all of the parents and guardians for supporting the team today. Your support from the sidelines makes a massive difference to the players on the pitch!