Landrover Cup at Oakham

Kesteven U12s had a fantastic morning (and half the afternoon as well!) at the superb venue at Oakham RFC for the Leicester Tigers Landrover Cup. This was the first large festival event since the pandemic, and as such it was probably a bit overwhelming for our U12 warriors, who were all 9 or 10 last time they did anything like this! But we had a great turnout with 19 players raring to go. Our opposition in Sleaford, Syston, Holt, Oakham and Sheffield Tigers were all strong, well-drilled teams, and we held our own with some great kick and chase moves created by George Austen, James Mulvaney and Toby Watmough, some good scrum work, and when we passed out wide from the breakdown to create space for our fast wingers like Charles Grindal and George Davis. Defensive pressure forced opposition errors when we did it with energy, but we need more commitment in the tackle from the wider team and quicker to "jackal" the ball from the tackled player. We also need to work harder to to get into the attacking ruck position and support our ball carrier more closely. All good learning points.

Every player contributed today but my Man of the Match is Toby Watmough for relentlessly committed tackling and a spectacular "jackal" manoeuvre at the end which resulted in a classic try!