Cranleigh U13 vs Farnborough U13

Following on from last week’s stella win over old rivals Farnham in the Waterfall Cup, a confident U13’s squad travelled to Farnborough for a friendly (are they ever?) match in the hope of consolidating our winning streak.

With a few players out with injury or unavailable,the coaches saw this game as an excellent time to try some players in different positions and experiment with a few new moves.  Farnborough, by their own admission, had not had a great season to date and this may have filtered down to the boys who could possibly have thought they were in for an easy morning.  Lesson Number One, never underestimate your opponents! 

The game kicked off in drizzle which may have accounted for the slippery ball and a few handling errors on both sides throughout the game.  It was soon clear that Farnborough had turned up to put an end to any lack of form they may have been suffering.  From the off they used some very powerful ball carriers to punch holes through the Cranleigh midfield and strong rucking, meant they were getting good front foot ball.  Cranleigh were taken a little by surprise (see Lesson Number One) and looked distinctly ragged at times in the opening exchanges.  Our ruck intensity was some way short of last week and our counter ruck was poor. We need to get players to the rucks at speed and with aggression.  Just leaving one or two individuals to do all the work, is not what we are after….. 

Farnborough kept blasting away with their big runners but were lacking real finishers to put points on the board. Cranleigh’s confidence began to build and the boys worked out which players needed to be double tackled and it wasn’t long before Farnborough’s momentum stalled as their attacks became one dimensional.  Our defensive effort just got better and better and our increasingly dominant tackles put opposition players firmly on their behinds.  Our line speed forced Farnborough into mistakes and Cranleigh capitalised on spilt ball to launch some truly brilliant attacking moves.  This season has seen such an improvement in the way the boys play, right through the squad and none more so than in the way the backs are getting the ball wide, or cutting back inside to change the angle of attack.  It really is a pleasure to watch and has been commented on by several opposition coaches in recent weeks. Some blistering runs down the right wing were snuffed out by the Farnborough left wings’ superb defence, but quick recycling and great service from Jake and Jared and really strong carries from all the forwards meant we could change the point of attack.  With Farnborough getting tired and narrow, it wasn’t long before pressure told and Levi burst through the defenders and went over for our opening score.

Farnborough heads went down a little and despite getting the upper hand in the scrum (something we will need to work on after our recent dominance) and continuing to carry strongly up the middle, Cranleigh really got into their stride and five more quick tries from Finn (on a burst), Seb (snake hips), Arlo (twisty over his head try), Joel (greased lightening), Levi again and almost one from Riley (ok, the touchline was not obvious… but still!) made it 30-0 to Cranleigh at half-time. 

This gave the coaches enough of a buffer to mix things up a little behind the scrum, with Felix coming in at scrum-half (then Everly), Finn going to fullback and Johnny moving to 10 after a knock on the knee to Jared. 

The coaches wish for the boys not to concede was slightly derailed early in the second half as Farnborough, who maybe got the hairdryer treatment at half-time, came out full of intent and aggression and to their credit scored an early try to lift their spirits.  Cranleigh replied with an excellent effort from Seb, before Farnborough came back again to score two in a row to make it 30-15. This put the wind up the boys, coaches and our supporters and sensing a possible upset, the team dug deep and suddenly big tackles were being made again.  Renewed determination from the forwards meant our ruck speed improved and we started to get a little bit of parity in the scrum.  Fluid moves in the backs saw us stretch the defence again, but it was Arthur on a brilliantly strong run, who scored next with a super try for the front row union and so keeping Jez and Paul happy!

Soon after, Finn went over again from a powerful run, leaving defenders behind him and this was followed by Johnny cutting through the middle with a couple of cheeky steps to leave tacklers floundering.

Farnborough got one more consolation score before Levi notched up a fully deserved hat-trick.  He will no doubt be buying jugs in a few years’ time if he keeps this up!

The final whistle saw Cranleigh run out victors with an impressive 55-20 win.

It is an absolute pleasure to watch and coach these boys when they play in the manner they did in this match.  The WHOLE squad contributed. The spirit and sense of togetherness they are generating is tangible and infectious. These U13’s are becoming a proper team in every sense of the word, demonstrating that rugby is possibly the greatest of all team sports and that irrespective of size, background or ability, great friendships can be forged when you are playing for your buddies.

Player of the Match – Everybody.

Stepping up to the Plate Award – Felix and Everly for playing out of position at scrum half.

Comedy moment(s) – Felix and Everly.  After excellent feeds to the scrum, just assuming their work was done while the No8 waited with ball at his feet…