RUGBY: Rugby St Andrews juniors in action

U11s: Rugby St Andrews 11s played host to Market Harborough on Sunday morning and both teams were very equally matched in spirit and effort whilst playing very different styles of rugby.

Harborough had a very disciplined shape in set pieces and also maintained some excellent spacing in broken play which led to some expansive plays down the line to the wing positions. This really stretched Andrews’ defence.

The home side preferred the more attacking in close quarters with quick recycling of the ball in the middle ground especially by Issac, Matty S and Parka. Some strong running and lower tackling by Matty F, Ollie, Jake and Dylan made it really difficult for the opponents on the outside. The first period was even honours with a Robbie pushover try from 5 metres being cancelled out by a series of quick passes to the left wing, who put down in the corner.

A bit of indiscipline in the second quarter and the tendency to honey pot led to three Harborough tries on the outside without reply. Charlie showed some excellent skills and was always quick to the breakdown and made plenty of ground with his speedy pick up and run.

The third quarter went St Andrews’ way and Finlay made two charging runs and had identical tries reaching for the line in the middle. Archy made a powerful run and slipped numerous tackles in his first game for the side.

In the fourth quarter the hosts denied the opposition the ball and worked hard to maintain possession - Joe, OJ, Elliot and Deren showed some dogged determination to keep hold of the ball.

Callum made a good run down the right but was denied and held up just short of the line. Evan was disappointed with his foot in touch as he made a fast run down the right, but was rewarded a short time later with a try after a blistering run down the left.

Wozza showed his true form in the closing stages of normal time with two long sidestepping and swerving runs for two tries. After normal time honours went Market Harborough’s way with 7 tries to 6.

A ten minute match to give all the players their time saw four tries apiece, which was the fitting end to a great match.

U13s: Saints v Old Leamingtonians: With St Andrews down to 14 players due to a heap of injuries last weekend, this looked like it was going to be a long slog. However, Saints were firing on all cylinders from the start with some superb passing and ball handling resulting in a hat-trick of tries for man of the match Jacob Kilborn.

Also a long overdue try for Rhys Jones and two tries for Jake Jones made it a pulsating game to watch with the forwards also winning a lot of ball in the mauls and rucks.

It seems like all the coaching by Steve and Scott is finally starting to sink in and was a huge confidence boost for the lads going into their next three games before Christmas.

U13s: Rugby St Andrews RFC Under 13s’ fixture against Pinley RFC on Sunday turned out to be a fantastic game that was enjoyed by everyone watching. Pinley had a few big lads in their pack which far outweighed the St Andrews forwards in the scrums but they still managed to win a good share of the ball thanks to some great hooking by Elliot Lord.

The defence held out Pinley on a few occasions when a try from them seemed inevitable and the handling and passing from the backs was superb once again.

St Andrews took the lead twice with tries from Murphy Smith and Jacob Kilborn but were pinned back by Pinley, who then took the lead in the second half. However, St Andrews levelled with a second try from Murphy Smith and the game ended three tries each.

Man of the match was Euan Mitchell for an outstanding performance at number 8.

With more brilliant performances like this, the under 13s have many more victories to come. Well done lads.