RUGBY: Young Saints learn from games with Old Coventrians

U11s: Rugby St Andrews 20 Old Coventrians 50

Saints had a great squad of 18 to choose from today facing a side with at least four very large players.

The larger and wider pitch seemed to favour OC’s runners who were very hard to bring down. Saints stuck at it and were definitely competitive at the breakdowns and tried to move the ball about.

There were some awesome standout performances, including Bradley’s burst through, showing great speed to cross for an excellent try, Tom’s reward for a hard press in defence bagging an intercept try and Clement’s power to score in the corner.

Sam did very well in his first appearance. The focus on tackling will continue until it becomes instinctive to go for the legs rather than the body.

U12s: After a painful lesson against a powerful Kenilworth side, Saints were keen to bounce back against an Old Covs team that they managed to handle well last season. Alas, OC’s arrived with larger and pacier squad than before.

Ferocity at the set-piece from OCs saw an endless supply of good, quick ball for their pacy backs who thoroughly exploited the gaping holes in the Saints’ defence. Halfway through the second half, the home side realised that OCs were not that invincible, and some confidence slowly crept into their game.

Well worked tries followed by Gareth Wylie and Louis Kavanagh 2, and more physicality at the ruck from the Saints should have delivered more points.

Plenty of things to improve on, but a much better performance than the previous week.