Holt Rugby Club Under 16s: Holt v North Walsham 16.03.14

A breezy, sunny day for the biggest friendly match of the season. Walsham were coming to Holt en masse across different age groups. The U.16s were on the First XV pitch. Game on! Walsham brought a full squad of 22 players and were out on the pitch training, running through drills and generally looking keen early. Holt were not. Our eventual 16 lads shuffled out and starting some desultory jogging around 40 minutes before kick off. Ali was away so Mr Versatile took the reins at 10.

Walsham kicked off, George caught, passed to Jacko who shipped it to Mr Versatile. Shed, for of course it was he, sold an outrageous dummy and cut through the Walsham defence like a laser beam. He made 25 yards before passing to Callum who was bundled into touch. Great start. Holt were clearly up for the challenge.

Alex. Flying.

Shed teasing the entire Walsham team.

The first 15 minutes were very even, lots of hard running, good tacking and ball retention by both sides. This was shaping up to be a thrilling contest. Eventually Walsham won an attacking line out, there was a knock on and Walsham nicked it against the head and scored in the corner. 5-0 Walsham.

Team cuddle.

Holt came back very strongly from the kick off, won turnover ball and Titus launched an excellent kick and chase. Walsham knocked on, Holt won their own put in from the scrum. Titus sniped down the blindside and passed to Roadrunner in space. Callum scored under the posts. 5-5. Mr Versatile took the conversion and tried to score a football penalty.

Nabbed by Titus.

Powerhouse. No George, not you.

Walsham surged forward after the kick off and some untidy play by Holt saw us concede a scrum in our 22 from a knock on. Walsham number 8 picked up and drove over. A disappointing try to concede for Holt. Holt quickly conceded another penalty after the kick off and the Walsham 10 slotted it. 15-5 Walsham. Things were starting to look bad, more Walsham pressure but a great cover tackle from Alex S and some dogged resistance from Alec and Caz saw the ball held up over the Holt line. Half time. It had been a terrific half of running rugby with both sides playing with flair and commitment.

And he's off. Look at the chasers and support.

The big boys do battle.

An easy take.

The second half started well - Shed kicked off, the forwards won a turnover and Callum made good ground before being tackled into touch. Walsham won the line out and despite a wonderful covering tackle from Callum scored near the posts. 22-5 Walsham. Despite manful efforts from Holt the prognosis was starting to look bleak...then, as so often happens, we found another gear. Jack went on a powerful run, passed to Alexander who rumbled forward and slipped it to Callum. Cal chipped it over the last Walsham defender and bam! Late hit off the ball penalty try awarded. 22-12. Theo caught the ball cleanly from the kick off yet again. The ball was recycled quickly and Titus took off. The play went through the phases with Jenks, Dean and Tommy T all doing their bit and Holt were awarded a penalty near the Walsham line. Quick tap from Titus, stopped a metre short. Robin was on hand to scoop up the ball and score. 22-17.

Holt scrummaged so well all day. Low. Straight. Brilliant.

Jacko looking to gather as many Walsham players as possible.

Dean getting high. (ish).

Noah making an arc. (Please feel free to groan).
More amusing though are the rugby posts with legs.

Walsham were not going to fold. They surged towards the Holt line and their big number 5 broke through and charged towards the line. Two streaks of black were in pursuit. Different body shapes but probably the same surface area. Alex Storey caught his man two metres from our line and George stood firm over the body, won the turnover and we cleared to touch. Fantastic commitment, although there is a case for saying No5 should have been tackled higher up the pitch.

The line-out. Double podded...

Ready, steady....

Acting scrum-half Theo. Really?

With 10 minutes to go the strength of the Walsham bench finally told and they ran in two more tries. Final score was 37-22. It had been a tremendous match played in the right spirit by all the boys. For Holt all the boys played well but mentions in despatches for Alexander, Callum, Jack, Theo and Alex who all had terrific games. Man of the match quite rightly was Titus. He drives the team on and never plays without full commitment. Turd for the day awarded to no one.