Norwich 10s Tournament

Well done to everybody for yesterday, a much improved performance from last week with spells of some very good rugby. Still lots to work on but you wouldn't want us coaches to be idle on a Sunday morning, would you?

The tournament gave us plenty of opportunities to try different combinations out and also to ensure as many players as possible got as much pitch time as possible. Due to the healthy size of our squad we were also able to loan several players out to other teams, well done to everyone who was 'volunteered' for this. Never an easy thing to do but very valuable, to not only the individuals but also the other teams and the tournament as a whole.

Game 1. Holt v West Norfolk
Holt came out the winners in this first game, looking sharp and awake. Simmo scored the first after Theo took the ball in deep into the West defence and the recycled ball was spun out through Jack and back to Simmo. Ally then added a second after a couple of great scrums. A few changes at half time and straight from the start Simmo had a chance to stretch his legs and break through to score. West pegged one back late on with a good run from one of their stand-out players.
Holt 3 - WN 1

Game 2. Holt v Norwich.
With a virtually completely re-jigged team for this game it was going to be interesting to see how certain combinations would work. Dean certainly made an impressive start, making a great straight run to be held up 2 metres short. However Jenks soon got the scoring underway following some good quick re-cycling. Dean then got his first and well-deserved try for the club. For someone who has only been with us for three weeks and never played before this was very encouraging. Miles off-loaded to Shed, who passed it on to Dean, who ran a great straight line to score in the corner.
At the beginning of the 2nd half Norwich pegged one back and then added an equalising score coming from behind a scrum 5metres out. Lots of positives in this game. Alex made some great tackles along with Harrison, strong, hard and more importantly finished them off. Tommy T got stuck in and made good use of his height in the lineout. Shed was very involved, making breaks and popping simple good passes to continue the momentum. Ollie Ross looked strong, driving into the opposition in the loose. Very pleasing performance all round.
Holt 2 - Norwich 2

Game 3. Holt v North Walsham.
This was going to be by far the toughest game of the morning and was very evenly matched for a long period of the 1st half. Jack made a great break through the middle of the NW team and the move should have produced more but he had no support. If someone had been running off him a simple offload could have produced a score. Every runner should have a wingman! NW scored a try breaking up the wing, however the player was clearly in touch but the ref, unsighted, gave the try. To everybody's credit the players accepted the score and moved on. Well done. NW did then add 2 more tries, another break down the wing and one where we were clearly standing off and not attacking them in defence.
The second half was a much better half and everybody upped their game, tackling hard, particularly Callum and Simmo and also players always looking to break. The scrums were good, the lineouts well contested with George hitting his man and more than once Holt winning the lineout on a NW put in. The game ended with no further scores being added by either team. The area most evident of needing improvement is the ruck. We had many promising situations that were turned over by poor body positions. Something to work on in the next few weeks.
Holt 0 - NW 3

Game 4. Holt v Wymondham.
A slow start to this game cost Holt 2 early and easy tries. Wymondham were pegged back by a try from Dean after Caz distributed well in the line. The props were very evident,  Jerry working well and making several breaks in the loose, Alexander continued to make big hits all morning.
More changes were made at half time and although Wymondham scored a further couple of tries, including one right on the final whistle, the game was however far less one-sided than the score suggests. Take away the gifted early tries and this would have been a much closer game.
Holt 1 - Wymondham 4

Overall a lot of good rugby, some very encouraging signs and plenty to work on. Well done everybody, hopefully nobody too seriously injured, a few knocks and bruises but we were playing rugby, not girly football.

See you all next week for plenty of training and official match photographs. Please wear black shorts and socks, we want to look our best for our sponsors.

Sponsored Walk

Tommy Ross has been working very hard to organise the next fund raising effort for the Holt under14s tour to Morocco. He even has a clipboard.

Everyone who came to Fakenham last week was given an envelope, which contained your sponsorship form and the details below. Tommy will hunt down anyone else not ticked off. Then tick them off.

Below are the brief details of the walk, it's a very good route and will be a challenge but we don't want to make it too easy. You might even enjoy it. Please look to get as many sponsors as possible, this is the boys chance to do their bit for the tour.

From Tommy.

As part of our fund-raising initiative for the Under 14s Morocco Tour during the Easter holidays in 2012 we are planning a sponsored walk on Sunday 30^th October.

The walk, which will total 15 miles, will begin and end at Holt Rugby Club and we hope that as many of you as possible can take part with your son. We are planning to walk as a team but ideally need parents/guardians to walk with their own children.  Please let me know by Sunday 16^th October whether you intend to take part or not,  so we don’t leave anyone behind on the day,  and if need be can assign children without a parent to another adult.

We are meeting at 10.00am for a 10.15am start and will provide a map on the day. The route will take us over Kelling Heath, passed the Muckleburgh collection, through Weybourne and back up to cross the A148 towards Lower Bodham.  From there we will head towards Baconsthorpe and on to the Hare and Hounds Pub at Hempstead for some well-earned refreshments. Fully refreshed,  all that remains is the home-stretch back to Holt RFC.

Most of it is on public footpaths so it is important that everyone has sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing and it is advisable to bring along a supply of water and snacks as there are no check points along the way.

There is a £50 cash prize for the lad who collects the most sponsorship. Don’t leave it till a couple of weeks before – start getting your sponsors NOW!

Any questions either see me on Sunday mornings up at the Club or ring me on 07889958008.

Regards

Tommy Ross

10s practice match v Fakenham (11.09.11)

With the 10s tournament at Norwich next week, it was decided to use this ‘training’ fixture as a bit of practice for that and we played x3 20minute games. This did mean lots of changes and several players playing out of position but everybody got on and had a chance to shine...

Fakenham have always been the kind of opposition that Holt have felt they can beat. However, they were the better team out there today. They were better organised, keener and wanted the ball more. We may have better individual players, match-winners in fact but rugby is a team game.

There were positives to take from the day but there were many negatives and areas to work on. I’ll do the negatives first:

Too many players turned up either still asleep or like they hadn’t slept all night.

Too many tackles were either not made or not finished or too high.

Lack of support for the runners. In fact lack of support all round.

Our stamina was very poor, we need to manage ourselves better through a game.

Rucks were not cleared. Low and hard please. This gives us quick ball to use our pace.

I shouted too much.

And now for some positives.

We scored 7 tries.

Callum scored 3, in one match.

Alex stormed into the game, taking out their receiver.

There were several tries saved on the line. Simmo saved a certain try by chasing back.

Dean made a very encouraging start.

Jali worked hard in defence.

Jack and Shed worked hard and combined well in the centres.

Jenks put a lot of effort in, all morning.

We got better as the morning went on.

The shirts looked good.

New season. New sponsors.

First of all a massive 'Thank You' to Stuart's Taxi & Travel for all the support over the past few years. Not only have they sponsored the shirts through the latter years of our age group as Minis and many a tournament's success but most importantly they were the name on our shirts when we won the Norfolk Cup.

This year we will not only be wearing a new set of shirts, matching the senior sides with the new 50th Anniversary logo, we will also be brandishing new sponsors.

As you will see from the pictures below we have Boldero & Co, courtesy of Ian Boldero, father of Ollie sporting the right arm and on the left a graphic to symbolise the Norfolk Cup win.

On the front you will see we are sponsored this time by TalkTalk. Something you lot are very good at, unfortunately we couldn't find a sponsor called ListenListen. We are of course very grateful to TalkTalk and their investment into rugby at grass roots level. Let's make sure we wear the shirts with pride and give our sponsors something to shout about.

Summer BBQ pics

Well done to Mel, Rob and all the Robsons for organising and putting on the under 14s Summer BBQ.
A great evening and here are the pics to prove it!

What a start to the fundraising!

An amazing day with an amazing end result.
All the hard work and preparation paid off on Friday as the first event in the Holt RFC Under 14s Tour To Morocco got under way at Liz and Marc Mackenzie's Links Hotel at West Runton.
http://www.links-hotel.co.uk/

The teams gathered, the banter started and the fun began. A variety of players and skill levels were on show for the day, some better equipped than others. Some more experienced than others. Some just there to have fun and enjoy the day.

After all the serious stuff a quick brush up and change of clothes it was time to head to the bar and repay the hospitality of Marc and Liz, who had not only provided the course and facilities free of charge but also a lunch for the players and a superb evening dinner. Not only that they were on hand all day making sure everything ran so smoothly, supported by their three boys, Alex, Callum and Robert, who all pitched in.

The players were joined by partners and other supporters for the evening to hear the tales of 'daring-do' from the day, long putts that trickled in securing birdies and eagles, drives that sailed majestically over the fairways as well as those that spent a fair amount of the afternoon in the gorse retrieving balls and the holes that took perhaps a few more shots than intended.

Raffle tickets were sold, including a special raffle for a signed England Rugby shirt, which was won by Tina Casburn. Then came the auction of three great prizes; A golf day and dinner for a group at Dunston Hall, A pile of tickets for Saracens and collectable Canary to mark NCFC returning to the Premiership. All items were fiercely contested and well auctioned off by MC for the day Mark Simmons, who deserves a lot of thanks for chiefly organising such a super event.

The evening continued and the bar was well serviced! There were some sore heads in the morning but these soon cleared when Liz totted up the profit for the evening which came in at over £3,000!! Absolutely amazing and a massive thank you to everyone who supported, helped, attended, bid, bought raffle tickets and gave us all such a superb start to the fund raising.

We're on our way. Watch out for the next event and find out how you can help.

FUND RAISING DIARY OF EVENTS

Golf Day at The Links Hotel, West Runton.
Friday 15th July. 18 holes of Golf followed by a dinner in the evening. An exciting start to the fund raising events with thanks to all the sponsors, raffle prize donations and especially to Marc and Liz Mackenzie for generously donating all facilities, light brunch and dinner on the day. Please ensure you return their hospitality at the bar.

Bag Packing.
We are very keen that the boys take ownership of raising some funds too, and to that end are planning a bag packing session at a local Supermarket or two in December.

Sponsored Walk.
October half term. A sponsored walk is planned along the Coastal Path. Another chance
for the boys to do their bit and gather as much sponsorship as they can, to help fund this unique opportunity.

Race Night.
November, date and venue to be confirmed. Time to lose your shirt. Opportunities to
sponsor races, name horses and then ultimately bet on the actual races. At the time of
going to press we can’t promise that John McCririck will be there.

Moroccan Night.
March, 2012. Jamal and Tracey Ghanbouri will be giving everybody a taste of what to expect when we all travel out to Marrakesh and Casablanca next April.

All the above dates and details are subject to change and yet to be confirmed. For the latest updates
and information keep checking your emails or visit this blog. http://holtrfcunder13s.blogspot.com/