Today kicked off the U9 2023 campagin. The sun was shining, the crowds had arrived and the boys were very excited as Lorretto came to do battle. Thankfuly, Lorretto were able to field 2 sides as well, meaning we could have a tournament style afternoon with more matches, which was fantastic.

Mr Lemmer’s observations of our 2 teams

Owls

In their first match of the season, and for some their first ever match, the U9 Owls team started off very positively keeping Loretto at bay though some energetic touch-tackling. However, Loretto maintained their pressure and eventually opened the scoring with the first try of the match. At the restart, the Cargilfield boys initially attacked really well but stepped over the touch line to concede possession back to Loretto, who went on to score two more tries before half time. In the second half, the boys made a more concerted effort to make shorter passes to each other and to run forwards whenever they got the ball, this led to their first try of the match. They backed this up with a second try, also the result of good momentum and teamwork. Loretto then managed to score again before the final whistle. The final score was 2-4 to Loretto. A great start to the season though!

Squirrels

The Squirrels showed great enthusiasm on the pitch and used their pace really well to keep up with some equally fast Loretto boys. When the Cargilfield boys remembered to make more passes towards the wings, their success was higher and they were able to score more easily. Their effort in defence was good and we will continue to work on developing their understanding of positioning, but a marvellous start to the season nonetheless. The match ended in a 6-6 draw, which was befitting of a highly competitive match.

Mr Kerr’s observations

The Owls

With only a few practice sessions under our belts the Owls came together very well. The rugby was of a good standard for this time of the session. They passed well, worked hard to get behind the ball and ran even harder making lovely breaks and ultimately scoring 5 good tries. Lorretto came to play, countering our attacking game with some of their own excellent running rugby putting our defence to the test. That said, the boys did very well to hold Lorretto to 4 tries meaning they were victorious in their first game.

The Squirrels

They also played very well. Coming over for their 2^nd match having just been beaten, a lesser team may have struggled but not the Squirrels, even after they conceded 2 early tries, to a good Lorretto side. I was worried for the Squirrels but they showed great spirit and got stuck back into the match. Their passing and running was strong, but the big improvement came in our defence. We began putting more and more pressure on Lorretto forcing turnovers and breaking up the pitch. Suddenly it was 2-2. The 2^nd half was fantastic with both teams attacking time and again. We managed to win the ball back in the final minute after defending for a long time. The boys were brave and immediately attacked running from their own line to score the winning try making it 6-5, what a cracker!!!

Even though the rugby was excellent, I was more impressed with how they played as a team, the sportsmanship and the smiles they had on their faces. Well done U9’s!!