U10 Match Reports (Most recent at Top)

27/04/2008 against the Dads (and a Mum)

Once again the squad took on the parents in this annual needle match.

A very brave handful of parents lined up against a fired-up U10s squad on a warm morning and on a big pitch. A very big pitch.

Rees started off as player-ref and implemented his very own Experimental Law Variation - namely that Mel's Mum was the only player on the parent's team that was allowed to score.

This she duly did 5 times during the course of the morning,  but I guarantee she will find a few tender spots and bruises over the coming week as some of the boys took to tackling her with indecent enthusiasm!

Comedy moments abounded from parents apparently incapable of catching, passing or even running without falling over.

It was nice to see the players thinking about how to win and realising that on a big pitch and with numbers and fitness but not strength on their side, the key to scoring was moving the ball before contact. By and large, this they duly did, but were still trailing by a single point at half time. Rugby is a cruel sport to a side that lacks bulk - ask Japan - and since Rees and Richard between them probably outweigh the entire U10 squad it is perhaps not surprising that the parents had their noses in front.

But then Rees and Richard went off to see their younger sons receive awards and Tony decided he'd had enough running around catching youngsters so spent the second half as non-player referee.

The U10s tore into the depleted parent's ranks (there were only 4 left!) with a vengeance. One floundering parent being heard to lament, between gasps for air "There's just too many of them!".

By the end of the morning the boys had scored 6 tries and won the game.

Final score Lads (and a Lass) 6  - Dads (and a Mum) 5

20/04/2008 away at the Cleve Festival

Players. Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan;

First match; Swindon 1. Llandaff 2.

Llandaff started this first match well with an early try against Swindon. Swindon counter attacked almost immediately but were slower than the Welsh side to react at the breakdown allowing them to score again. In the second half Swindon's defence was impeccable and they were soon rewarded with a try from Tom Codling, although try as they might a second one eluded them, thus the game ended with Llandaff winning by two tries to one.

Second match; Swindon 2. St Mary's Old Boys 1.

Swindon started this game ferociously crashing into the SMOB forwards time and time again, then they laid the ball out to the backs and fly-half Luke Uzzell tore through their lines to score the first try. SMOB came back into the game with a vengeance and levelled the score by the half-time whistle. In the second half both sides attacked and defended well; the match seemed destined for a draw when Bradley Laughton fought his way through the maul to ground the winning try just before full-time.

Third match; Swindon 3. Salisbury 0.

In this clash of the two Wiltshire conurbations [blimey Richard, steady! - ed.]  Swindon had the better of the first half as their forwards dominated and created a try apiece for Jack Gibion, Owain Hire and Tom Codling. Salisbury rallied in the second half, preventing Swindon from scoring any more but yet unable to crack the solid Swindon defence themselves.

Fourth match; Swindon 0. Cleve Crusaders 2.

Swindon met a very determined Cleve side in this fourth match and although they defended heroically they were unable to prevent Cleve from scoring. The second half was much of the same with determined counter-attacks from Swindon being thwarted just short of the line and then Swindon defending their line against concerted pressure from Cleve, which in the end resulted in another Cleve try, making them the winners by two tries to nil.

Men of the Matches; The whole team.

We would like to give many thanks to Cleve for their hospitality again and to the other teams for some great rugby.

13/04/2008 at home to Marlow on tour and Wootton Bassett

Players. Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan;

First match; Swindon U10s 0. Marlow ‘A’ U10s 1.

Marlow started this match with an early try catching Swindon very much off-guard. There then followed a match of attrition, both sides refusing to concede the ball or territory. Swindon never really found their full attacking form and might have conceded another try if it weren’t for some excellent defending from Daniel Uzzell.

Man of the Match; Daniel Uzzell.

Second match; Swindon U10s 7. Marlow ‘B’ U10s 1.

Shocked by their first match defeat Swindon stepped up a gear for this second match. The forwards attacked aggressively, drawing in the Marlow backs to help shore up the defence, then passing the ball out to the backs to run in a try. Swindon’s try scorers were Owain Hire (3), Tom Codling (2), Daniel Uzzell (1) & Luke Uzzell (1).

Man of the Match; Joe Jenkins.

Third match; Swindon U10s 6. Wootton Bassett U10s 2.

Wootton Bassett, who never give Swindon an easy game, started in their usual indomitable style taking an early lead which Swindon answered a few minutes later with a try of their own. Once again Wootton Bassett found the Swindon try-line and just before half-time Swindon responded again. After the break it was a different story, Swindon discovered that their forwards could dominate once again, rarely letting Wootton Bassett have any possession and a couple of penetrating runs from Christian Wood allowed Swindon to do all the scoring in this half. Swindon’s try scorers were Tom Codling (3), Luke Uzzell (2) and Owain Hire (1).

Man of the Match; Christian Wood.

Fourth match; Swindon U10s 1. Marlow ‘C’ U10s 1.

This Marlow team started well pushing Swindon back and scoring an early first try. Swindon fought valiantly throughout the remainder of this half but they were well matched by the Marlow forwards and never looked like scoring. In the second half Swindon came out re-invigorated by the coach’s half time pep talk and were soon rewarded with a Tom Codling try. Swindon were constantly on the attack then, trying to clinch the winner but a defiant Marlow were having none of it and the match ended in a well deserved draw.

Man of the Match; Jack Gibion.

Many thanks to the Wootton Bassett coaches, players and parents who came at short notice to help us play Marlow and well played to all the teams for a great day’s rugby.

09/03/2008 away at Cleve

Players. Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Owain Hire; William Sullivan;
+ Callum Cook & Dan Jones (Borrowed from Cleve)

First match; Cleve B 2, Swindon 6,
Both teams started this match well with the ball being turned over several times before the first try was scored by Swindon. The forwards were well matched but the Swindon backs were superior in defence stopping the Cleve attacks almost as soon as they had begun, meanwhile Cleve had to deal with penetrating runs from the Swindon backs and scrum half thus allowing Swindon to finish the match 6-2 winners. Swindon's try scorers were Owain Hire (5) and Jack Gibion (1).

Second match; Cleve A 6. Swindon 0,
Swindon met their match with this first tier Cleve side, who dominated every scrum and line-out. Although Swindon defended valiantly they were unable to hold back the big Cleve forwards when they drove across the try line. Swindon had their moments and at the start of the second half had a sustained attack on the Cleve try line only just being thwarted inches short. Swindon, unable to hold onto possession for long lost this match 6-0.

Many thanks to Cleve for their hospitality and especially to Callum and Dan who played an excellent game for us.

Man of the Matches: Owain Hire.

24/02/2008 away at Grove

Players. Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Max Bracegirdle; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan.

First match; Grove U10s 0, Swindon U10s 9,
Grove began this match and immediately were met with a Swindon charge, Swindon drove the Grove team off the ball and after a few excellent passes ran in the first try. At the restart, the same thing happened again, Swindon winning the ball in the rucks and after a few deft passes scoring a try. Grove defended valiantly but were unable to complete any of their attacks, although they came close on a few occasions, because of Swindon's tenacious tackling. There was a contender for try of the season when the ball was passed through the hands of every Swindon player before being grounded over the try line! Swindon finished the match nil - nine winners thanks to tries from Daniel Uzzell (2), Tom Codling (2), Christian Wood (1), Jack Gibion (1), Joe Jenkins (1), Luke Uzzell (1) and Owain Hire (1).

Second match; Grove U10s 0. Swindon U10s 7,
Swindon made some changes for this second match but didn't lose any of their fire. Despite being pushed back by the big Grove forwards, Swindon would always stop their players with a well timed tackle, recover the ball from the subsequent ruck or maul and then through some excellent handling a try would be run in. Grove always countered well and never conceded a try without a fight but were just unable to make their attacks carry over the try line, subsequently Swindon won this game nil - seven with tries from Daniel Uzzell (2), Luke Uzzell (2), Jack Gibion (1), Owain Hire (1) and Tom Codling (1).

Although the score line seemed rather one-sided this wasn't reflective of the play, yet the Grove team never became despondent and showed some indomitable spirit making these matches god-humoured and enjoyable - well done!

Man of the Matches: Christian Wood

10/02/2008 away at Bradford on Avon

Players. Bradley Laughton; Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan.

First match; Bradford-on-Avon A 3 .Swindon 4,
Bradford started this thrilling match and Swindon were up at them straight away. Swindon had driven Bradford deep into their own half and had turned-over the ball, when suddenly Bradford ripped the ball from Swindon and a player ran the length of the pitch to score the opening try. Swindon responded immediately catching Bradford a little unaware with a fast arcing run from Tom Codling to level the score. A superb passage of play followed with both teams rucking and mauling like internationals, Swindon getting the better of it, being two (Tom Codling) tries up at half time. After the break Bradford scored almost immediately and another exciting period of play commenced, Tom Codling scoring again and then Bradford running in the last try before the final whistle. Swindon winning by four tries to three. It cannot be overstated how well Swindon played during this match against quality opposition from Bradford-on-Avon, this was gripping to watch; well done to both teams.

Second match; Bradford-on-Avon B 0. Swindon 9,
Fired up by their first match Swindon tore into this Bradford second-string like tigers, pushing them back and taking an early lead. Bradford were a little daunted at first from this Swindon onslaught and took a little time to rally. They had a few excellent counter-attacks but never managed to convert them to tries thanks to Swindon's solid defence. Swindon were able to dominate this game despite determined opposition from Bradford, who despite the score line were still playing to win at the final whistle. Swindon's try scorers were Luke Uzzel (4), Owain Hire (2), Christian Wood (1), Jack Gibion (1) and Tom Codling (1).

A big thank you to Bradford-on-Avon who were excellent hosts and thanks to the Bath coaches for their time with the boys pre-match.

Men of the Matches: Daniel Uzzell, Jack Gibion, Luke Uzzell

25/11/2007 away at Gosford All Blacks

Players. Alex Medici; Bradley Laughton; Daniel Uzzell; George Barham; Jack Gibion; Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Max Bracegirdle; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan.

First match; Gosford 1 .Swindon 3,
Swindon failed to find their form against the aggressive attacking play of Gosford, having to spend a lot of their time in the first half defending from their own errors. They were extremely lucky to be two tries up at half-time, thanks only to Tom Codling's deep penetrating runs. In the second half it was much of the same, Swindon too often giving away poor ball and being forced backwards from the scrums, line-outs and even penalties. Another Tom Codling try where he broke through the Gosford lines and ran the length of the pitch saved Swindon's blushes (but not the Coaches' ire,) and ended with a 1 - 3 win to Swindon.

Second match; Gosford 2. Swindon 3,
Swindon were little better in this second match, still being slow to react at the breakdown, and still being forced back when receiving ball from the scrum etc. Then Gosford began to make their superior play count and were 2 - 1 up at half time. Swindon did improve a little after half time and managed to steal the match against the play again due to two tries from Tom Codling and a scrum-half's try from Owain Hire.

Man of the Matches: Not selected.

18/11/2007 away at Cleve

Players. Alex Medici; Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; David Sorrill; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Max Bracegirdle; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling;

First match; Cleve 4 Swindon 1
The cold and rain seem to have been more adverse for Swindon than Cleve, who attacked aggressively from the start. Swindon defended valiantly twice holding the ball up at the try line and they did well to only concede two tries by half time with an excellent wingers try scored by Daniel Uzzell for Swindon. In the second half Swindon defended well again but a determined Cleve attack crossed the line twice more to end the match Cleve 4, Swindon 1.

Second match; Cleve 3 Swindon 5
Swindon were now warmed up (apart from the parents who were frozen,) and took an early lead in this second game. Now quicker at the breakdown and managing to penetrate the Cleve defence, Swindon had a three try lead at half time and despite a determined Cleve fight back in the second half, Swindon won the match by five tries to three thanks to scores from Tom Codling (3), Owain Hire (1) and Luke Uzzell (1).

Man of the Matches: Joe Jenkins

Thanks to Cleve for their warm welcome on a cold day.

Commentary from legendary Welsh Fly-Half Jonathan Davies....

...would be pointless as he did not see the games, but here are some remarks from one elated parent......

"They played like a team, they passed (on what was undoubtedly the worst conditions to date to actually play passing Rugby), they supported and ... put strings of play together. The most noticeable thing was that all of a sudden they seemed to be getting the idea of passing and supporting and passing again. Not only that, from a purists point of view, some of the passing was (*censored*) good and they showed that they really can do it!""

"Undoubtedly the effort and practise over the last few weeks ... has started to pay off"

"we even passed the ball all the way along to the wing, not sure even England managed that in the World Cup!"

"Joe looked like a super charged version of last week, not sure what he had for breakfast but I could do with some!"

"One of the most impressive things for me was not that we actually competed and won our own ball, but the pressure we put on their ball."

Its a shame you can't bottle such enthusiasm. But at least I've recorded it.

11/11/2007 at home against St Mary's Old Boys

Players. Alex Medici; Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; Daniel Uzzell; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Max Bracegirdle; Mel Hollister; Michael Hale; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan.

First match; Swindon 0, St Mary's Old Boys 9. SMOB took Swindon by surprise in this first match. They were first at every break-down to deny Swindon the ball. Every Swindon pass back from the maul, ruck or scrum had a SMOB player half a second behind it to tackle the receiver. Swindon struggled to gain any territory and when the ball did go out to their fast backs, they were closed down and tackled almost immediately. Swindon had no answer to this full-on attack and were unable to find any weakness in response, thus the final score was 0 - 9 to SMOB.

Second match; Swindon 2, St Mary's Old Boys 1. Swindon's second string had a much better outing, whilst the teams were fairly evenly balanced in the scrums, Swindon were quicker to react at the break-down and were able to control the game to their advantage. It was only due to some stoic defending from SMOB that kept Swindon from scoring more. Swindon's tries were scored by Luke and Daniel Uzzell.

Third match; Swindon 5, St Mary's Old Boys 5. In this exciting third match Swindon took an early lead, once again dominating the mauls and breaking away with a ripped ball and were leading by two tries at half time. After the break SMOB came back stronger than ever to take the lead by five tries to four, when a determined Swindon managed to cross the try line just before the final whistle to level the score. Swindon's try scorers were Tom Codling (2), Owain Hire (2) and Christian Wood (1).

Men of the Matches: Daniel Uzzell & Owain Hire.

These matches were very well played. It was an exceptionally good humoured meeting even though both teams were highly competitive. Well done to both teams, their coaches and supporters for making this an enjoyable days rugby.

A Sub-Note to a good day's rugby:

We had half the second team pitch to ourselves this weekend and so the U10s pitch was laid out at the maximum permitted 60m long by 35m wide. This is probably the first time boys have ever played on a pitch this big.

St. Mary's brought a very strong squad and their 'A' team showed their worth in the first game, where our boys started slowly and then just stood back bewildered as a very good St. Mary's side galloped away with the game.

The second game was played (by agreement) 10v10 between Swindon's and St. Mary's 'B' teams. Swindon's second string pack and backs played outstandingly well, - all be it in the face of slightly less ruthless opposition.

The last game was very much a game of two halves with Swindon essentially reverting to their 'A' Team to start this game (as they had no other) and St. Mary's giving some of their other players a run-out. Building a healthy lead by half time did the Swindon boys' morale the power of good and it meant that when St. Mary's in turn fielded some stronger players to even up the game, Swindon competed in a way that they had lacked the confidence to do in the first match. However, in fairness to St. Mary's it must be mentioned that after the 2nd match was played 10v10, St. Mary's reverted to 9 players for the final game, whereas Swindon did not! By the time the numerical error was noticed, there was such a close game developing nobody seemed to want to spoil it.

28/10/2007 against Chippenham and Maidenhead at Chippenham

Players. Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; David Sorrill; George Barham; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Max Bracegirdle; Mel Hollister; Michael Hale; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; (Spectating, injured: William Sullivan)

First match; Swindon U10s 0, Maidenhead A U10s 2. Swindon struggled in this first match against Maidenhead, losing every scrum to the Berkshire side. They defended stoically and kept trying penetrating runs which were tackled by Maidenhead and then turned-over in the ensuing ruck or scrum.

Second match; Swindon U10s 6, Maidenhead B U10s 0. In this second game Swindon's front row adjusted, cajoled and threatened finally began to function and dominated this Maidenhead side, Luke Uzzel was exceptional as scrum half and was rewarded with a try of his own as was Jack Gibion who took a pass from the maul on the Swindon try line and ran the whole length of the pitch to score. With the forwards now dominant, the backs had free range to run through this Maidenhead side, Tom Codling scoring four times with scything oblique runs through the opposition.
(Note: The Chippenham Referee stopped this game early in the second half under the RFU rule that dictates that any match should be stopped once any team gets six tries ahead)

Third match; Swindon U10s 0, Chippenham A U10s 1. In a very close match, separated only by a opportunist try from Chippenham when Swindon fumbled the ball in their own goal area, neither side gave any quarter to the other. Several times Swindon would break out from a ruck or win a scrum but the backs were unable to penetrate the Chippenham defence, but Joe Jenkins playing hooker, was unlucky not to score just before the final whistle, when he was bundled into touch a pace short of the try line.

Player of the Week: Luke 'Lobber' Uzzel

Note from the coach's assistant:
Due to injuries and reorganisation, Luke was called upon to play scrum half in the second and third games at Chippenham. Luke has never played in this position before, but there was nobody else to do it and - as they say - cometh the hour, cometh the man.

It was with some trepidation that I took him aside to try to give him a few pointers and answer any questions in the last 60 seconds before his first start in the unfamiliar position. "Are you OK with this?" I asked. "Yes" He said. Well that's a good start I thought. "Do you know what to do?" I asked.

Luke looked me straight in the eye and with a big smile on his face said "No".

But actually he did. Mostly things went right, and when things went wrong Luke just kept his composure and got on with the job. Well done.

14/10/2007 at the Reading Festival

Players. Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; David Sorrill; George Barham; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; William Sullivan.

First match; Swindon U10s 0, Bracknell U10s 2. Swindon's first match of the tournament was against a quick team, in these seven minute games Swindon did not start too well allowing Bracknell to score twice without reply.

Second match; Swindon U10s 1, Reading Abbey U10s 2. Swindon did a little better in this second game against an aggressive Abbey team who scored twice before Swindon responded with a try from Owain Hire. Unfortunately the final whistle went before Swindon were able to capitalise any further.

Third match; Swindon U10s 1, Aldermaston U10s 0. Swindon were having the best of the play in this third match but were struggling to score because of the determined Aldermaston defence, when at an Aldermaston line out William Sullivan stole the ball and scored a wonderful poacher's try to win the game for Swindon.

A note from a novice Ref (Tony Sullivan)

You only ever get to referee your first game once - so I'm going to write this down for future reference.........

As is usual, every team at this festival was expected to provide a referee. Rees came to see us off on Sunday morning (shortly before departing himself for Prague) and explained that Dave's entire family had been stricken down with some nasty virus and Dave could not make it. The width of the grin on Rees' face as he officially handed me the whistle was probably due in equal measure to his natural mischievousness and to my own incessant and irritating whittering on about the laws of the game to anybody who would listen.

It must be said that in the past and in the heat of the moment, I may have occasionally been guilty of criticising referees. More importantly, for every time I've opened my mouth, there have been dozens of times I've bitten my tongue - but I've nevertheless tut-tutted to myself, inwardly shaking my head in disbelief that anyone so misguided or unobservant could be entrusted with the task of refereeing a game.

So here's my chance. One period of 7 minutes per game of under-10s rugby. How hard could it be?

I refereed 3 games and know for a fact I made a complete pigs ear of the first 2. By the third one I'm not sure whether I was getting better, or simply getting used being so bad at it. Either way it was a genuine ordeal. I'd hope it might not be so bad if there is a next time.

The trouble is, when you are actually refereeing the game, you have to continually make simultaneous decisions about everything that all the players are doing. As an armchair ref I can tell you exactly when a ruck is formed, or when a ball is out of the ruck, or whether someone has come in from the side, or whether it has become dangerous, or whether someone has charged in without binding, or whether the scrum half knocked it on, or whether someone is laying on the ball, or whether the defenders are off side, or whether the attackers are off side, or whether that was a hand on the ball, or whether there is obstruction, or whether someone is lifting legs or someone else is collapsing it or... or.... or. If asked about any one of those aspects I can confidently give a decision.

The fact is, it's flippin' hard to make all those decisions at the same time! I'm looking at something that is probably a ruck and just deciding whether or not that red player came in from the side when the ball seems to have bounced forward and I did not see whether it was a foot or hand and then someone picks it up and I wasn't concentrating on whether or not the ball was really out or whether the person who picked it up was still part of the ruck and then they are off and running and there may well have been half a dozen offences and I'm still wondering about the first offside and waiting for the slow motion action replay so I can decide whether to complain about the referee.

In one of the games a lad twisted his knee in a tackle and was on the floor crying. I was thinking about whether I should stop the game but I hesitated as play had moved away from him and he didn't seem too bad.  I had turned my head - for less than a second I swear - to look at the player on the floor. I was thinking about him and not the game, when heard a triumphant "Yes!". When I looked back, to my horror, a try had been scored. Well, I expect it was scored, I have no idea how the ball got over the try line, whether there was a forward pass or knock on or even whether the ball was grounded correctly, I had been looking at the boy on the floor. What do you do? I blew my whistle and gave a try. Based mostly on the triumphant tone of the "Yes!". What a fraud! Fortunately it only made the difference between 4 and 5-0. But what if that had been the deciding try??

So there you have it. It's a darn site harder than I thought.

Referees? I'll not hear a word said against them!

07/10/2007 at the Wootton Bassett Festival

Players. Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; David Sorrill; George Barham; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; Tommy Farnsworth; William Sullivan.

First match; Swindon U10s 1, Melksham CATs U10s 1.
Swindon's first match of the tournament was a match of attrition, neither side giving any quarter until Tom Codling managed to run in Swindon's first and only try just before the end of the first half. At the restart the CATs responded with a try of their own. The remainder of the match was a thrilling succession of rucks and mauls with neither side scoring again thus making the final score one-all.

Second match; Swindon U10s 2, Corsham U10s 2.
In this second game Swindon's mettle was well tested by an aggressive Corsham side, several times Corsham were over the line and Swindon managed to hold the ball up. Corsham scored twice but each time Swindon managed to answer on the break with Tom Codling being the scorer both times. Swindon defended magnificently against this strong unbeaten Corsham team and were rewarded with a thoroughly well deserved draw.

Third match; Swindon U10s 1, Chippenham U10s 1.
Swindon started well against Chippenham gaining an early lead thanks to another Tom Codling try. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalise on their first half domination due to some good defending from Chippenham. In the second half Swindon were caught unaware and let Chippenham equalise with a good winger's try, but despite constant Swindon pressure they were unable to improve on the score and this match also ended in a one-all draw.

Fourth match; Wootton Bassett U10s 1, Swindon U10s 3.
Swindon started off this game at a tremendous pace with Tom Codling scoring the first try before the hosts knew what had hit them, another two tries before half time, one from Owain Hire and another from Tom Codling gave Swindon a three try lead at the break. To Wootton Bassett's credit they game back stronger than ever and were rewarded with the only try of the second half for their efforts, but were unable to break the resolute Swindon defence enough times to change the final outcome of a three-one Swindon victory.

Swindon were well deserved runners up in this tournament and with a bit more luck they might have won it, nevertheless it was an excellent afternoons rugby full of thrilling and good tempered matches. Congratulations to Corsham U10s and many thanks to our hosts in Wootton Bassett for a job well done.

Player of the Week: The Entire Squad

30/9/2007 at home against Devizes

Players. Bradley Loughton; Christian Wood; David Sorrill; George Barham; Jack Gibion; James Sorrill, Joe Jenkins; Luke Uzzell; Mel Hollister; Michael Hale; Owain Hire; Tom Codling; Tommy Farnsworth; William Sullivan.

First match; Swindon U10s 1, Devizes U10s 8.
Swindon's first match of the season did not start well, Devizes pushed Swindon off the ball at nearly every breakdown, thus Swindon had little possession and no matter how well they defended they were unable to keep a rampant Devizes at bay for long. Thanks to an exceptional run from Tom Codling they were able to score just before the half time whistle. In the second half the Swindon team defended better but were still slow to react at breakdowns, letting Devizes run in another three tries to end the match eight - one winners.

Second match; Swindon U10s 5, Devizes U10s 3.
This Swindon team's grit showed through in this second game, they came back with a determined attack on Devizes that threw the visitors off guard after their relatively easy first match. Swindon were now much quicker on the breakdowns and their crunching tackles began to count against the still aggressive Devizes. Swindon were able to win the ball more often and their quick backs ran in five tries to Devizes' three. Swindon's try scorers were Owain Hire (3) and Tom Codling (2). The character shown by all the team in overcoming their first match defeat to win this game was remarkable and even the Devizes coaches were kind enough to say how impressed they were.

Player of the Week: Joe Jenkins