Sevenoaks Lions
Team : Ethan McKay, Wian Botes, Zac Williamson, James Sumner, Jake Hambling, Isabel Pennington-Legh, Josh French
It was the clubs first time at Rossyln, so we up against teams that were new to us, and overall across both teams, the standard of completion was high, and the Sevenoaks team stepped up, with some excellent running rugby. With the larger pitch
First match was against Battersea Ironsides, with the Lions winning a high scoring game 9 tries to 7 tries. With a try blitz from James (6), and contributions from Ethan, Wian, Jake and Josh.
The next game was against Barnes, with the Lions winning a close game by 5 tries to 4, with the tries being split between Wian and Zac.
The third game was against Esher, with the Lions winning 6 tries to 4, with Josh showing his speed, which resulted in 3 tries for him, with contributions from Wian and James.
The next game was against London Welsh 2, with the teams confidence growing their game was improving, resulting in another strong winning performance of 7 tries to 3, as a result of strong contributions from the whole team, all playing as a team, with Isabel the top scorer and all the others contributing with tries and some excellent tagging with resulted in a number of turn over balls for the team.
The final games was against London Welsh 1, and for their final game the team had saved some of their best tagging, getting a 7 tag turn over and forcing the opposition out of touch a number of times as a result of some superb pressure, resulted in the Lions winning 8 tries to 4, with the whole contributing with excellent tagging and running.
Sevenoaks Sharks
The Coaches were really impressed by the team spirit and support among the players.
Match 1 vs Teddington 4
This was a very close match with both teams trading tries blow for blow. Half-time it was 3-3 with the match ending in a well-earned draw for both sides at 7-7. Against a team that had some pretty handy players, our tagging was a bit varied at times. We let a few easy tags slip through but then made it up for it with some great passages of play where the team tagged ferociously, earning us a 7-tag turnover on one occasion. Max Cowie got 4 of the tries in the match – two of which were from great offloads from Theo and Leo, with Max finding good space to receive the pass.
Match 2 vs Barnes 2
The team’s tagging was much better in this game, which they deservedly won 6-5. Cayden, George and Theo all got some stunning tags including Theo going airborne on a number of occasions. Iris scored three tries, one of which was from a great position having found space to receive the pass. George got two tries (despite an injury) and Max completed the scoresheet with one of his darting runs.
Match 3 vs London Welsh 4
This was a great game for the team showing the benefit of persistent tagging and pressure. On three occasions the team managed to force a turn-over – either through 7 tags or through picking up a dropped ball. There were lots of great moments in this game and it is hard to pick a favourite. A contender was definitely Molly’s straight as an arrow run right through the middle of the opposition. Given the number of times the coaches talk about running straight and forward, this was great to see and she deserved the resulting try. Another contender was Max scoring a great try, picking a long pass up off his bootlaces. And also Louis’ trywhere he jumped on a turnover ball right by our try line, picked it up and started running and running and running….being chased the whole way to collapse over their try line. The pitches were pretty long… The end result was a very well-deserved 10-5 to the Sharks with most players getting on the scoreboard.
Match 4 vs Rosslyn Park 5
Match 4 was against a very strong local team who got off to a strong start, running in a couple of quick tries and capitalising on a couple of turnovers. Were the Rosslyn team offside on a number of occasions when they tagged the Sharks? Perhaps we will never know [Ed: they definitely were]. In any event, the Sharks rallied and fought back admirably, tagging well and getting their own turnover. Leo even managed to somehow tag someone when he had his back to them… But time ran out and Rosslyn benefited from having the ball for the last play of the game – to win it 6-5.
Match 5 vs Rosslyn Park 4
This was the team’s best game with some vociferous tagging from everyone. Cayden in particular stood out - he was pushing up quickly and was grabbing tags like he was in the Crystal Maze. This tagging meant we benefited from a number of 7-tag turnovers which allowed the Sharks to win another tough game 5-4.
Overall – the coaches were really pleased with the quality of passing, tagging and running. But even more than that, they were delighted with the whole team’s positive attitude and enthusiasm.
The Sevenoaks Sharks: George Crawford, Iris Fairbairn, Leo Grant, Louis Reaud, Molly Thomson, Max Cowie, Cayden Stenhouse, Theo Maltarp