Ellon U13 travelled to North Wales on 1st April for a two day Tournament “MiTour North Wales Challenge”. Staying at Palins Holiday Park for the weekend in Rhyl, they played the rugby at Denbigh Rugby Club. Probably as important as the rugby, the food was great and the boys well fed!
Rugby on both days was in the afternoons, as at this age they are restricted to an hour’s rugby a day. Saturday Ellon played Southport, Denbigh and Nant Conway.
Southport – in the first half (each half 10 minutes) Southport scored twice at 6 and 8 minutes. The pitch had a considerable slope on it, which didn’t help the game flow, but the team didn’t play heads up rugby or use the wings. Twice they could have scored wide, but went for the line and fell short. Both Finlay Hagen and Finlay Ritchie were carrying the ball very well, but both took finger knocks in the first half. As the half ended, Ellon finally put the ball wide to Fraser Chalk and he scored on the wing. In the second half Ellon attacked well, but Southport were repeatedly offside, something the referee gave as penalties, but nothing more. Repeat offences should have given a couple of yellow cards. With Ellon unable to kick for touch or for points from the penalties (Welsh Rules) they ran the ball, and from one they scored with Adam Fowlie on 14 minutes. A great come back from 2 down to 2 all, however they missed another try by not going to the wing. Southport took advantage of the slope and ran in a try on 18 minutes to win 2 – 3. A game Ellon could have won, missing scores by not going wide.
Denbigh – With both Fins’ back on the pitch taped up, ball carrying increased. The back row of Dylan Kemp, Logan Vavangas and Finlay Hagen all rucked immensely and countered the pressure from Denbigh in the first half to a scoreless half. However in the second half Denbigh had a lineout in the Ellon half, the line out was only thrown 2 meters as a short lineout and from there they scored. A very disgruntled Ellon team made their way back for the kick off, rightly annoyed that the try had been allowed. On the heavy sloped pitch, Ellon struggled to get back up the pitch and Denbigh took the game 1 – 0.
Nant Conway – This was the toughest game of the weekend, and played on the very small bottom pitch. A physical huge team that wouldn’t have looked out of place at U15. They came with a full experienced team and played very physical, almost brutal rugby! Never attractive rugby, but very efficient and they dominated the game totally. With Ellon missing tackles and lacking the counter aggression, Nant Conway went in 4 – 0 at half time. Second half Ellon played a much more tactical game, avoiding the big pack and trying to move the ball. Nant Conway clearly didn’t react well to the ball movement and closed Ellon down quickly, scoring two tries. However a nasty incident occurred in a ruck as Euan Bonner took the ball up the field and got tackled. In the subsequent ruck he was stamped on by a Nant Conway player! Seen by the referee and with some pitch side encouragement, the Nant Conway player was red carded. The only one at the event. With Euan recovering on the side lines, Ellon were fired up and held Nant back for the remainder of the game. This is probably a game Ellon will learn a lot from. Controlled aggression and physicality makes a huge difference. That mixed with skill and passing is a game changer.
That finished the rugby for the first day and Ellon headed back for a Hawaiian Party night.
On the second day, Ellon had a final game in the pool games against Sheffield Buccaneers - In a game that it didn’t matter for placing’s, if we won or lost, Ellon treated it as a warm up game, giving everyone game time and swapping a few positions about. Ellon matched Sheffield in the first half and went in only 1 – 0 down. Second half after lots of substitutions Ellon tried a number of new moves, but with the team changes and Sheffield’s huge squad, they went on to score 4 tries. Final score was 5 – 0.
Now in the Plate round Robin, Ellon played Rhyl on the big pitch with a slope. With Rhyl reduced to 14 players, Ellon had to match and went down to 14 also, meaning no number 8. Ellon were the better team in the first half, driving hard and the trio mentioned earlier rucking excellently. Tackles still a little light, but managing to control Rhyl. Fin Ritchie carried the ball very well and drove for the line, finishing just short. Ben Dickie picked up and superman dived over the top to score. 1 – 0 to Ellon at Half Time. The second half Ellon seemed to slow down. Fin Hagen took a nasty knock to the hand that ended his weekend’s rugby. With 4 minutes left Rhyl scored an easy try, with Ellon missing tackles and being a little lack lustre. Ellon seemed to fade away, taking over a minute to walk back to half way. Rhyl on a high and Ellon fading, led to Rhyl attacking again with a minute left on the clock scoring due to missed tackles and not running back. Again Ellon walked back and the referee finished the game. A weak 1 – 2 loss. In the post-game team talk, the team received a stern team talk to say the least!
Final game for Ellon was Denbigh again. Back on the small pitch for the final game, Ellon had a number of players out, with Fin Hagen with a sprained hand, on form hooker Daniel Ruddy had taken a bump and was being rested. This was a good game previously and after the Head Coaches previous team talk, the Ellon players came fired up. Denbigh did score after 4 minutes, in what was the game’s only try. After the try, Ellon lost full back Euan Bonner with a high tackle, leading to a reshuffle as Fraser Chalk went to full back and Arron Whitaker on the wing. The Ellon defence then really kicked in. Dylan Kemp drove back a player from over the try line, and then held up the next attempt for a 5 m scrum. The third attempt was held up again and then a forced knock on won Ellon the ball back. With no substitutes left, Ellon made the most and although tired after two days rugby, fought to prevent any more tries. Final game was a fantastic defensive effort.
Tires went to Ben Vickie, Fraser Chalk and Adam Fowlie.
Sunday evening there was a presentation within the Ellon camp. Captain Euan Bonner spoke and then Head Coach Gareth Kemp handed out some awards. Forward of the event went to Finlay Ritchie, Back of the event went to Fraser Chalk, and the Best Rugby Attitude went to Logan Vavangas, although a special mention to Dylan Kemp and Finlay Ritchie.
A very tough event for the Ellon players, but they will all take a lot from it. Some really stood up and improved rapidly, others maintained their level and a few now know what the need to do to develop. The boys will now take that into the Red Conference next season and hopefully use it as fuel to move forward.
The team, represented their club, school, town and Scotland well down in Wales. Always smartly dressed, well behaved, played well and by the rules. Many commented on how smart they looked in their shirts and ties, and the camp site commented on their great behaviour.