The Prep III rugby team were highly excited as they set off towards The Armitage Playing Fields which were hosting twenty-two teams for the tournament. A delicious lunch was enjoyed first supplied by our wonderful chef Tim before everyone was ready for their warm up. Mr. Rooney reiterated his game plan and the Bridgewater warriors were ready for battle!
Bridgewater played The Grange school on pitch number eleven, which was the smallest of the eleven pitches on offer. This lack of space hindered the flying wingers in the Bridgewater team but it allowed our captain Killian to make some excellent yardage as he carried the ball impressively. Killian scored two tries in a valiant MOTM performance that finished in a high scoring draw.
Our second game was against St. Mary’s where Aizah and Valentina excelled with their incisive and intelligent runs and clever off-loading. Once again many tries were scored but the biggest cheer of the day was when Aizah’s weaving run led to a winning try.
The Birkenhead game was a battle of the speed merchants as Tyler and Zane scored several tries between them to counter the flair and experience of the opposition. Birkenhead finally won the tie by the odd try despite some excellent tagging by Antonio during the game.
Merchant Taylors are a famous rugby school who pride themselves on playing tough winning rugby. This game was when Jacob ran many lengths of the field tagging and scoring tries as the Merchants onslaught continued. Jett also made some excellent tags and scored a good try to earn a very creditable 5-5 draw.
Kirkham Grammar are another famous rugby school who had some impressive players who passed the ball impressively and scored some excellent tries. KGS would have scored many more if it was not for Zane’s athleticism and bravery. He hurled himself at the opposition grabbing miraculous tags and scoring excellent tries. Zane is an impressive player but he does need to remember that rugby is very much a team game and that if he tries to do everything himself good players and teams will take advantage of this determination!
Our final game against Cheadle was an opportunity for Nikolas to display some impressive tagging as we achieved yet another high scoring draw when Tyler scored one of his many ‘tightrope tries’ where he ran almost on tip toes to score in the corner evading the opposition and the touch line.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their experience of six matches of non-stop action. Well done to all!
Squad for the Annual AJIS Under 8 Tag Rugby Tournament hosted by Manchester Grammar School at the Manchester University Playing Fields: Killian, Aizah, Valentina, Jacob, Nikolas, Zane, Tyler, Jett and Antonio.