GOOD NEWS FOR ENGLAND – DUNCAN’S COMING TO TRAINING
Duncan Andrews from the Woodbridge Club, the ECRU Coach of the Year in 2017, has been rewarded with an invitation to attend an England Training Camp at Pennyhill Park and an opportunity to meet the players. Which will include watching an England training session, an opportunity to meet the players as well as a tour of the Training Centre.
If we know Duncan – he’ll be getting England into winning shape – like the Woodbridge Colts
Early skirmishes went in Wisbech’s favour, Woodbridge gave away too many penalties and were losing at the set piece. Forays into the home 22 were repelled by the boot of Flyhalf JP Hart and the Warriors countered with a cross-field run but the last pass failed. Wisbech worked their way methodically back up the pitch Iwan Jones and fellow back row team-mates Nathen Goodale and Jason Luffman driving at the home defence assisted by offside penalties. On the quarter mark after a period in the Warriors red zone Centre James Napier offloaded to Full back Harry Newman running a great line to score. Woodbridge responded; Full back Luke Wattam put in a darting response nearly exploiting a rare mistake from Newman, Aldis Salavejs had a romp down route one and Angus Clogg missed a penalty chance before another breakaway run from Salavejs generated fast, wide ball to Captain Tom Stokes who scored to level the first half.
Wisbech got the better of a series of scrums, forcing the Warriors back to their line where Newman took three points under the posts. Richard Cavill had a great run for Wisbech as the onslaught continued. A 25m maul eventually released flyhalf Jack Malkin who scored after a classic scissors back pass from Scrumhalf Dave Brodie. Two minutes later it was Woodbridge’s Jono Cooke that was punching a hole in the Wisbech 22 for Billy King and Sam Hallows to assist Hart to score. As tensions got tighter both sides dropped to 14 and Woodbridge’s Clogg took another penalty to draw level. Wisbech returned to the home 22, repeatedly battling down the blind side with their large pack before Newman kicked another penalty to pull ahead. The lead was short-lived as the home side attacked, replacement Scrumhalf Taff Lloyd nearly pulled off a cross field kick in the Wisbech 22 before Clogg got another penalty. Wisbech took the best of possession and came close through Napier and Connor Lucas. Hart’s clearances saved the day and even gave Clogg a chance at a further three points but the game ended even – a fair result.
Thanks to Darren ‘Reg’ Perry for report & pictures
Woodbridge Saxons travelled to Mistley with unfinished business from last season. Saxons bench ensured Mistley had a full team, as only able to field 13 players. Mistley showed their hand too early with their forwards scoring in the first few minutes, this was also converted. This was their main mistake of the game, as this score woke the sleeping beast with in the Saxons, who set about dismantlng a spirited Mistley side. At half time the score was 7-40. A stern chat from Jez saw the Saxon run in two tries straight from the restarts. Mistleys second try was well worked and well deserved for their effort through out the match. The final whistle saw the score 14-99. Backs and forwards combined well today, seeming to take it in turns to score. A big shout out to Mistley, who continued to battle throughout until the final whistle was blown.
Eighth placed Woodbridge had not beaten Newmarket, ranked eleventh, in Newmarket for four years. Blustery conditions made kicking a gamble so forwards had to fight for possession, Woodbridge’s front row, Simon Codd, Dan Bond and Luke Norman – a mix of experience and youth, prevailed in early skirmishes. After several frustrated attacks the Warriors were rewarded with Angus Clogg kicking a penalty.
Woodbridge sustained pressure Jono Cooke charging and flankers Matt Bowman and Aldis Salavejs relentless in support. Newmarket held its lineouts and put in a couple of mauls – hooker Peter Boyle rallying his pack but Hart and Cooke brought play back to the home 22 Cooke offloading to Tim Johnson for Tom Stokes to score. From the restart second row Michael Reeves put in a strong carry bowling Cooke over in the tackle. Clogg took another three points and then like a supercharged bumper car Salavejs took the kick off 60m to resume pressure, Dan Knights being held up before Stokes offloaded to Bowman to score.
The Warriors started aggressively in the second half keeping ball at breakdowns and backs moved the ball wide left and right – Cooke thundering on the wing. However the first breakthrough came from a period of repeated Newmarket attacks, scrum half Harvey Bell moving ball quickly to his forwards to carry repeatedly or chipping through for wing Simon Guenigault to chase. The ball was stolen by Simon Ward who ran a diagonal line before passing to Sam Hallows to score. Ten minutes later prop Billy King sprinted 40 metres and regathered a fumbled pass to kick on and score. Play returned to the Woodbridge 22 and a battering succession of tackles to keep fly half Joe Stafford and his eager pack from scoring. Prone to the breakaway Newmarket was vulnerable and Simon Codd nearly scored before Cooke, King and Bond combined to assist Salavejs to stampede over to score. From another scrum in Woodbridge territory the Warriors energetic replacement scrum half Taff Lloyd moved the ball wide for Luke Wattam to sprint down the wing and Bond finished off a convincing victory.
Strong showing from the sunny Colts today. Well organised and fit they withstood some energetic attacks from Bury with calm defence. The visitors made some testing moves but Woodbridge proved dangerous on the all too frequent breaks.
The ninth Woodbridge Rugby Club U7-U12 Rugby Festival was held at the Club’s grounds on Sunday 8 October with 1,250 players and supporters from across East Anglia. Now a regular fixture for local junior teams Woodbridge Rugby Club, home of the Woodbridge Warriors and Amazons senior men’s and women’s teams, made maximum use of its Bromeswell pitches as games continued from 10:30 until 3.30pm
Ideal rugby weather, cool and dry, helped those attending enjoy a full programme of matches, BBQ and fresh pizza. Generously sponsored by Woodbridge School – youth squads from as young as 6 years of age came from Chelmsford, Bury St Edmunds, North Walsham, Sudbury, Southwold, Ipswich, Colchester, Harwich & Dovercourt, Mersea, Felixstowe and Woodbridge to play under the RFU’s Age Grade Regulations.
I would like to thank our sponsors Woodbridge School and volunteers Alex Brigginshaw, Oliver Johnson, Roger Aston, Garry Sykes and all involved especially previous organisers Helen and Jon Wakeling who’s advice helped us get the Festival running so smoothly. I was approached by half a dozen Coaches from the other clubs to thank us for a fantastic Festival.
Watch out for details of next season’s event….
Steve Wilding
Festival Organiser 2017/18
Three Woodbridge Colts; Felix Kibble, Tom & Hugo who all played for the EC U18 team at Newark on Sunday 8th Oct. Well done Lads! Many thanks to Chris Sparrow for this pic
The bragging rights in Suffolk returned south to Woodbridge on Sunday as the Amazons blew away the Swallows of Southwold.
Two seasons ago the Swallows inflicted a painful defeat over the Amazons, made worse by the fact two long serving Woodbridge starlets had defected to their northern neighbours. They were promoted that year but found the going a little too tough against the London sides, and this year the local derby is back on. Nobody predicted a 40 point win for the travelling Woodbridge side this time around, but the scoreline accurately reflects the nature of their dominance, and also underlines their growing stature in Eastern Counties ladies rugby. The scoring came steadily as the visitors kept a good structure, playing patient rugby and allowing their hosts to make the mistakes.
As early as the opening kick off, the signs looked good for Woodbridge. Skipper Claire Brickleys kick was knocked on, an excellent drive in the scrum led to number eight Carmel Leak gaining ground, quick ball from the ruck saw scrum half Morvern McAlpine feed Brickley and she raced in from 15 metres. Robyn Gordon added the extras for a 7-0 lead. For the next fifteen minutes the visitors asserted themselves as sustained pressure by both forwards and backs led to constant possession inside the Swallows half. Big tackles from Leak and Julie Tyler shut down Southwold bursts on the odd occasion they acquired the ball, but it wasn’t long until Beth Clapson extended the lead by finishing off a sweeping move through numerous pairs of hands.. 12-0.
Southwold were shaken, but showed brief moments of quality, Fullback Francesca Laurie just being pushed into touch after showing a clean pair of heels to several would be tacklers. Open side flanker Robin Williams also looked the part. Several penalties for high tackling by the hosts didn’t help their cause and the intensity rose as halftime loomed. Winger Katherine Mead came close to scoring a third try, but it was Brickley who took advantage of a quickly tapped penalty to grab her second from right in front of the posts. Gordon converted for a 19 point lead and the half ended as frustrations boiled over between a couple of forwards, referee Godfrey Bancroft quickly halting proceedings and calming the situation admirably.
In the second half the visitors made good use of their replacements, while the hosts were forced into making changes when fly half Jaye Ash was helped off after lengthy treatment. This actually improved things dramatically as the long serving, and hugely talented Chantelle Gallagher moved into the role and immediately got things moving. Huge performances from the likes of Frances Saunders, Kat Sidoli and Karen Black, all doing the dirty legwork all over the park kept Southwold from scoring, and further converted scores from Leak, prop Toni Bell and the hattrick score by Brickley, completed a tremendous away performance. A great balance between forwards and backs, playing with structure throughout, bodes extremely well for the future of the Amazons, but for now the ladies can simply enjoy being Suffolks finest.
Match report thanks to Chris North 7/10/17
Alderburgh and thorpness turned up to a very cloudy looking Woodbridge, could this be a sign of the storm about to happen?
A very different looking front row, consisting of Ernie pallet, Jack Jermyn ッand Anthony Gibson with Steve h on the bench, tons of experience!
Woodbridge take the start kick and Alderburgh and thorpness bring a strong return using their big lads to smash the ball up the park. Woodbridge recover the ball, a Ben Herbert run gets Woodbridge deep into their half. The ball gets loose in a tackle and Alderburgh and thorpness come back at Woodbridge who give away a penalty. They kick up to just past half way. Woodbridge win the ball back and Ollie Bennett sprints through and scores his 4th try in three games. Jack Cranage converts. 7-0 to the good. Woodbridge go again and Reece monk goes over, jack converts 14-0. 15 mins in and a very hungover jack Scott Douglas goes over and jack converts 21-0.
Alderburgh and thorpness rally and use their forwards and smash through and score and convert. 29mins and Reece monk burns many players to go over, conversion missed 26-7. Alderburgh and thorpness fire again and go over. A beautiful restart kick and take by Ollie sees Woodbridge go over again.
Half time score 31-12
Ball knocked on at the restart sees Woodbridge destroy Alderburgh and thorpness in the scrum, penalty to Woodbridge. Alderburgh and thorpness fight back and push Woodbridge off the ball this time, pressure from Woodbridge makes Alderburgh and thorpness knock on. Josh Mr-Morphine Sugrue picks up from the back of the scrum and sprints down the right hand side, chased by James and Ben h, josh fights through three players, off loads to James who draws the player who passes to Ben h who scores, conversion missed. 36-12. Woodbridge set up camp in Alderburgh and thorpness 22 and they give away a penalty. Woodbridge win the scrum, the ball goes through the hands of John Yorke to Reece monk who takes a big hit but that ball still gets offloaded to Jez Hannon who juggles it and collects three players on the way to the floor. Alex then passes to Ben h who goes over.
Jez, Ollie and jack all come off, each one putting in a steady shift.
Beautiful work from the old boys, sees Steve h offload to Ernie who takes the contact but still offloads to john y who steps the player had passes to Richard Lloyd who chucks it to Richard Hazelton who goes over. Alderburgh and thorpness look deflated and it’s not long till the handbags come out and it stops play. Scrum to Alderburgh and thorpness and they try the outside but are met by Ben h who puts the player into touch. Times ticking down and a big hit from diddy on Damo gets a massive cheer from the crowd. Alderburgh and thorpness apply pressure but Woodbridges defence holds. Handbags again as Damo stars throwing punches in a ruck and josh has enough, both see yellow.
Quick work from Woodbridge sees jack sprint up the pitch and offloads to Ben h who gets caught. Penalty to Alderburgh and thorpness, they look like they have given up and boot it straight out and with that the final whistle.
Final score 46-12.
Within ten minutes Angus Clogg kicked a Woodbridge penalty and James Wyatt did likewise for Holt. Woodbridge worked hard in the ruck, turning over a few and pressing the home line until a penalty allowed Holt to clear up-field, Wyatt with a great carry. Another Woodbridge penalty in their 22, No 8 James Seaman secured the scrum for Holt and fast hands moved the ball wide to winger Ollie Woodrow who nearly made the line. Another scrum and more quick ball from fly half Geoff Flather saw second row Rob Gray interplay with Woodrow and score.
Moments later Holt was fighting out of its own 22 when Clogg intercepted a pass from his opposite number Gareth May to level the score. JP Hart grub-kicked for territory in the blustery breeze and Jeff Buchanan ran back the clearance but the Holt defence held firm forcing the visitors to each wing. Wyatt took a high ball and ran 50m where May found touch on the 5m line where a poor line-out let Holt Skipper Ashley Woods intercept and score.
May was at it again from the off with a charging run but a penalty gave the Warriors more traction Capt Tom Stokes putting in a gallop then Hart scampering out wide. Eventually Clogg took another three points after some energetic rucking.
From the restart No8 Jono Cooke rallied his forwards as they scrummaged under the Holt posts only for a penalty to scupper the move and see Holt counter through a lightning sprint from right wing Henry Fowler and Rob Gray put in a strong carry. With Holt down a man in the bin the Warriors attacked through Cooke, Stokes and Adam Plummer but aggressive rucking allowed Holt to clear. Woodbridge kept it up, Clogg missing a penalty, but Holt got some possession, Flower threatened on the right and some great forward play won a penalty for Wyatt to take another 3 points. With five points in it Woodbridge tried valiantly to breach the home defence but Holt held firm and, despite the pressure, the combat remained good-natured as it ended 18-13.
