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Youth Registration – 10 til noon on 3 Sept

Registration

Youth registration for all those looking to register anew or renew their Club membership starts between 10:00 and noon on Sunday 3 September at the Club – Hatchley Barn, Orford Road, Bromeswell, Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 2PP.

  • Free high-quality Warriors rugby top every other year
  • Free team teas, RFU insurance and no match fees
  • Training by RFU qualified, CRB checked, coaches
  • Three excellent pitches, a clubhouse and physio facilities
  • Lots of rugby; festivals, fixtures, 7-a-side tournaments etc
  • Reasonable annual membership fee of only £132 or £11/month!

Last year’s rate if year paid by 15 Sept – £120!

Volunteers needed for The King’s River

Kings River

The King’s River (our own Chairman’s Lady Sam Simpson) is seeking a Rigging Team of three strong people to set up the seating, lighting and sound at Whisstocks on the 5th, 6th and 7th July, from 09.30 to 6pm and to take it down (derig) on 15th July, from about 3.45 till 8.30 pm.

The King River also needs a Striking & Resetting team to reset the stage and clear away each night at Whisstocks, before and after both rehearsals and performances from 8th through to 14th July, except 10th which is the day off.  Ideally these people can help from 4 pm daily through to about 8.15pm on those dates.  Materials to be moved will include percussion, music stands and the piano, all of which are on loan, control, speakers, and generally making the site as secure as possible overnight. It would be good as far as possible if these can be the same people each night.

U15s win Ipswich 7s plate & awards

U15s

Many congratulations to the Woodbridge U15s who closed their season out as winners of the Ipswich rugby 7’s plate on Saturday.  After the final, the player of the season awards were announced as follows:

Players Player of the Season

1st           Gabriel Newland

2nd          Daniel Driver

3rd           Alex Evans-Lombe

Players Clubman of the Season

1st           Daniel Driver

2nd          Austin James

3rd           Gabriel Newland

Managers Player of the Season

1st           Isaac Feavearyear

2nd          Max Irwin

3rd           Alex Evans-Lombe

Managers Most Improved Player of the Season

1st           Ollie Frost

2nd          Jon Llewellyn

3rd           Max Herrtage

A big thanks to ALL the players – you’ve been a pleasure to coach all season (well, most of the season!?!), and we look forward to seeing you all again in September.  We have a great squad with a team spirit second to none; the envy of many of our rivals.

A big thanks to those that offer their support helping organise, and a special thanks to the physio’s and 1st aiders, and finally to the parents for all your taxi driving efforts in what has hopefully been a very enjoyable and entertaining season.

All the best

Steve, James, and Jon.

Colts 17 v Brentwood 39

Woodbridge Colts lost to Brentwood in the final of the National Plate on Sunday, Essex ‘s top team finishing with a flourish in scoring 29 unanswered points during the final third. Until that stage, it had been an evenly contested encounter with the lead switching regularly – and with nothing to separate the teams at halftime.

Brentwood drew first blood, returning the kick-off with a  long clearance kick and then pinching the line-out to force a 5m scrum. A simple handling move put the Brentwood full back Sam Capparet in after three minutes for a 7-0 lead.

Woodbridge responded in great fashion, with the forwards getting the bit between their teeth. The scrum was dominant with skipper Lewis Jacobs taking two tightheads, and scrum half Hugo Kelleway brought his runners into the game; Marshall Sykes, Aldis Salavejs and Jacob Seabrook making inroads. After multiple phases, Jack Johnson got the ball wide. It looked as if the chance had gone begging, but with ball having gone backwards, Calum Andrews was able to retrieve, and feed his winger Simon Plummer who applied a smart finish.

Johnson converted to take the score to 7-7 and Woodbridge looked to be in the mood. Passing up a shot at goal, Woodbridge kicked to the corner but on this occasion Brentwood were able to clear their lines and so at the second time of asking, Johnson took the three points for a 10-7 lead.

Backed by a vocal support Brentwood responded and pressed the Woodbridge line. In quick succession Woodbridge lost fullback Henry Dewar who pulled up with a cartilage injury when returning a kick, and the talismanic Johnson, who was carded for a ruck infringement, in what seemed a genuine case of mistaken identity. Brentwood kicked the three points on offer to tie the scores at 10-10.

Woodbridge started the second half well, Johnson narrowly missing a penalty on his return from the bin. The Suffolk team then took a deserved lead when Hugo Kelleway ran the blind side, and good offloading from Johnson and Jacobs , allowed Ryan Ramplin, unmarked on the inside, to dot down. Leading 17-10 and having dominated for long periods, it was hard to  foresee what would happen next.

After surviving a further bout of Woodbridge pressure as the Suffolk team looked to close the game, Brentwood ran from deep. A penalty allowed them to turn the screw, kicking into the Woodbridge 22. Moving the ball from left to right, they made space in the middle for Toby Tierney to finish well from midfield. 17-17

From the restart Brentwood moved the ball wide again and winger Liam Batty juggled with the ball, shrugged of some weak defence, and turned on the after burners before offloading to Harry Swales to score when the cover came across.  Minutes later the same player, using his big fend, swatted of three players in scoring a remarkable solo try to extend the lead to 27-17.

Woodbridge were rattled and, chasing the game, errors began to creep in. Brentwood took full advantage of this and when they put Batty one-on-on versus his opposite number, were given the benefit of the doubt from the touch judge, for a further five pointer. An interception on the last play – as Woodbridge looked to end on a high – completed the scoring, and a miserable last 20 minutes for the Suffolk squad.

Brentwood ran out worthy winners, comfortably avenging their 19-7 defeat in the opening round of the National Cup. For the Suffolk squad, having won the Eastern Counties cup last weekend, they now have to regroup from only their second competitive loss of the season, before facing Hertford in the LV final later this month. It has been a remarkable season for the Colts, though having been unpicked out wide on Monday, they will doubtless welcome the return of several player to full match fitness.

U16s win another 7s title at Ipswich

U16s

Woodbridge U16s finished another great season with another 7s’ title at Ipswich. The tournament organisers did a great job of reorganising around the late disappearance of two Colchester teams. Which left us with the curious challenge of playing 4 teams, only 2 of whom were in our pool (Southwold and Holt 1s). After a comfortable win against Southwold and a shock defeat against Holt 2s (who turned out to be there A team), the crucial game was against Holt 1s (who if you have followed the thread, turned out to be their Bs). We finally played good 7s rugby to win well. Bury beat Holt 1s convincingly, meaning that we could afford to lose to Bury and still top our pool, which we duly did. Not the most glorious of paths to the final, but we weren’t going to quibble. Although with our parents busy enjoying the sunshine, many of them had no idea which final we were playing in!

Holt 2s had beaten Bury to top their pool, so this time we knew what to expect. Going 14:0 down after a few minutes wasn’t part of the plan. But we had fire in our bellies, with James O and Tom J determined to take the battle to them up front and Alex and Elliot determined to tackle anything that moved in the backs. Pressure and competitive spirit won us possession, direct running and handling found the space – and four Woodbridge tries secured a 22:14 victory. Season ending tournament wins in the Ipswich 7s and Suffolk 15s to add to our Eastern Counties Runners-Up title and last season’s Suffolk Cup title. All go to show how far a squad that never won a minis tournament can come – when it is full of players who want to play for their mates.

Thanks to Julian Hobday for the Report