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U16s win another 7s title at Ipswich

1st May 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments
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

Colts win EC Cup 31 v Colchester 0

23rd April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Woodbridge Colts 31 v Colchester 0

Sunday 23 April 2017

Woodbridge Colts defeated Colchester 31-0 to win the Eastern Counties Colts Cup at Hatchley Barn, Woodbridge on Sunday. Having lost out to the Essex heavyweights in various age group finals over the years, the Suffolk side was, on this occasion, too strong for the visitors scoring four unanswered tries.

Kicking off with a light breeze behind them, Woodbridge pressed from the outset and, with Colchester unable to clear their lines, were rewarded with a penalty converted by Jack Johnson. Minutes later Johnson successfully converted his own try, after a searing break through the middle, to extend the home team’s lead to 10-0.

Colchester then exerted some extended pressure of its own, with the hard-running Will Blakemore proving difficult to put down. A series of forward charges led to a penalty near the posts which, unfortunately for the visitors, was missed by Jack O’Sullivan.

This proved expensive when scrum-half Hugo Kelleway wriggled over shortly after and when Johnson chipped to regather under the posts minutes later. The home side had a 24-0 lead at the break.

If Woodbridge had the upper hand behind the scrum, there was more parity up front, with the back row engaged in a ding-dong battle at the break down, Sam Garrington and Jacob Seabrook to the fore for the home team and Francois Rossouw stealing ball for the visitors. Aldis Salavejs was a willing runner for the home forwards whilst fullback Henry Dewar ran back any loose kicks with interest.

The second half saw a further try by Jack Moody, arguably the best team try of the day with the ball passing through six sets of hands, and further penalty by Johnston to complete the scoring. Woodbridge closed out the game via some terrific committed defence with skipper Lewis Jacobs and Hugo Fairbanks-Weston to the fore.

Woodbridge now play Brentwood in the National Plate final at Bedford next weekend, before completing what has been a remarkable season, with the LV final the following week.

 

Match Report – EC U16 Tournament – from JULIAN HOBDAY

23rd April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Match Report – EC U16 Tournament – THANKS TO JULIAN HOBDAY (photo from Saffron Walden 12/3/17)
U16s last match report for 15-a-side rugby:

Woodbridge U16s signed off in style, with 9 tries and a clean sheet against 4 opponents at the Eastern Counties tournament. 2 tries against Lowestoft and Yarmouth in an ill-disciplined game and 2 more against hosts Newmarket, this time with a lot more composure. Excellent support running and offload options were becoming ingrained, leading to a 4 try rout of Thetford. With a great score in the unfamiliar position of wing for players’ favourite Ciaran Lewis. Leaving a final match against Colchester for a clean sweep.

On paper we were playing one of two ‘mixed’ Colchester teams, but after a lot of shirt swapping it looked very like their A team. And why not – they had worked hard with some tough fixtures, so everything for both teams to play for. In the end a single kick and collect try by protein-rich Woodbridge centre Alex Wakeling was the decider. But the game was won through the passion of 16 players who were determined that no-one should cross their line. With respect due to a quality Colchester side who unhesitatingly dropped to 14 players when injury put us a man down.

The off-season will be full of speculation as to whether Marcus deliberately fumbled the hat-trick ball? Was Sonnie’s performance enhanced or inhibited by the presence of his girlfriend? Is George the next George North? And will Travis and Elliot let Tom A cut their hair? And then we have Colts rugby to look forward to and the privilege of joining a squad who beat Colchester 31:0 in today’s Colt’s Eastern Counties final. Bring it on!

Wheeled Warriors win 5 of 9 with Destroyers

23rd April 2017 Simon Ballard — 1 Comment
Destroyers

The Dorset Destroyers and Woodbridge Wheeled Warriors at Super Series 3.

They played under the banner of The Dorset Destroyers and were in Division 3.

They won 5 of their 9 matches and ended up 2nd in Division 3.

Considering that the 2 teams had only ever trained once together for 3 hours just before Super Series 1, and then only met at each Super Series, it was hard work, but the team got stronger and more unified each Super Series.

With Phil Porter, Ashley and

— with Grace McGowan, Charlie Williams, Sonja Manning, Alex Krol, Matty Moore, Joy Elias, Sue Coombs, Martin Saych, Lindsey Jolliffe, Nikki Koster, Becky Hill,Craig Rowland and George Ransome at Rivermead Leisure Centre.

Woodbridge Colts 51 v Tring 20 in LV Cup Semi

11th April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

A great win for the Colts against Tring in the LV cup semi final, 51-20. Featuring some outstanding rugby.

Wbridge Colts 38 v Sandal 15

10th April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Woodbridge Colts (U18) progressed to the final of the National Cup – plate competition defeating Sandal 38-15 at Hatchley Barn on Sunday. Three tries from Leo Lewis, two from Lewis Jacobs and one from Ben Harrington, gave the Suffolk side a comfortable win over their West Yorkshire opponents, Jack Johnson converting four from six.

After some initial probing by both sides, it was the home team that seized the initiative. A loose kick was gathered by fullback Simon Plummer outside his own 22, and his mazy run took him to the half way line before offloading to the omnipresent Leo Lewis on his shoulder. Lewis outpaced the defence and in a double blow for the visitors, their scrum-half; Sam Tovey pulled up with a hamstring injury giving chase.

Soon after, Woodbridge skipper Lewis Jacobs crashed over from close range after the home team had opted to run a penalty, Johnson this time failing to convert.

Sandal then exerted an extended period of pressure, battering round the fringes against some resolute home defence. Harrington was yellow carded for persistent infringements in the red zone, and a score at this stage would have breathed life into the Yorkshire challenge. Instead it was the Suffolk team that broke, and after good lead-up play by Jack Moody, Leo Lewis showed strength to score his second try of the afternoon, giving the home team a 19-0 lead at the break.

Harrington made an immediate impact on his return, scoring at the start of the second half to snuff out any thoughts of an away comeback, and when Lewis Jacob added his second try of the afternoon, it was 31-0.

A converted try by Sandal finally got them on the score board but it was the home side that were calling the shots;  the Woodbridge pack were retaining ball well with Sam Garrington to the fore, and Jack Johnson was dictating play from ten; mixing his game well with some sublime breaks and intelligent kicking.

A thumping tackle from Tom Ives enabled Leo Lewis, scavenging well; to complete his hat trick before a hard line from the Sandal centre, hitting a gap at pace, completed the scoring for the afternoon.

Woodbridge will now play Brentwood in the Plate final, the Essex club defeating Ivybridge (Plymouth) in the other semi-final.

Thurston 20 v Warriors 19

10th April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Capt Tom Stokes says “Not the result we wanted today against Thurston but as always it was a pleasure to run out one last time this season with the lads wearing the blue jersey. Thank you again to Angus and Richard for travelling half way across the country to step in. Awesome commitment from good friends. After a few weeks off what we have achieved will sink in, but for now cup champions and the opportunity to play in the London league next season sound pretty good to me. Let’s now get behind our brilliant colts and watch them bring some more titles to this club.”

Paul Coulson added “On behalf of the Woodbridge Massive, can I convey my thanks to all those who turned out for the last game of the season. There have been various setbacks, not of our doing, that have held us back from advancement in EC1. Nevertheless, you can be assured of our continued support at home & away next season. We are the best social club in this area and certainly the club that a lot aspire to be. As supporters,we rely on you to show your continued commitment to the game of rugby and to your club. You can be assured of our continued support. Enjoy the break! As ever, thanks to Drew & team for all your hard work.”

Final word to Drew “All in all, a bloody great effort for making a team that competed to the very end”

Warriors 16 v Crusaders 20

10th April 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Massive end of season derby against Crusaders. Great action pictures from Woody at Rainywood Photography

Warriors 31 v Wymondham 50

26th March 2017 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Massive thanks to the lads that stepped up today against Wymondham!!! Down 5-33 at half time our Warriors proved that they are by pushing Wymondham around and winning the second half. But, the final score of 31-50 was really a solid one with lads that had not played or trained together. We still have fight left and fifth in the league! Thanks again and cheers to our amazing travelling support.