Kings U11s riding on the crest of a wave

On Thursday 26^th April, a Kingsbridge U11s touring squad of 16 excited players and accompanying coaches and parents boarded Brittany Ferries luxury flagship, Pont-Aven, for their end of season tour to Quimper. Despite the lumpy sea, the crossing was comfortable and the boys woke to a sunny Friday morning in France. After a short stop at the beautiful medieval town of Locronan, the party arrived in Quimper in time for lunch and a warm-up game of touch rugby in the cathedral square.

Saturday morning saw a change in the weather as the squad headed off to Quimper Rugby Club for their afternoon kick-off. Following lunch in the clubhouse, the boys took to the soggy pitch in their sponsored tour shirts. Playing slightly different French rules, with only nine-a-side, uncontested scrums and hand-offs allowed, the game took a few minutes to settle down as the teams got the measure of each other. As the rain lifted, however, it became clear that Kings were the stronger side, showing the team form that had made them Devon Champions two weeks earlier. With rolling substitutions throughout the game, great work in heavy conditions from Josh, Bryn, Alex, Oli and Sam Dod provided an excellent platform for Sam Rhymes and Max to run the ball at the hosts and before long the scoreboard was ticking over for Kings. By halftime the visitors were 25 points ahead, and their superior fitness and skills took them through the second period in style to win the game 10-60. Try scorers were: Luke x3, Marcus x2, Ryan, Ed, Henry, Jimmy, Will, Ben and Toby.

After enjoying the Quimper club’s fine hospitality after the game, the party enjoyed celebratory post-match crepes at the world-famous Creperie du Frugy and a quiet night in the hotel before heading home on Sunday morning.

The boys did really well to raise a considerable contribution to their own tour costs, and in addition, the squad, coaches and parents would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to corporate sponsors Brittany Ferries (www.brittany-ferries.co.uk), DSA Taxation (www.dsataxation.com), Harris Cartier Solicitors (www.hclaw.co.uk) and the South Sands Hotel (www.southsands.com). Big thanks also go to all the coaches for their hard work throughout the season, and especially to Gareth for organizing the tour.

Squad: Max Bewley, Marcus Rayworth, Sam Rhymes, Ryan Gotch, Alex Moysey, Oli Tucker, Luke Simpson, Ben Wotton, Ed Carson, Will Hitchen, Toby Churcher, Josh Ball, Sam Dod, Henry Philips, Jimmy Banfield, Bryn Pratt.

Sidmouth 24 – 12 Kingsbridge

King’s Under 14s rounded off their most successful season to date by making the Plate Final for the second year running. Kings had demolished Plymouth Argaum 63-14, and then come out on top against tough opposition from Exeter Saracens 27-7 and Tavistock 17-10 in the run up to Sunday’s match at Sandy Park, home of Exeter Chiefs.

Kings started well, making the most of Sidmouth’s nervous handling with an early penalty shot at goal that narrowly missed giving them the lead. Sidmouth’s physically larger back line linked well to pressure both the centre and out wide but impressive defence and crunching tackles from Perez-Garcia, J Foale and Wotton kept the ball out. The pack was immense throughout the game only losing two scrums, under Banfield’s stewardship.

Intelligent kicking by G. Jones and Beattie forced Sidmouth to defend their line and resulted in a well organised forward’s assault that saw Oram storm through. Jones converted. Sidmouth responded by capitalising on a King’s mistake at the halfway mark to break down the wing and find enough inches by the corner flag to touch down. Ten minutes later in the last phase of play Sidmouth pulled back the lead with a late try in the corner to make it 10-7, despite the strong tackles from Sutton on his wing.

The second half started well with Kings constantly attacking and playing in the Sidmouth 22 for the first ten minutes – a try narrowly denied on two occasions. Sidmouth then ran in two tries in quick succession, the first through a clearance kick from their line being accidentally knocked backwards, the second from an extremely well-timed interception. Kings regrouped, and with the fresh legs and physicality of Mearns attacked relentlessly for the remaining 10 minutes. Mearns linked well with Baker and Wotton to cause havoc for the Sidmouth defence but Kings could not find a way through.

Kings battled hard, held their nerve and defended confidently. Eventually the ball found Rayworth who ran the entire length of the pitch to score from his own five metre line. The remaining minutes saw Kings continue to attack a tiring Sidmouth side, but the clock ran out and the ball found touch.

Many thanks from the boys to their families, friends and members of the club who turned out to support them on the day.

Kingsbridge Colts triumph in the Devon Shield Final.

This was the last game of the season for the Kingsbridge Colts and a return visit to play Teignmouth in the Devon Colts Shield Final.

The visitors won the toss and chose to kick into the wind, immediately putting pressure on the Teignmouth catcher, but the home team’s intention was to move the ball wide using their strike runner and play maker Sam Simmons as the point of attack. Within minutes the home team had scored a converted try, 7-0. Once again off the kick off Kingsbridge were put under more pressure and were reduced to 14 men when Andrew Merrin was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on. The visitors were now having to work hard at their defence to stop the Teignmouth attempts to score and were awarded a penalty for a ruck infringement which gave the visitors a chance to clear their lines. Kingsbridge now had the opportunity to start building a platform which the forwards did, this giving both the backs and forwards the attacking platform to move up field into the Teignmouth half, with Kellan Gorman making some of his trade mark sniping runs around the rucks. It was from one of breaks that the home team gave away a penalty in front of the posts which George Banfield converted, 7-3.

The visitor’s forwards were starting to dominate the tight with Marcus Tooke, Tom Beattie and Will Hurst in the front row not giving the Teignmouth front row any room to get comfortable. In the loose play the pack were rucking tight and giving good ball for Matt Hodgson to use with Gareth Townsend at inside centre. Kingsbridge were able to feel confident in moving the ball through the hands, but there was always the threat of a strong counter attack from Teignmouth to contend with when they jumped on any error. With the lineout working well and Kingsbridge using this to their advantage, they moved the play back into the Teignmouth half driving the ball up field through the forwards with Marcus Tooke making some of his rampaging runs,. Eventually, the driving play made space for Gareth Townsend to go over and score following quick ball from a ruck, which George Banfield converted, 7-10. Kingsbridge were now dominating the play and started to put attacks wide and tight, with the forwards giving the platform for the backs to use the ball but Teignmouth’s defence held up. The visitors were eventually rewarded with a converted try from Kellan Gorman twisting his way over the line, 7-17. With half time approaching Kingsbridge had the opportunity to put the game completely out of Teignmouth’s reach, moving the ball wide with George Banfield joining the line but over running the ball to only knock on. In the scrum that followed Kingsbridge put the home team under extreme pressure, with Teignmouth trying to move the ball out of defence to clear their lines with no success due to the visitor’s strong attacking line and the half ended with Kingsbridge on top.

The second half started with the visitors using the wind to their advantage, camping on the Teignmouth 22 meter line. Once again Andrew Wheeler, Ashok Lynn-Bertoli, Loius Kirkup, Jack Phillips and Andrew Merrin were causing all kinds of problems for the home team in the rucks and chasing down the home team not giving them any room to play. Following a ruck on the left side of the field, Kingsbridge moved the ball right with Rhys Lamble going over for a converted try, 7-24. Kingsbridge were now able to use their substutes to affect with DJ Foale on for Jack Evans chasing down the Teignmouth full back and winger putting them under tremendous pressure to clear the ball.. Kingsbridge were now well on top of the play and it was Andrew Merrin who was next to score following good ball won from the forwards and driving through the Teignmouth defence with George Banfield converting. 7-31. The game was now out of the home teams reach and the introduction of James Barlow and Harry Pilling in the front row for Marcus Tooke and Will Hurst who both had their best games of the season, did not give the home team a rest in the set piece. Kingsbridge were now winning ball at will and were awarded a penalty for a Teignmouth infringement that earnt a yellow card and was converted by George Banfield, 7-34.

The game was now coming into the closing minutes and Teignmouth were not going to let Kingsbridge off without out testing the visitors defence to the full and were eventually awarded a penalty in front of the posts 10-34. Teignmouth then put together another wave of attacks but the Kingsbridge defence was not going to let them in easily but the home team were have the last score of the game, 17-34.

This was a fantastic performance by the Kingsbridge Colts lead by their captain Jack Phillips. The forwards were outstanding giving the home team no chance in the contest for the ball in all aspects of the game, not losing a lineout, winning the rucks and mauling the Teignmouth pack off the park. The front row of Hurst, Pilling, Tooke, Barlow and Beattie gave the home team no room to work in and the back five of Merrin, Phillips, Bishop, Wheeler, Kirkup and Ashok Lynn-Bertoli chasing down the home team, for this performance they were awarded the ‘Man of The Match’ by Mr England Supporter.

George Banfield’s kicking was out of the top drawer with all his conversions and penalties, improving as the season progressed. The half back pairing of Kellan Gorman and Matt Hodgson gave the rest of the team an excellent platform to play from, giving the centre partnerships of Gareth Townsend, Alex Allen and Rhys Lamble some fantastic lines to run into the heart of the Teignmouth defence and the wingers of Jack Evans, Callum Churchill, DJ Foale and Jake Rankin tackling and running hard, with George Banfield at full back making some try saving tackles and well timed runs into the line.

This was the first time that any Colts team from Kingsbridge has won a trophy and thanks goes to all those club members who have helped throughout the season in training, the 2^nd team players who have joined in the training with the colts which has been invaluable to their progress, the coaching team of Tim Beattie and Ian Johnston.

This win is testament to the player’s work ethic and mental attitude throughout the season.

Kingsbridge 34 – 12 Crediton

Just as the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, this superb victory was won in the back gardens and playing fields of Kingsbridge.

The Heavy Brigade of Myles Fowler, Greg Luckhurst, Toby Woods, Stu Harris, Liam Edgecombe, Pete Sumner, Ryan Harris, Dan Jarvis and Luke Musgrave punched holes in the Crediton lines with Musgrave opening the scoring with a rampaging run and Sumner bulldozing his way to a brace of tries.

Freddie Buckle, Ben King and Jack Fergusson, the Hussars of the back row, had their swords blunted by some refereeing decisions but they held the team’s colours aloft with honour as they battled gamely all afternoon.

Tom Putt and Seb Ansley were deadly snipers with the boot, scoring a drop goal and 3 conversions. Fynn McCoy, Angus Johnstone, Matty Allen and Joe Banfield were heroic in defence and rapier like in attack, Banfield deserving his Man of the Match accolade with a great try. Wingers Jamie Ogglesby, Charlie Rawlinson, George Rivas and Michael Carson were a constant threat from the flanks with Rivas finishing off the scoring to the rapture of the travelling support.

Kingsbridge RFC Under 12′s 42 points v Worcester RFC Under 12′s – 31 points

 King’s Under 12’s ended a fantastic season last Sunday playing a top touring side from Worcester RFC. In monsoon conditions Kings resisted early pressure from a large, well drilled team clearing from their line and working up the field before Sam Jones scampered over from the base of a ruck to make the opening score. Momentum remained with the home side and despite the slippery conditions Kings managed to string together some good moves facilitating their try machine Devon Jewsbury to score a brace of scores to open up a good first half lead. Worcester came storming back in the second half but tough tackling from Theo Harris, Sam Thomas and Archie Smither, combined with incisive running from George Holland and another Billy Whizz performance from Louis Chapman helped resist the pressure. Yet again the Pack produced a phenomenal performance and were rewarded with a classic Sid Niblett try before James Tait and Devon rounded off a fitting season finale. The entire Kings squad have played well this season and celebrated on Presidents Day with individual awards for Best Player going to Devon Jewsbury, Best Tackler to Louis Chapman, Most Improved Player to Ben Woods and Player’s Player to Sam Jones.

King’s battle to end in stormy encounter with Services at the Creek.

A hardy band of just 16 players and a harder band of supporters made the waterlogged journey down the A379 on Sunday. They played an entertaining game. Within the first five minutes of play Isaac Rayworth took the ball and pressured the Devonport defence repeatedly with support from Dryburgh and Shortman. George Jones capitalised off one of the successive rucks intelligently breaking blind to storm his way through to the line, the angle of the kick and the ensuing wind denying Jones his conversion. After numerous phases of play, Devonport finally found themselves 5 metres out and replied with their own try under the posts, despite the fierce efforts of Warner, Lee and Burgess. Having fought over who would prop! Bradley Mercy James Warner and James Lee put on a strong display, continually getting the early nudge and causing no end of problems for Services. Persistent tackling from Mercy, Banfield and Matthews put Devonport under pressure allowing Kings to secure repeated ball at the ruck for Marvin Jones to pick up the ball and make a driving run through the middle of Services’ forwards to take the ball over the line for a second try. The new backs partnership of Ollie Sutton at 10 with Isaac Rayworth, Harvey Dryburgh and Keanu Mearns at times worked well to push the Devonport attack out wide. Just before the whistle, in almost a re-run of their first try Services again scored through indecision in defence following a penalty, bringing the score to 12 all at half time.

The second half continued in the same vein despite changes to the Devonport line up, Kings continuous aggression in attack and defence saw them dominate possession throughout and pressure Devonport. Ben Stumbles once again kept busy at 15 as successive balls were kicked away by Services. Fred Matthews had an excellent game as flanker, his lightening, severing and side stepping run down the wing through numerous Services players from his own 22 nearly being rewarded with a try. Pearsall, Matthews and Jones continued to secure ball in repeated rucks and mauls and their physicality at the breakdown was impressive. Pearsall, Matthews and Banfield also linked well to put in some fine attacking runs and caused many problems for the Devonport defence. Kings managed three points through an intelligent decision by Jones to convert a penalty and took the lead 15-12. As the game entered the last 5 minutes with the loss of their only sub through injury and playing with 14 men at points, Services powerful back line eventually broke and scored. The backs mounted successive phased attacks without a score despite Sutton, Rayworth and Mearns, spending much of their time within the Services 22.

This was a fine performance by the boys who turned out to play for their team and club despite the weather, showing both the depth and talent this team possesses. An encouraging performance ahead of next week’s final in the Devon Plate against Sidmouth at Exeter Chiefs. Man of the match Nick Triggol was fearless throughout, his successive attacking and skilful runs and his fine defence of his wing demonstrating why he was named Players Player of the Season.

Kingsbridge opted to start downhill on a sloping pitch and made the first half advantage work well, with strong attacking rugby opening up a half time lead  of 3 – 7.  Spectacular tries were scored Ben Walwyn (4) and Joshua Perrett (3), both picking up loose balls close to their own try line to run the length of the pitch to score.

The second half saw OPM close the gap persistently to within 2 points with some excellent passing. However, Kingsbridge showed true grit in a very long second half with some great defending from Louis Tollins, Henry Whittaker and Jayden Bacon. Henry Howells showed great pace, but was denied a try right at the line.  Joe Burner (3) and Rhys Stephens (3) both put in strong displays, while tries were also scored by Max Fergusson (1), Gus  Howells (1) and Harrison Scott (1).

Kings took two teams, the Blues and the Whites, to a very cold, wet and windy Devon 7s festival at Plymstock, with both reaching the Plate group and finishing 2^nd and 4^th respectively.

Blues and Whites had tough initial draws in their pools. The Whites lost their opening match to a strong Ivybridge side 38-7 – but their valiant performance was rewarded with an excellent Abington Abbott try. In their second game they won 46-0 against Devonport Sporting Blues with fine running rugby after storming tries in the first half for Matthews and Marvin Jones. Fine flowing rugby in the second half gave rise to tries from Stumbles, Sutton, Dryburgh and Mearns. In the plate group, they met a very strong Tavistock team, losing 36-5, and then beat Plymouth Argaum 12-0 in the second game, with Lee, Pearsall and Warner ensuring the ball kept moving. Fine kicking from Dryburgh at the restart gave King’s the advantage and allowed White’s man-of-the-tournament, Sutton to pressurise from the off.

The Blues team had a very tough group and gave an excellent display in their opening game to beat Brixham 59-0, before losing to Sidmouth 28-14 after West, Rayworth and Perez-Garcia capitalized on intelligent play by Oram and Banfield to respond well in the second half. In their plate group they beat Plymstock 27-0 and then Exeter Saracens 10-5 in brutally physical encounters that took their toll in tiredness and injuries. In the final a cold and exhausted team put on a valiant performance but lost to Tavistock 29-14, despite turning things around in the second half. Man-of-the-tournament was Tom Wotton for his undying commitment and tackle–breaking ability.

This was a grueling competition in appalling weather and represents a fine achievement for the entire squad. Many thanks to our hardy band of supporting parents whose help, encouragement and support was much appreciated by the coaches and the boys throughout the day.

Devon Festival Match Report

Kingsbridge under 9s braved the wind and the rain and put in a sterling performance at the Devon Festival in Exeter.

The thirteen-strong squad nervously negotiated their way through the group stages, a one try victory over Tavistock and two tries to one over Okehampton, securing them a place in the challenge for the cup.

So to the quarter finals where they met the mighty Exeter Chiefs who had put out local rivals Ivybridge in the group stages, a big match awaited the Kings. But the team stepped up a gear and put in a brave performance in their best game of the tournament, winning two tries to one.

Semi- final, and the nerves of the parents were starting to fray as their little warriors were head to head with Sidmouth.  There followed what seemed like the longest match in the world which ended in a draw and the dreaded coin toss to see which side would go through… Sidmouth were unlucky to lose the call putting Kingsbridge through to meet the hosts, Exeter Saracens.

Our under 9s had never conquered Sarries and although they battled right to the finish, they were beaten by one break away try. Congratulations to the team, the second best in Devon, who were outstanding and must be commended for their effort and immaculate discipline throughout.

The team players were: Oliver Pearson, Troy Kibbler, James Hitchen, Flynn Bewley, Kyle Dickens, Olivia Churcher, Henry Blake, Inigo Jensen, Alex Sheridan, Bertie Wotton, Fin Usher, Wilf McCarthy and Sol Thomas.

OPMs U8s  5       Kingsbridge U8s    13

OPMs U8s  8       Kingsbridge U8s    15

The last regular match of the season, and the Under 8s were taking no prisoners. Right from the first whistle the home side struggled to find a response to the Kings’ relentless pace.

It wasn’t long before the boys had established a clear lead which never looked to be under threat.

With little effective opposition, Kingsbridge were able to play their own game. Making use of the full width of the pitch, they demonstrated real confidence in passing on the run, repeatedly out-flanking the opposing line.

In defence they stood their ground, more often than not pushing OPMs back towards their own try-line and forcing them into errors. In the end the Kings achieved two emphatic victories.

It was hard to single out individuals for praise when the team worked so well across both encounters. A great way to end a fine season.

Squad: Ben Banner(4), Jonas Brewer(1), Todd Chapman(2), Domi Fink(4), Ben Fox(2), Max Goodwin(4), Jacob King, Pip Ross(5), Jon Scott, Al Tickner(c)(3), Oliver Zaffiro(3), Zak Zaffiro