Our final friendly of the season saw us head down to Tabard RFC to play what was billed to be a tough encounter, especially as they had two Under 14’s playing for them since they do not have any Youth squads at U14, U15 or U16. It was a beautiful morning, but the ground was extremely hard, but after inspection the referee let them play, and we agreed to play 4 x 12 minute quarters to get the boys used to the shorter games we can expect at next week’s tour to Clacton.

The start of the match saw our handling skills let us down a little, as we spilled the ball on several occasions after showing good promise in terms of putting together some good phases of play. We soon got it together though, and with the help of some good strong scrummaging from the pack, and once again some mean hooking from Benjy winning us some great turnover ball, Thomas Paine was able to spread the ball wide quickly and we started to keep it in hand well. Connor Bridge took the first of his 2 tries of the first half with the help of some deft passing from Spencer, Callum and Josh Staddon, together getting the ball to him quickly so he could exploit those trademark “Lightning” quick feet up the left wing. Josh Staddon was on fire again today, making some great ground with his jinking runs, and offloading the ball beautifully in one instance to Will Goff for him to finish off a well-worked try, and again later via a pass around the back of the defender to Danny for him to finish off a great team move. At the end of the first 2 quarters, we were 4 tries to 1 up, and in confident mood.

The second two quarters were a spectacle to behold. Playing against U14 players or not, the lads showed their class and put together some great passages of play. More storming runs from Connor Bridge earned him another brace, and a lovely move from Josh Staddon saw him gain acres of ground before offloading a perfectly weighted pass to Sam who was charging down his inside shoulder – an outrageous dummy followed by a perfect hand off saw him cross the whitewash for the first of his two tries in the half. Will Goff later offloaded to Josh Staddon after a great run down the right wing for Josh to get a massively deserved try for the work he put in today too. Danny also got to open his legs up down the right wing to bag himself a try, and Callum got on the scoresheet too with some really powerful running and strong physicality. A nice move down the left wing saw the two Connors, Spencer and Callum work nicely together too, leading to a try in the corner for Connor Attoe. By the final whistle we took the win 10-60.

While it’s easy to mention the try scorers, each and every one of the 17 players today gave it 100%, and did Datchworth proud. From the early insecurities of fearing a physical side, they showed that when they play as a team and for each other, and do the basic things right, they play some beautiful, classy rugby. Even the referee commented on the quality of their play. No man of the match today, as it would be easier to hand out 17 bars of chocolate as everyone played brilliantly, but the quote of the day came from Josh Staddon to Connor Bridge, who asked him to slow down when he goes off on his runs, because none of his team mates could keep up with him to offer their support! That's a great problem for us to have!!!