Firstly well done to all of the boys who were able to play yesterday from the Wolves; I think everyone got to play lots of rugby.

We faced 2 balanced Stowmarket teams and they were both very physical with some good strong runners and a few set moves.

The games for the Wolves were certainly contrasting and we will cover the areas to work on at the end.

Tackle of the day goes to Seb for his tackle(s) demonstrating good technique getting low, cheek to cheek and driving through the player.

U11 Wolves Match report vs Stowmarket

In the first game on a smaller makeshift pitch we had no kicking so this was a good physical battle from the start. There was some great tackling from Finn, Seb, Archie, Connor and Adam to show the Stowmarket side the intent but they responded with the same level of commitment and physicality. There were 2 quick tries from Seb who exploited a dog leg in their defence before Stowmarket started to edge back into the game. Some great rucking from Bernard and Fred saw Stowmarket repelled a number of times before a loose tackle allowed them to slip through for their opening try. Stowmarket had a bit of the momentum and some strong mauling from Cameron and Adam kept the attacks at bay. However the physicality of their rucking and mauling resulting in players being sucked into the contact area and a quick ball to their winger saw them equalise in the corner. The Wolves started to wake up a little more with great direct runs from Archie and Bernard, great support and rucking from Charlie, Jack and Fred, saw the Wolves edge towards the try line. With Stowmarket conceding a penalty it allowed Archie to crash over for the 3rd try. With the last play of the game Stowmarket struck back to equalise going into the break, after the Wolves were trying to grab tackle allowing the player to drive through the contact. (HT 15:15). The second half was a much better performance from the Wolves. The tackling was lower, they closed the space down on Stowmarket and rucked and mauled in the cells. The Wolves scored 3 more unanswered tries through great running from Finn, Adam, Will S and Seb who cut open the Stowmarket defence, with some nice switches, loops and direct running.

Result Wolves 30 : Stowmarket B 15
Scorers Adam Harwood-Hughes 1, Archie Murrell 1 & Seb Brindley 4

In the second game we moved onto a larger pitch with kicking. This was another well drilled team with players having distinct positions of SH, FH and FB. They held their positions well and were a good physical team with some set/pre-planned moves. Stowmarket opened the scoring from the kick off with a fumbled pass on our try line allowing their winger to pick up for an easy score. Stowmarket had the momentum and were strong in the ruck and maul. Their second score came from a good maul driving about 10 mtrs towards our try line before the ball was smuggled out to crash over for the 2nd try. The Wolves started to wake up and some good tackling from William P and Freddie allowing the forwards of Fred, Bernard, Jack and Cameron to secure the ball, and the first Wolves score came for quick recycled ball from Connor to give a crash ball about 10 mtrs out saw Archie driving through a number of the Stowmarket defenders. This seemed to galvanise the Wolves who now had their tails up. A strong run for Seb saw us equalise, but some sloppy passing from the resulting restart gave the advantage back to Stowmarket just before the break. (HT 10:15). The second half was another physical contest, and with some of our more experienced payers off with injuries, our shaped seemed to go. Stowmarket capitalised on this and scored 4 tries before a great barn storming run from Adam gave the Wolves a single score in the half.

Result Wolves 15 : Stowmarket A 35
Scorers Adam Harwood-Hughes 1, Archie Murrell 1 & Seb Brindley 1

areas to work on for our next matches are:
- We want to see the cells continuing to work, this means that you have to be on each other shoulder in the contact area and clearly communicating.
- More distribution of the ball, but this means you have to stay in your channel
- Getting lower in the ruck and work in the cells to move players or support the ball carrier.
- Ball presentation - when tackled you have to get the ball onto the correct side - head to home - we lost a number of rucks not because they were better at rucking, but the fact the ball was on the wrong side.
- Defence needs to be in the opposition faces quickly and a number of times you let them run at you - we want to see aggressive defence