Richmond A Festival

We arrived at Richmond in a shower of rain with a tough task ahead of us.
Fortunately the gazebo, lent to us by our minis festival sponsor Hayter / Toro was quick and easy to erect and we gathered underneath to prepare for the day ahead.
The level of competition was high and we had to switch to play 7 a-side instead of the 4 a-side we have played all season. Despite the odds the boys were up for the challenge and determined to show everyone what they could do.

Our first game against Beaconsfield went well and we won comfortably 5-2 due to some strong tagging, good support play and a quick defensive line. This set the stage for the day and warmed us up nicely to face Richmond A's in our next game. Both sides were well matched so it was only fair that the game ended in a 4-4 draw. Next came Amersham & Chiltern and having dominated the first half (4-1) they came back at us hard and we were unlucky that at the final whistle they lead 6-5. We knew we needed to win our last game to stand a hope of qualifying for the plate final and another strong performance against Kings saw us win 8-6.

With our try difference of +4 everything rested on the result of the last pool game between Richmond and Amersham & Chiltern. If either side lost we would have gone through as the best runner up in the pool and the plate final having the same number of points as them but a superior number of tries. But, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, the result was a draw so both of them went through. So close!

Well done to all the boys, they can be very proud of themselves. They all played their part and played some very good rugby which is very encouraging as we look to next season and the move up to 6 a-side.

Thanks also to all the parents and coaches for your support on a wet and muddy day.

Matt