Dundee report 30 Aug 2009

The first match of the season was a new fixture for us – at Dundee Eagles.  They also hosted our old friends Howe of Fife.

U9s

The sun shined, we had excellent support & extra pairs of hands for the U9 squad. The U9’s 10 man strong squad was split into 2 teams of 5 (A & B) to play a round robin matches with Dundee Eagles & Howe of Fife (A & B also). County A played 4 and won 4. Impressive all round with comprehensive victories every time. Strong tackles, excellent pick up’s of loose ball & robust defending resulted in a 100% victorious record.

County B on paper were the slightly weaker side on paper, playing 3, win 2 lost 1. The final game that was lost was a golden try as the match was so even. Again all the attributes as County A. Well done to all.

U10s

A good morning at Dundee with the under 10s winning both games.  First up County had Howe of Fife who were relatively big and fast, although not particularly direct runners. Howe caused County some problems with their tactic of pop passing from the ground which nullified County's characteristic rucking game. Both sides seemed to exchange tries throughout the game (a very long game!) with County always in the ascendency. County's pace and offloading made up for some leaky defending and some lax refereeing to finish comfortable 12 - 8 winners.

Immediately after the kids were back on the pitch to take on Dundee who had little or no understanding of the offside law. The perplexed look of some players as there were 3 or 4 Dundee players on the wrong side, playing the ball on the ground, with complete immunity was priceless. The breakdown was a lottery with hands, feet and bodies lying on the ball. Thankfully some of the kids decided to do a bit of rule enforcement and drive Dundee back onside as the ref had lost his whistle! Tackling and defence in general were far better and County ran out easy 7-0 winners which should have been a rout had the laws of the game been remotely considered!

This was a very positive start to the season with some great direct running, offloading and support play. Good passing and decision making gave the speedsters many opportunities to burn the opposition on the outside, which in the Howe game made all the difference.

U11s

The under 11 team got off to a great start for the season, winning comfortably against Dundee (4-0) and Howe (6-0). It was great to see County winning by passing the ball wide. The highlight of the day was the final try against Dundee. Almost every player touched the ball as it was passed out to the wing to run in from the half-way line.

It was really pleasing to see County working as a team in attack and defence. They were up against bigger players but tackled well and then used their handling skills and pace to dominate. Our scrum-half exemplified the team ethic, pressing hard in defence, tidying up loose ball and getting the back line moving. Well done to all ten players on an excellent performance.

U12s

1^st matches of the new season and the boy’s were eager to get back to playing rugby, after a good warm up we watched the end of the opening game and Dundee dominated our old rivals Howe in all aspects of the game, on seeing this the boys had identified key players and were intent on closing them out of the game. Our opening game was against Howe and from the tap County immediately scored their 1^st try, Howe came running hard but were sent backwards and with great rucking the ball was moved quickly to the wing resulting in County’s 2^nd. This continued throughout the game with Howe not venturing into County’s half and the game ending 6-0 to County.

Immediately after the whistle we were straight back on against Dundee and from the start Dundee were on the back foot from a similar start to the Howe game using the pivot and a strike runner resulting in the 1^st try. Dundee were subjected to the same ferocious tackling and quick rucking that Howe had received in the opening game, resulting in turnover ball and a great scissors move to get County’s 2^nd. Strong tackling, good body positioning in the ruck resulted in constant turnover ball and from each breakdown resulted in a try for County  - final score County 7-0. A further two games against the same opposition allowed the coaches to try different people in different positions, this having no impact on the scores; against 6-0, and against Dundee 7-0.

Well done to all the boys, a great team performance.The comments that were received from opposition coaches and spectators were very encouraging for the boys -- obviously something in the water at Bridgehaugh!!!