The 2010 Nottingham Festival (Friday 2nd April to Sunday 4th April)
Prologue
Our strange Norse saga begins at noon on Friday outside the club, where 20 young warriors clad in Viking helmets and armed with swords and battle axes board their coach to depart for dark northern lands where they are to do battle for the ultimate prize: the honour of taking part in the Guinness Premiership Final on the hallowed plains of Asgard, also known as Twickenham. Their masters have all set good examples by arriving early (apart from the two who arrived late, that is) to lead them away from their loved ones into conflict against other tribes whose qualities remain unknown. How would our brave little dvergar fare? Would they prevail in their noble quest? Do they have enough clean socks? Too late! There is barely time for tearful farewells, and the coach has gone, leaving parents bereft on the lonely car park.
Chapter 1 – The Adventure Begins
Next morning we gather on the fields of Midgard, cunningly labelled “Grove Farm” and bewitched by the artful Loki to confound even the most sophisticated of sat navs which instead direct us to a Beefeater restaurant and then pretend their batteries have run out. Well, that’s what Colin’s did at any rate! Nevertheless with persistence and faith that the wise Odin would guide us, we eventually catch up with the boys and their coaches practising their ancient runes, chanting mystical numbers in their line outs and incantations to strange gods in their set plays. The forecast was dreadful, but the weather turns out better than expected as the rain holds off and we even get some sunshine which steadily improves during the day.
We don’t start until 11:30 so have time to soak in the atmosphere before we are called up for the first game.
Bishop’s Stortford 5 - 10 Ashby
Our kick-off was received well by Ashby who launched a fast attack and quickly put us on the defensive. Good scrumming got the ball back to Willis who launched a massive wind-assisted kick up the length of the pitch. We were quickly up on the ball, rucking well deep in Ashby territory, from where Crafford made an excellent pick-up and drove over the line to get our score off the ground. Ashby made a quick reply, taking advantage of our knock on at the restart to push forward, first with good rucking from their scrum and then out to their backs for an equaliser. An over-long kick off added to our woes, Ashby again in possession driving forward, but we recovered with good effort from the scrum and started trying to move the ball around with some worthy attempts by Keen and Solomon to break through the Ashby defence. Unfortunately careless and overambitious passing in the strong wind led to more handling errors than you could shake a broadsword at, and despite a near interception by Etherington and an offside penalty against Ashford, they continued coming forward and were threatening again when we were saved by the half time whistle.
Ashby continued to press in the second half, their fast winger taking the ball down the right which needed a good tackle by Lilley to put him down. Fortunately our forwards were generally better in the rucks and took advantage in loose play to give us possession. Our backs tried some imaginative plays, but a collision between Lilley and Solomon trying to switch inside resulted in possession going Ashby’s way again and they began taking the ball slowly but inexorably towards our try line. Their knock on gave us possession to try to clear, but the short kick against the wind was taken at speed and Hopkinson did well to prevent them scoring, receiving a painful blow to the ribs for his effort. A minute later we made exactly the same mistake: another short kick to the left was caught at speed by the Ashby right winger and nothing was going to stop him from running in a try to put Ashby in the lead. We valiantly tried to come back, retaining possession and taking the ball generally in the direction of the Ashby line, but we were fast running out of time while still struggling with handling errors and confusion in our set pieces, and the match ended with us still chasing the equaliser.
A close match, with some good tackling and rucking on our side but, alas, we suffer the usual curse of ‘first match jitters’ with too many lost opportunities to take advantage. Back to the drawing board as we return to our tent for packed lunches and some more training before our next match at 13:30. Will the gods smile upon us this time around?
Bishop’s Stortford 5 - 0 Ormskirk
Our kick off was slightly too long but a lucky bounce fell to Lilley who drew defence and offloaded to Rutherford who made good ground and held up for a maul before being put into touch not far off the Ormskirk line. A good start, but an offside penalty to Ormskirk set up a counter attack to take the ball back into our half. Our scrum worked magnificently to stop their advance, driving Ormskirk off the ball while the backs, having learned their lesson from the previous match, kept passes short and simple, allowing probing attempts from Hicks, Etherington and Bennett followed by a fine charge by Stuebler to take us back into threatening territory from where Munro made a good pick up and dived over the line, but was penalised for coming in from the side – a fair decision from the ref but unlucky for Munro, who did well to spot the gap. Nevertheless we kept pressing, good Ormskirk defence keeping us out for a while but our patience was finally rewarded on half time when Bennett muscled through to score, the crowd’s cheers drowned out by a reverberating chorus of lusty valkyries who had come to watch… sorry, my mistake, it’s just Pauline!
Ormskirk’s restart was taken by Keen who advanced well, but we lost control shortly afterward and Ormskirk quickly followed up their excellently judged kick into space just short of the line, gathered up by full back Willis who got caught and did well to get the ball to Munro who recovered some ground with a weaving run. We continued to advance, despite an offside penalty against us which we efficiently repelled to get possession again, but a couple of handling mistakes gave Ormskirk a running attack requiring a good tackle by Keen. Ormskirk continued to probe, launching a dangerous onslaught down the right and were rewarded with another penalty which nearly got them their equaliser but the ball was held up at the line. Once more our excellent scrum did their job, with Arnold picking up and driving through – this may be the lad’s first season but he’s certainly not reluctant to mix it up with the big boys in opposition – to take the ball out of harm’s way. A carelessly conceded penalty against us allowed Ormskirk a final chance to equalise, but this time Forbes was on hand to retake possession and enable us to be driving forward when the final whistle blew. Basics won through in the end, but still some mistakes stopped us from taking full advantage and getting the ball out to the wingers to do their job.
Another hour and a bit to wait until our third match of the day at 15:00, but the time came quickly enough:
Bishop’s Stortford 0 - 20 Teddington
We knew we were in trouble early on when our kick-off was picked up at speed by Teddington who launched a stunningly fast attack to score within the first couple of minutes. Backs to the wall, some excellent tackles by Hopkinson, Lilley and Hicks delayed Teddington’s relentless onslaught, but their well-drilled performance was almost faultless: they were extremely quick on to the ball, made imaginative passes, were quick to spot gaps and managed to keep possession until good spoiling play by Keen got us the turnover we needed. Attempts by Solomon down the middle and Etherington down the right were well-defended, while Hopkinson tried to break away and kick down the field, but Teddington were quickly on to the ball and back in possession again, which they used to launch another ferocious blind side attack to put them two tries ahead, despite good tackling from Rolleston and Keen. Our efforts to steady the situation were met with good defence, although we did start to get some result from our rucks and set up an attack by Willis which was once more stopped by good defence as half time came.
The Teddington restart at the second half was well taken and we retained possession for a nippy attempt by Hopkinson down the blind side and another by Radley to barge through, but Teddington had answers for all our attempts to find their weak spot and were soon taking the ball back into our territory again. A try-saving tackle by Hopkinson prevented them from increasing their lead but another attack which saw Keen off injured resulted inevitably in their third try. Again, we continued to probe their defence, with Etherington and Solomon again trying to find a way through and getting the ball ripped each time, and it was only a matter of time before Teddington added a fourth try to their tally before the end of the match. It was a humbling experience, but to their credit our boys never gave up against a team which was simply unstoppable. As I helped carry the injured Keen over to his team-mates for the post-match briefing, I overheard Andy telling the boys that they should feel proud of themselves, and quite right he was too!
And thus the day’s battle ends, when boys and parents once more go their separate ways. The boys, I understand, have something amusing arranged for them by their coaches, perhaps a gentle 10 mile run or something of the sort followed by an early night. Meanwhile we parents have much more rigorous plans following our late afternoon nap (or “lilley”, as it is known in rugby tour circles): a banquet at a nearby curry house, a cultural evening tour around diverse Nottingham establishments, a few rousing choruses of ‘Helan går’ and then a dawn session in the hotel sauna beating each other lightly with birch twigs to cement our parent bondship in true Viking fashion. I wonder what the next day will bring?
Chapter 2 – A New Dawn
The next day brings ominous portent. It pleased mighty Thor last night to send down a heavy rainstorm which caught some of our late stragglers and promises to make the ground slippery underfoot; there are some concerns over the injuries sustained yesterday (not forgetting the boys as well, of course); we need to rise up over our humbling experience from the previous match and inexplicably not a single parent has turned up for the morning’s sauna and birch twig session. The rain has stopped by the time we get to the ground, but concerns over its effect prove justified as there is a large pond in the middle of the pitches we played on yesterday necessitating the festival organisers to mark out some more elsewhere; furthermore the sky is dark with cloud and an icy wind is blowing hard. Pleasingly the boys seem unusually alert this morning but I am told this is because they have developed a mysterious craving for coffee and managed to polish off the entire supply at breakfast before the coaches had a chance to get any. Is this good or bad? Does caffeine boost rugby performance? Do they do dope testing at these festivals? How long do the effects last in your average eleven-year-old anyway, and what happens when they wear off? Perhaps Doc Solomon can answer these questions when he has finished nursing his gammy leg, but there is no time to ask him now as it is 10:30, our first match is due to start and we still need to find out where the new pitch is.
Bishop’s Stortford 15 - 0 Derby
This time it was our turn to start up a quick attack after Lilley’s perfectly-judged kick-off; Solomon gathered and nearly charged through in the first play, fed back and the ball went rapidly along the backs to Etherington on right wing who was stopped just short of the line. Derby recovered ground, but we took advantage of their fumble to repossess and feed the ball out this time to left winger White who made an excellent charge down the other side. Derby did well to stop the attack, but third time lucky for us as the ball went out right again to Etherington for a try in the corner. That’s more like it! Derby’s long kick into the corner at the restart found touch just short of our line, from where they took possession at the lineout and were looking dangerous, but Precious broke through from the back of the line to catch the opposition and Probyn nipped out to take the ball and secure possession again – brilliant defensive play by both lads. Derby weren’t giving up and got a penalty which one of their big lads tried to run in, but ran slap bang into Forbes, possession back in our hands again and runs by Lilley and Solomon to take the ball back to half way. Danger averted, but Derby were back in possession when Solomon made a brilliant interception and ran the ball all the way for our second try at half time.
Another long restart by Derby saw us in trouble again, but a strong forward effort saw Bennett with the ball, offloading to Stenhouse then along the backs, but a missed pass let Derby back in and threatening once more in spite of good tackles by Forbes and Lilley. Forwards to the rescue again to get us an offside penalty which took us back to the half way line, but Derby were in possession again when another fantastic interception was taken by Stenhouse, who made a bee line down the pitch to put us three ahead. We were now getting the measure of Derby’s long kick offs, the next one gathered by Munro who make up ground with some neat side-stepping before being brought down, but Keen was quickly on to the loose ball to make it safe. An off-side penalty against us nearly got Derby off the ground, but the ball was held up on the line. Derby kept possession and made another attempt on the blind side which tested our defence, but it held up well. A third effort to drive over was also close, but our scrum kept Derby at bay and at last, we had possession again and a thumping great kick by Lilley saw everybody (including spectators) rushing to the other end of the pitch. Derby’s attempt to kick back was charged down by Solomon, and that was the last play of the match as the final whistle went. This match was won owing to superb team effort, with excellent rucking, passing, tackling and moving the ball around and no evidence of those first-match jitters. Perhaps giving the boys coffee before their first match should be part of our new training plan – coaches take note! You heard it from me first.
Not long to wait until our second match of the day at 11:30 – no, boys, you can’t have your lunch yet! We have another game on now:
Bishop’s Stortford 15 - 15 Stamford
Willis’ low testing kick off was caught cleanly and taken forward before being stopped by Stenhouse, but Stamford’s backs were blisteringly fast on the attack, supporting each other well and possessing an uncanny ability to create overlap which got them an early try in the left corner. Our restart soon saw them on a second attack, creating more space, following up quickly and being rewarded with a penalty for a high tackle with which they just failed to make their second score. However we took possession at last, with a counter attack by Solomon to make up ground, but we were concerned at their speed and ability to interfere with our possession which resulted in some handling errors on our side. What do we do? The answer came with a penalty sent to Radley who almost succeeded in breaking through before being penalised for lifting elbows – never mind, we’ve found their weak spot and have a game plan: get the big boys to drive through and do everything to stop their backs from getting the ball, and it works: Etherington nearly made it past their defence off another penalty, and then a crunching forward attack got the ball to Radley, this time to barge over their line for our equaliser. Stamford’s restart soon saw our forwards with the ball again, driving well, losing possession on a couple of occasions but Hopkinson was quickly on to their scrum half to stop their backs from doing further damage. We gradually started to work our way forward again to the point where Stamford were forced to kick, which was safely recovered by Hicks at half time.
We were in trouble again at the start of the second half when a knock on at the restart saw the Stamford backs in possession once more to create another overlap and run a try into the right corner. Our kick off at the restart fell short, but good scrumming effort created loose ball which was picked up by Stenhouse for another charging attempt, but was taken into touch. Stamford recovered possession and a long kick into space close to our line tested Willis to the extreme as he was caught by the fast-approaching Stamford backs, forced to go to ground and penalised for holding. Our defence initially held, with the pack driving well, but another penalty against us again went along the backs; Stenhouse made a brave attempt to hold up the attack but took a hard knock and had to come off injured while Stamford pressed their advantage to push over the line to put them two ahead. We had to dig deep, and indeed we did: immediately on the restart, our scrum was up on the ball and got it to Solomon who ran in an immediate try to close the deficit. Invigorated by this, we continued to push, sending the ball first out left and then out right to Etherington who charged down the line to get the equaliser. Once more our resurgent team launched another ferocious onslaught straight from the restart, with Munro going down the left, then Etherington almost repeating his last try, but put into touch close to the Stamford line. Stamford opted to kick to make up lost ground, but the ball was safely taken by Willis who advanced up the pitch with the forwards once more driving well, but Stamford turned over and started coming back. Keen made a good tackle but we were penalised again for holding in the ruck. However good defence prevented Stamford from taking further advantage as the final whistle blew. All in all a good result: we handled the pressure well to come back from two behind, and we were pretty close to taking the lead.
Now some of us are already starting to take a look at the overall scoreboard during the wait for our last pool game at 13:30. We know that our two victories so far have already guaranteed us a place in a semi final playoff and we are in contention for 4th place in our pool, which would get us into the Plate semis. We are currently level with Stamford, the team we just drew against, but slightly ahead on try difference so we should get a chance for the Plate if Stamford lose to Ashby and we don’t let Macclesfield beat us by more than, ummm, three tries. Or is it four? The various permutations run through our befuddled minds, but these are resolved shortly before our final pool match when Stamford hold Ashby to a scoreless draw, meaning that unless we win or draw against Macclesfield – a tough proposition, since they have already beaten all the other teams in our pool – we’re going to come 5th and get a shot at the Bowl instead. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, since in theory we should be up against an easier team in the semi to earn a spot at Twickenham, but we don’t tell the boys that. They have a game of rugby to play!
Bishop’s Stortford 0 - 10 Macclesfield
We met mighty Macclesfield with not a little trepidation, but got off to a fantastic start: our kick off bouncing to Etherington who drove forward and won a penalty for a high tackle. This came to Forbes who charged forward, on to the Macclesfield line, the referee lifted up his arm and we all cheered… but no, it’s a penalty to Macclesfield for a double movement. So close! Macclesfield replied with a long wind-assisted kick deep into our territory, but the long throw in was excellently caught by Rutherford at the back of the line who ducked round the back and sent it out long to Radley for another charge – this tactic worked last time, but not now as Macclesfield defended well and were awarded a penalty which they drove to our line. Good defence kept them out and got us a turnover which went out to Etherington only to be stopped by a hard tackle and the loose ball was quickly gathered by Macclesfield to put their first try on the board. Our restart was taken cleanly by Macclesfield who pushed forward relentlessly despite good tackles by Rutherford and Crafford, sending the ball out to the left and running in their second try. Macclesfield’s strength was starting to show, and another attack put us on the defensive once more, but we held up as half time came.
Macclesfield were on the attack again at the restart, but more good tackling by Lilley and Radley was starting to take the wind out of their sails and this time we got the turnover we needed to send down the line to Willis who made a good run down the left before being caught. Macclesfield came back but was put into touch by Munro as we started to steady the pressure, with Probyn making a good recovery from a long kick and a penalty to us, which we took forward, but a fumble lost us possession. Keen made a good tackle to steady their counter attack and another penalty to us went to Forbes, who nearly found a way through again but was penalised, possibly for handing off. Macclesfield opted to kick which Probyn safely gathered but got caught in dangerous territory, but Macclesfield were penalised again and Lilley cleared safely. Their knock on saw us with possession again, and Radley had another go at breaking through their line, but got held up as the match ended. Another creditable performance prevented Macclesfield from increasing their lead in the second half, and we were left thinking that the match could so easily have gone the other way.
So we finish the pool stage with an honourable performance against Macclesfield and a place in the Bowl semis. Now we have a long wait for our chance for Twickenham glory at 15:30, but the sun is starting to make occasional appearances, the wind has dropped and it is sometimes even possible to imagine the weather is warm.
Chapter 3 – The Final Conflict
About half way through our wait we find out who our opponents are: Bredon Buzzards no less, so we take a look at their match results – 3 draws, 3 losses – which prompt more speculation. A couple of those draws were against teams that did pretty well. How hungry are they for that elusive win? We haven’t yet seen them in action but one thing is for sure: we are not about to underestimate them.
Bishop’s Stortford 10 - 0 Bredon Buzzards
Relief as Lilley’s kick-off was knocked on turned to consternation when Bredon’s powerful pack pushed ours off the ball and turned over our put-in. Not many packs have been able to do that to us this weekend! Nevertheless we halted Bredon’s advance with another turnover and the ball was sent out to Etherington who made a superb run from half way to score in the right corner. Invigorated by our early try, we remained on the offensive with Solomon collecting from the restart and switching to Etherington with a crafty inside pass behind his back, but no way through. Forbes collected from the maul and advanced, offloaded to Radley and we were soon threatening again. Keen nearly broke through but Bredon defended well, retook possession and were coming forward when Hopkinson made an excellent tackle, gathered up the ball and put us back into Bredon territory again. Bredon held up well, refusing to allow our pack take advantage but the ball came back to Hopkinson who ducked down the blind side and passed out right to Etherington who ran in the second try. The restart saw us advancing once more but a penalty to Bredon was kicked almost to our line. We collected from the line out, fed the ball back and kicked it to safety on the half way line. Good line out work saw Solomon with the ball who made another charge, nearly broke through but was penalised and we held up their counter attack as half time came.
The second half was fast and furious as Bredon tried everything to get back into contention. Stenhouse and Lilley made ground, then Bredon took possession, sent a long kick well caught by Hicks who gained back territory, but Bredon’s powerful pack took over possession again and another long kick into touch on our line. We tried to kick out of danger but Bredon came back quickly and were awarded a penalty which they tried to drive over but our scrum were having none of it this time, driving them back to put us in control again. A fumbled pass looked dangerous but Stenhouse and Radley were quickly back to make the ball safe and retain possession, from where it went out to Munro, weaving down the left before being put into touch at half way. We started to take back the initiative, Hopkinson diving through like a little terrier to win loose ball from the lineout and sending it out right along the line to Etherington, then back inside to Keen who nearly made it through but was held up just short. This game is going way too fast for me to run from one end of the pitch to the other and write all this down at the same time! Bredon back in possession, stopped by Stenhouse, possession back to us, high tackle on Solomon to give us another driving effort from the penalty but a good tackle and pickup by Bredon to come back again into our half, turnover to us, Lilley finding a gap and darting through, out along line but a forward pass got Bredon possession again, back down the field and a dangerous chip over our defence just a shade too far over the dead ball line so it’s our dropout… NO IT ISN’T! IT’S THE FINAL WHISTLE AND WE’VE DONE IT! Yes, I’d love to celebrate, but I’ve still got the last couple of minutes of action to jot down so stop jogging my elbow... aaahh, there is no point – the looks of joy on our boys’ faces say more than anything I could ever write down, but commiserations to Bredon – their boys never gave up and took us into a tough, physical game which required every ounce of our commitment to stop it from going the other way.
And that wraps it up for the 2010 Nottingham Festival. Ours was just about the last match of the day and most of the other teams have already left, so all that remains is to pack up the tent, satisfy demands for hamburgers and ice creams, enjoy a glass of ale and the afternoon sunshine in the nearly empty grounds and then go meet the boys at their hall of residence where they have gone to get cleaned up and collect their belongings. There we have our final debriefing with the coaches, Easter eggs for the boys and then the long journey back to our Hobbit villages the shire (sorry, I’ve run out of Norse allusions so you’ll now have to settle for Tolkien instead) to be reunited with our homes and families. I don’t know how noisy the boys were on the trip up – I haven’t yet plucked up the courage to ask the coaches how well they behaved – but I have a funny feeling that they will be pretty quiet on the way back!
Thus ends my Norse tale of heroism and bravery, to be recorded in the annals of history and retold to countless future generations and yet, strangely… it hasn’t ended. We have obtained our prize and hence the saga continues. We are going to Twickenham!
Hugh Rutherford.
I was also requested to get accounts of the weekend from a couple of the boys themselves, so many thanks to George and Felix for the following:
It started with a coach journey which was a good idea. This helped us get to know each other and bond as a team. Once we got there the Nottingham festival was on our mind, but the social side of it was on our mind as well! In two whole days we did a mixture of things such as ten pin bowling and going to the cinema. On Friday evening we went to the cinema to watch How to Train Your Dragon which was enjoyable. On Saturday we went ten pin bowling. It was very well organised with everything laid on. We stayed at Nottingham University where we got our own rooms and the facilities were great. The meals were very nice and big enough to fill us up. The good times we had off the pitch helped us pull together on the pitch. Finally the coaches did brilliantly at looking after us and making sure we were safe.
- George
We all had a great time. On the long bus trip up, Andy taught us the actions [Ed: an U11 version] to “Swing low sweet chariot” and we were singing away. At the first stop we were put in groups with one of the coaches in charge of each group. We played a long game of “family it” while the coaches drunk beer, typical. Later on during the drive the toilet started to smell disgusting and we sent in a detective (one of the gullible boys) to see what the problem was. After what seemed like 10 hours we got to the university and each of us had his own room, great! Straight after dinner we went to see “How to train your dragon” at the cinema while munching on our popcorn. When we got back we played “knock down ginger” knocking on each others doors and running away. A few boys got annoyed by this.
Next day we got woken early and had breakfast (the coffee was really nice) and got dressed in our new rugby kit. On the bus we were chanting “mighty Stortford” to annoy the other teams. At the ground we had fun passing and kicking the ball around between matches, but the waits were very long and some of us got hungry. Going back on the first day we were quite sad because we only won one match, but the coaches told us we did well. When we got back we had showers which was like paradise but shoved into 5 minutes. That evening we went 10 pin bowling where we found the bowling alley seriously cool because the lights went off and the bowling alleys glowed in the dark with music blaring. Harry got the highest score out of all 20 boys but Nathan and Dom were close. We also had a go on the video games and me, Freddie, Nathan and Joe found the vibrating chair the coolest. When we got back we played “family it” again. Dom and Ben were by far the best.
Last day (boo hoo) in the morning we were sad to say good-bye to the coffee machine as we left for the ground. We played our other matches and got into the bowl semi final which we won, so we’re now going to Twickenham, yaaaaay! Then back to the university for a shower, more luxury. Got dressed and met with the coaches and parents for final words and a creamy delightful Easter egg, YUM. I fell asleep for most of the journey back.
- Felix
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