SCHOOL OF RUGBY - UNDER 15s
The coaches for 2011 - 2012 are Anthony Nixon, Neil Jones and Jon Marshall
SHROPSHIRE COUNTY GAME ON WEDNESDAY 8th FEBRUARY AT TELFORD RFC
Game was cancelled due to the weather and has been rearranged for Wednesday
18th April
The Future is Bright ...it is the Green of Staffs.
Since the creation of the School of Rugby and the replacement of the former county squad set up there has been a steady stream of boys from Staffordshire gaining academy places with the Leicester Tigers and indeed the current England U18 and U20 scrum halves both came through the School of Rugby and Elite Player Development Programme (EPDG) with Staffordshire.
On Tuesday 25th January it was the turn of the current Staffs U15 EPDG to venture down to Oval Park to play against the elite of Norfolk, NLD and Leics in a series of 20 minute round robin games. Each game is videoed and assessed by the fulltime Academy staff at Tigers.
During the season there are a series of assessment games plus academy games against their equivalents at Saracens and Gloucester. This will eventually lead to a National Academy competition in April which will be watched by the England selectors and a possible invite to the England Summer camp.
Therefore it was a nervous but quietly confident squad of 22 that travelled to take on the best of the rest under the guidance of Simon Robson, Head of Staffs EPDG and Anthony Nixon.
The first game was against Norfolk. The boys were advised that they wouldn’t have played at such pace or intensity as this before, as the rules are no kicking of penalties or conversions. It is therefore 60 minutes in 20. Due to the quality of the rugby, they do tend to be low scoring games as defence are tight and tackles hard. The game was true to form with both teams defending well whilst trying to attack at every opportunity. However, Staffs patience and patterns of play eventually showed with flanker Sean Casey bursting through a tackle to score a decisive try. This led to a surge from Norfolk but excellent organisation in defence kept them at bay and Staffs registered a win. This was despite conceding far too many penalties whilst in the opposition half, which was rectified in future games.
One down two to go.
Next up were NLD . Traditionally a strong side within the EPDG. Some missed tackles, less communication and perhaps the first game took more out of them than they thought, but Staffs found themselves two tries down before they really started to play. They came close to scoring but strong NLD defence kept Staffs from the try line and a defeat was recorded.
Time to regroup.
Some chosen guiding words from the coaches and a refocus on what was expected and the final game was ready to be played against Leicestershire EPDG.
As mentioned previously these games tend to be low scoring. Indeed the highest score of the evening so far was 15: 5.
Staffs took to the field in their green Tigers shirts and tore into Leics from the start.
The forwards were running straight and hard and making metres over the gain line. Quick ball from the Ben Burrows and Cameron Brown at scrum half enabled the backs to run their lines. Excellent support play from all the team meant that gaps soon appeared to allow the first try to be scored by Robert Chapman our hooker. This was quickly followed by prop Marinus Augustine, by which time the backs were feeling left out.
Excellent angles and fast feet led to tries for wingers Oliver Pemberton and Liam Rowe with centre Paolo Odogwu finishing off the night with a dynamic run and dive into the corner. This registered the highest score of the night at 25:0. The whistle blew and the Staffs squad were able to go home on a high, exhausted but having had an excellent experience. Feedback from the Tigers is that this is a strong year at EPDG across all the regions so baring in mind the smaller playing pool we have in Staffs compared to the other regions, then the future bodes well for this age group as they move up the county ages. This goes for not only at EPDG but also within the School of Rugby as we have an additional 13 lads all wanting to get in the squad for the next round of EPDG games in February.
For those wanting to see the future of Staffs in action there are county games coming up, the first on February 8th at Telford against Shropshire, followed by Cheshire at Newcastle on March 14th. Everybody is very welcome to come along. Kick off 7.15pm.
THE PROGRAMME FOR 2011 - 2012: All sessions commence at 6:30pm and finish at approximately 8.30pm. Players should ensure they bring all their equipment including refreshment and gum shield.
Food will be available after the evening sessions.
Showers will be available to the boys after the training sessions.
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DATE
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VENUE
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AGE GROUPS
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Wednesday
15th February 2012
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Newcastle School
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U13
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U14
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U15
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Monday
2nd April 2012
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Burntwood Rugby Club
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U13
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U14
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U15
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The session at Newcastle School is an all day event, starting at 10.00am and finishing at 3.00pm.
All sessions are supported by a Physio.
KIT
Players have the opportunity to purchase School of Rugby kit by the following link to the Staffordshire Kit Website - http://sru.sportreach.co.uk/
The page includes a range of kit that is made by Nike and has the County Knot and the England Rose, together with their initials.
It is important that parents put the player’s name on the form where they have to fill in their details, as that is how they pick up on the initials to put on the kit.
The TEAM WOVEN WARM UP SEMI CUFFED jacket has trousers included, it does say tracksuit but does not make it clear that there are trousers with it at the moment.
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