The boys played exceptionally well on tour. After 5 hours travelling they got off the bus and were raring to go. Marple had 10 players which included two u12s and as our u12s didn’t have a game we borrowed two of theirs. Within 5mins of the game starting we were 3 tries up and they had lost two players through injury, so we were back to our u11 side.

The game was frequently stopped through injuries to the Marple side due to our boys hitting them hard in the tackle and our forwards Josh, Harry Han, Oliver, Patrick and Harry pushing so well in the scrum that they were going down. Jack worked hard at getting quick ball to the backs, which gave James and Alex some very good runs, scoring 5 tries. (Alex 4, James 1 and 4 conversions). Harry Oliva had his best game of the season and also scored a try. Total tries 7, one being scored by Boyse from the u12s.

Our other game against Ashton was equally good, their coach commenting that our players did not look very big and he would stop pushing in the scrum if they were getting hurt. It turned out that we were more than a match for them. We borrowed one of their players and played 9 a side. Forwards: Josh, Harry Han, Oliver, Harry and their prop. Backs: Jack, Alex, James and Patrick.

Again all the boys played well with everything we have done in training working on the pitch. The support and ball handling was excellent, which turned into another good win. Oliver had a very good game and was in the right place to receive a pass from James and go over for a try. Final score 8 tries to 1.

Patrick 1, Oliver 1, Alex 1, Jack 2, James 3.

There was a presentation at the dinner for the outstanding players. Harry Oliva and Oliver Jones had raised their game in both matches and were presented with the tour shirt and tour cap.

Monmouth under 11s Blackpool tour 2005