The U9s had a very successful first match this weekend. Pre-Match, the coaches were quite daunted by the size of the pitch - going up to 60m x 30m at U9s, a significant difference on the size at U8s level. But the kids took it all in their stride and did brilliantly.

Wanstead were a strong team with good tacklers and some skilful runners, but Thurrock more than matched that. Our tackling was also good, with great defensive line speed as well as some great try saving tackles being made too. Most impressive was our ability to hold on to the ball in contact, and present the ball neatly.

The coaches noticed a few areas for improvement as well. Next week we will get to work on a few bits like resetting defensive and attacking lines after a tackle - something that Wanstead did quite well, and to develop our passing game to take advantage of our strong runners out wide.

The opposition coach was very complimentary about Thurrock, and I loved the positivity from the team after the games who still wanted to play Bulldog after 4 quarters of game play to finish off the day.

Well done to Emily Church and George Harrison who got the Player of the Week trophies, with some excellent try saving tackles, and strong running too. Mention also to Tom Dear who won the Tackle Monster trophy. It could have gone to a number of players this week, but one excellent crunching hit in the middle was particularly impressive and drew gasps from the opposition coaches.