The U10s attended the Lichfield Rugby Festival at the end of a long season that has seen the team grow both technically but also as a close knit group and the games on Sunday demonstrated that.

The first game against Lichfield was a hard start and Rugeley were slow out of the blocks. We didn't match Lichfield in competition for the ball on the ground and our defence was stretched from the outset. Our attack was determined but came up against some very strong tackling from Lichfield. Immediately afterwards, the second game was against a very well drilled Kenilworth team whose prowess in attack overwhelmed our determined efforts in defence. Again in attack however, we showed our mettle and made them work for the ball at every phase of play, but again their strength in the breakdown was too much for us to compete against. Having regrouped after a short break, Willenhall proved a much closer game and we were able to compete better in both defence and attack and scored our first try of the festival and saw our defence work exceptionally hard for the entire game. The final game was against Stone and proved to be our most competitive. We ran in three tries and had a fourth ruled out by the touchline in a balanced match. Our attack was allowed to build phases and we used the width of the pitch better.

Throughout the tournament, every player gave their all and with only 8 players available, they all knew they had to stay on the field to help out. James was scoring tries for fun in the end and his ability spot the space was unfailing. Connor went forward fearlessly, ball in hand, at every opportunity and made opposition teams commit players to defence and created gaps for others to exploit. Phoebe, alongside Connor, offered another attacking option by refusing to let herself be brought down easily. Reuben showed his robustness by not letting a tackle off the ball get in the way of his confidence to run at the opposition. Molly looked dangerous every time she got her hands on the ball and was equally tenacious in defence, clinging onto attackers. Harry, building on his recent run of form, was brave running into contact and retained the ball well. Charlie showed his growing confidence by getting involved in defence and helping bring down the opposition. Ethan was our Player of the Festival after making some absolutely amazing try-saving tackles. His bravery to take on opponents was immense even rucking against one player who was literally twice his size!

A big thank you to Lichfield Rugby Club for hosting a great day and to all parents and carers who gave up their time to support the players.