Diss U13's - Eastern Counties Festival (3)

Bright sunshine and a biting cold wind greeted 8 teams who travelled to Diss to play in the 3rd Eastern Counties Festival of the season. A really good turnout by the Diss U13’s found 20 boys raring to go, with only a handful not able to make it.

The brutal headline for the day was ‘played 4, lost 2, drew 1, won 1’. But delve beneath this and the real story was that this was a successful day in many respects, for example although Diss lost their first match 3 tries to 1, it was the Diss players that scored the tries for both sides !!!

Match 1 - Diss 1 vs Hadleigh 3
With Hadleigh short of players Diss loaned 2 from their squad to keep the sides at 13 each. In doing so Diss sowed the seeds of their defeat as two of the Hadleigh tries were solo efforts scored by loaned Diss players.

Peace Joshua (loaned to Hadleigh) made two telling early plays – a solo run from deep around and through Diss tackles to score, and then a telling ‘last man tackle’ to foil a certain try by Charlie North. Diss levelled the scoreline thanks to a strong run and finish from Jaden Johnson, again showing his all-round abilities.

In the next passage of play Diss conceded too many penalties and turnovers – the result of players trying to take on the whole opposition by themselves. It meant the Diss attack was blunted when some simple passing and ball distribution would have created the space to score a number of tries.

Diss paid the penalty when another of their team playing ‘on loan’ to Hadleigh – Jacob Fairweather – received the ball in midfield, opened his legs to speed pass the Diss team for a second try. 3 tries scored and all of them by Diss players !!!! As the Diss boys continued to forget the basics Hadleigh were able to score a try of their own at the death.

Diss 1 try vs Hadleigh 3 tries was a frustrating scoreline is a good lesson in a match they should have controlled and eased to a win. There were positives, particularly showing that Diss have talent all over the pitch, and in depth…unfortunately in this match some of the best was given to the opposition side!!! But great to see the boys try their hardest no matter who they play for.

Match 2 - Diss 1 vs Ely 2
Next up were Ely, a mixed team, but clearly with some strong players. From kick-off Diss were on the back foot. Losing early ball allowed one of the Ely team to run from their half around the whole of the Diss team to score. Diss immediately countered from the restart as Jaden Johnson collected the ball and with his lightening pace was able to run back around the Ely team, outpacing them to score a try in reply.

The next passage of play was nip and tuck with strong tackling and rucking on both sides. The outcome of the match came down to one solo play from Ely. A couple of missed early tackles by Diss enabled one of the Ely team to break free and score what was the match winning try.

Diss kept pushing and tackling to the end, but were not able to string together the possession and play to make what should have been counter tries to win the game. Two small lapses hurt the team in a performance that was an improvement from the first game.

Match 3 - Diss 1 vs Ipswich 1
This match was perhaps the most anticipated of the day for Diss. It was a chance to play the Ipswich team that had soundly beaten them earlier in the season. Now Diss U13’s have a bigger and more developed squad it would be a good test to see how far the boys had progressed.

The answer was immediate and for all to see as Diss looked by far the dominant team. For the first time in the day Diss started to pass the ball and play rugby. A run out left by Jacob Fairweather was halted, and from the ruck the ball was moved to Stephen Chaoldson who ran cross-field before cutting in to the Ipswich line breaking a couple of tackles. He then passed to Jaden Johnson who passed to Peach Joshua who in turn fed Jaiden Mutsembewa on the wing. Jaiden cut inside and was tackled, but from the ruck the ball was passed the other direction down the line to reach Jacob on the other wing to run in tthe score. It was a ‘proper try’ and just shows what the boys are capable of….when they move the ball.

Diss held their own through the match, more passing ensured the boys controlled much of the play. Yes, play went backwards and forwards, but one always felt Diss had the firepower to take over whenever they got their act together. Frustratingly an Ipswich breakaway late in the game levelled the match for a draw.

A much better display from Diss and measuring themselves against the same opposition shows how far they have come. They are a different and far better team. Individually each and every player is better, they trust each other more and have a far deeper talent pool. And on this evidence once they start to master the basics they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Match 4 - Diss 3 vs Wisbech 1
The final match, and the last chance for a victory. Diss again loaned players to the opposition who had some strong individuals for Diss to contend with.

After settling into the match, Jaden Johnson made a breakthrough as he zoomed passed the Wisbech defence. He did not realise he had crossed the try line and looking to beat more players juggled the ball and lost it - a coach’s nightmare !!! His next play made amends when again picking up the ball in the deep he ran through the defence using sheer pace. He got to the try line and with one defender near him looped the ball ‘basketball style’ over the defender’s head to his teammate Alex Allott who just caught it and dived over the line for the try. Spectacular but a move that had Johnny and Mark biting through their tongues!!!

Next try was another great advert for passing and how Diss can take teams apart. From a scrum Aaron Lockitch picked the ball up and ran forward into space. When checked he passed to Alex Allott who in turn fed outside to Kit Brodie. Kit moved inside and hit a wall of players but spun away, spotted a gap and dived through to score under the posts. A great team try that showed the power of moving the ball.

Diss were fully in charge, but left a space for the opposition who took advantage of the lapse to score against the run of play.

With the seconds ticking by Diss pushed for a final score. Their efforts were rewarded as some outstanding forward play by Jake Wolfe and Charlie North driving through a couple of rucks led to Charlie, exploding with a trademark charge through tackles, to dive over the line for the winning - and much deserved score.

It was lovely to see the boys celebrate and congratulate each other – true ‘rugby mates’ with a common bond.

Commentary
Two comments stood out from the day. The first came from the referee who took time to recognise and applaud that Diss were the only team to genuinely rotate their squad to ensure everyone gets at least half a game. He recognised that naturally this gives an extra ‘challenge’ to the team as there is less consistency on the pitch with so many changes. However this is a long-term strategy that will pay dividends. Quite rightly the goal is to give game time to every player to allow each to develop. Far better than a short-sighted focus on winning the game now by limiting who will play. Well done Johnny and look at how your team is growing.

The second comment came from the opposition coaches. Each of them made the same observation that there is so much talent in the Diss team, and they were glad we have not yet harnessed this. They each recognise that when the boys start to play rugby ‘properly’ (passing and organisation) they will be on a completely different level meaning opposition their teams will not be able to live with the result. What a fantastic compliment.

In such a festival there was no ‘man of the match’, instead here are a few observations
• The rucking was consistently good in all matches, a great improvement.
• The most obvious ‘development opportunity’ is for the boys to learn the effectiveness of passing – that a passed ball will always beat a running defence. To this uninitiated observer it feels part technique and part confidence, plus the need to have a set attacking line to facilitate this. Let’s hope the boys can see the way forward soon.
• The forwards continue to come together. It’s great to see the upward development and contribution from Jake Wolfe and Liam Brighton. Although not always on the score sheet both are the ‘engine room’ and really are making a difference to the team.
• Allied to this are the grinding performances delivered by Connor Fell and Toby Groves – they were everywhere. This was topped off by the explosive play of Charlie North, Stephen Chaoldson and Peace Joshua. The pack is shaping up.
• There was relentless tackling by all with the masterclass coming from Connor Fell (as usual). Further outstanding performances also came from Charlie North, Jaden Johnson, Will Worley (who is really growing into the full-back role), Kit Brodie, Nathaniel Agbenowu and Jaiden Mutsenbwa.
• We are blessed in this team to have pace to spare, and our speedsters - Jacob, Jaden, Jaiden, Peace, Stephen, Joseph Davison and Toby Dickenson – took every opportunity to showcase this.
• This was complemented by the all round and multi-faceted abilities provided by Kit Brodie, Alex Allott, Inigo Diez-De Rivara and Charlie Fenn.
• Finally every good orchestra needs conductors and this was provided by the guile and rugby brains that come from Aaron Lockitch and Santos Ledesma.

Finally, a huge thanks to Robin Harwood for organising this event at Diss. Lots of behind the scenes work and effort makes this event the huge success it was, and this in no small part is down to Robin.

Equally, a sincere thanks to Johnny and Mark for their coaching. They manage the boys so well giving them the direction and support to develop and florish. Yes they were cold, but the smiles at the end warmed everyone, look at the photos as evidence https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/dissrugby/photos/u13s-eastern-counties-festival-3-800274.html

Peter Allott
Feb-2018