National cup U15s Sudbury/Diss cluster v Cambridge

National Cup
U15s Sudbury/Diss v Cambridge

If its Sunday, we must be at Sudbury yet again, this time as part of a Sudbury team vs Cambridge in the National Cup. Still cold though.
10 girls were on duty, Megan C, Megan R, Bee, Bells, Mia, Emmy, Scarlett, Ellie, Morgan and Phoebe, with rolling subs - far too frequently changed for your reporter to keep up with!
Some days, things go wrong, the girls are listless, tackles are missed, passes dropped and rucks avoided. This was not one of them. Today the girls were fabulous - each and every one of them. The two clubs were seamless, playing as a unit. Apart from a few minutes in the second half, by which time the game was won, when some girls stood off rucks and tackles, the play was a coach's dream. Clean feed from rucks, mauls and scrums, forward runs then pass to hand first to one side then the other, players looking for and offering support, piling over the ball in rucks to secure possession - everything seemed to work.
The first 2 tries were all Diss, the first came when Bells robbed the ball and fed Megan who got the ball to Bee who went on a long run to touch down. The second came from good offloading by Mia, to Bells who fed Phoebe. This one was converted. The next came from Morgan securing and getting the ball to Bells, to Megan to a Sudbury girl who scored. Next, good tackling and support by Scarlett and Emmy, a kick ahead, Emmy and Phoebe up to snaffle the ball and another Sudbury girl scored. Then from a scrum, the ball went down the line to Bee who went over again. More good pick and go forward progress, the ball got to Bells who was in the mood today and nobody was going to stop her. This one was converted. Cambridge got one back just before half time when the score was 34 - 7. Cambridge are a good team with some strong runners. They had been blown away by the great play by our girls, but we thought their try might give them a bit of momentum. Things did get a bit scrappy at the beginning of the second half, but then a speedy Sudbury girl picked up the ball in our own 22 are was off like a rocket. Megan C took over conversion duties and slotted a great kick. A lot of silly penalties for going off their feet at rucks slowed progress for a while, before Megan R put Bee away for another try. What followed should have been try of the season with Bee and Megan R looping round feeding Bells, but sadly the final pass was forward. Bells did score again, and then, another try from a Sudbury girl, which Megan C converted again, great kicking in difficult windy conditions. The Cambridge girls had become a bit dispirited by now and were falling off tackles, which allowed another try by a Sudbury girl.. With the score at 63 - 7, the white flag went up and the ref blew for full time a few minutes early.
Usually in these reports the scorers get most of the mentions, and often that is because they are the bigger, faster, stronger girls, but, and especially in this game, it is the other girls who make the scoring runs possible. Scarlett and Emmy, beavering away in the scrums, being up in support, straightening the line, Mia tackling ferociously, and making incisive breaks, Phoebe making strong weaving runs, in some weeks into dead ends, but today looking for and passing to support runners and tackling anything in range, Morgan doing her share of the hard work securing the ball, tackling and keeping moves going, Megan C ( as well as being chief conversion expert) and Ellie buzzing about in support, and keeping moves going. Everyone played great rugby today. Well done.

David Miller