Oakham Cup

At the first Melksham tournament, the MC Quins arrived on a windy day with a small squad of players, but a large group of vocal supporters who played their part in supporting the team throughout the tournament. With a large number of squad players unavailable, many of the 16 that traveled were asked to play out of position. With a lack of experienced front row players the Quins were forced to play uncontested scrums for the duration. That said, Adam Bott stepped up to the plate and had a good game in his first ever time playing hooker and managed to cleanly strike the ball at every scrum. With Josh Knowles also playing his first game for the team having recently returned to rugby, he had a strong game on the wing, making several tackles, whilst also showing a good swerve and turn of speed in one of the latter games to make a good run down the touchline. Whilst the team played well in parts of the group games, with players out of position and others picking up numerous minor injuries throughout the tournament, the team only managed to win one of the five group games, beating the West Wiltshire Warriors 5-0 in a close and hard fought game. After numerous drives against their tryline, some quick ball was given to Will Kerslake who ran a strong line against the flow of the defence to score close to the posts. Unfortunately the strong cross wind took his kick just to the right of the post. Throughout all 5 of the group games, individuals showed some great rugby skills. Fred Greenhill, obviously disheartened at not being able to push his opposite number in the scrums decided to take out 3 opposition forwards whilst cleaning out a ruck. His front row partner, Seb took the opportunity to carry the ball taking many of the opposition and making ground. Riley Bunker, in his first season with the team, also made some great runs, during one of which he demonstrated an excellent pop ball off the ground to allow the attack to continue. Both Troy and Christian were stalwarts in the backrow, with both making strong runs and making excellent tackles off the back of the scrum as well as making driving runs in open play. They were both assisted with Will Donachie, not only playing in his first season with the team, but also moving from the wing to the backrow and throwing in to the line out. Showing great versatility he was also asked to play at 9 at numerous points throughout the day to cover injuries. The backs also showed great versatility having to play in new positions, whilst also having to change as more injuries were picked up throughout the day. At scrumhalf, Dan Coe, Harry Andrews as well as Will D played in the position, all providing good distribution whilst under some pressure from opposition forwards. Harry also had to stand in on a few occasions at 10 when Will Kerslake was receiving treatment for an on going knee injury. At inside centre, Sam Clarke was the only back playing in his normal position without any injuries. In addition to some excellent offensive tackling, he also showed some good strength in taking the ball into contact. As well as playing at 9 and 10, Harry also showed his dexterity by playing at outside centre. Alex Barnett started the season on the wing, has played a few games at 15 but was like so many today, showed talent by playing at outside centre. Luke Webber and Arjun Jain-Brar played the majority of their games on the wing, however both were asked to play out of position on occasions, with Luke moving to fullback and Arjun to flanker. Both of whom showed enormous heart and determination in everything that they did. Final mention needs to be given to Noah McDerment, who from the second row, skippered the squad in every game. As we have grown accustomed with him, he made excellent tackles, cleared what is required by a second row in the loose, however he did an excellent job in holding the team together on a difficult day.

Mention needs to be made of the final game between MQ Quins and West Wiltshire Warriors. Having lost 3 players to injury throughout the day and having by far the smallest squad at the tournament, the Quins had to start with only 13 players (with a lot of them out of position). The disjointed start led to the Warriors taking a quick 21 point lead. However, this galvanised the Quins who took the bit between their teeth and showed true grit and made a near winning fight back. A huge performance from the pack, saw them parked on the opposition tryline, however after some great defence by the Warriors, Christian, showing a never give up attitude, scored under the posts. Alex, taking his first evert conversion took it with ease, Obviously buoyed by this (and an excellent up and under catch from a previous game), Alex picked up a rolling ball from the side of the ruck, broke through a few tackles and ran ¾ of the pitch to score his first ever try for the team. Unfortunately he missed the conversion. With the score at 21-12, the Quins went straight back on the attack. Some excellent running by both the forwards and backs, led to Seb getting the ball inside the opposition 22. Putting his head down, with driving legs, he took half the opposition back across the tryline to score his first ever try for the team, which Alex duly converted. With momentum on their side, it was unfortunate that time was against them as the whistle was blown within seconds of the kickoff with Quins looking hungry for another try. There were lots of areas to work on from the day, however the never give up attitude showed by all players (and commented on by other teams) is something the squad and supporters should feel very proud of. If the squad can take the determination and skills showed in the last 5 minutes of the last game today, there are some big wins on the horizon. The coaching staff would also like to thank the family and supporters who turned up today, including ‘Johno Johnson’ who although not well enough to play, turned up, was water boy and kicking tee monitor and was always providing words of support and suggestions from the side line, Your efforts today made a positive difference on a difficult day.