Monday 27 September 2010
Wednesday 22 September 2010
News
Great session in the rain today lads. Keep up the good work this Sunday in the match against Dunvant. Meet at Bishopston 10:15.
Some important information for the parents:
1. Last Sunday was a great success in terms of player participation. When we are away from home we aim to arrange 2 matches as often as possible. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.
2. Gumshield fitting is likely to take place at the Dentist surgery at Port Tennant in the next couple of weeks. Details to follow, but if you are interested let me know.
3. We need some volunteers. A Hotdog Captain and a Lottery Chief. We need someone to organise this side of the team. This doesn't mean you have to actually DO the hotdogs or Lottery every week - just make sure that someone does! We'd hope that everyone would take turns to buy hotdogs and sell tickets, but it would work alot better if one person coordinated. Duties required of these posts are given below. Applications for these prestigious positions will be gratefully received by Mike (m.b.gravenor@swan.ac.uk).
Hotdogs: For every home game we go back to the rugby club. Hotdogs are always there, but someone needs to buy rolls for our team (plus a few extra for visitors) and bring them back. About 30 rolls is right, and this can even be done on the Sunday on the way past the Coop. At the club someone needs to heat them up, distribute, and collect 50p from parents who want them - or boys who want more than one. We are open to any other catering suggestions that involve something a tad healthier than hotdogs, though we all accept how much easier they are.
Lottery: At every home game we have the opportunity to sell lottery tickets. Half of the cost goes directly to the Wildcats. This should be a nice fund raising exercise for us, but needs to be promoted. It is dead easy - just get someone to go round the crowd on a match day, chose 4 numbers, leave a phone number, and that is it. Tickets can be returned to me or Skinny behind the bar. Draws take place every couple of weeks, and tickets are valid for 'the next draw'. We have had a winner in the lottery already - I think trousering £250, but if we get this off the ground across the junior section we will be able to offer a MUCH bigger jackpot, and more for the team.
Note nothing is required of either of these jobs on an away match day, just the home ones. It's not much, and would really help the smooth running of the team.
Some important information for the parents:
1. Last Sunday was a great success in terms of player participation. When we are away from home we aim to arrange 2 matches as often as possible. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.
2. Gumshield fitting is likely to take place at the Dentist surgery at Port Tennant in the next couple of weeks. Details to follow, but if you are interested let me know.
3. We need some volunteers. A Hotdog Captain and a Lottery Chief. We need someone to organise this side of the team. This doesn't mean you have to actually DO the hotdogs or Lottery every week - just make sure that someone does! We'd hope that everyone would take turns to buy hotdogs and sell tickets, but it would work alot better if one person coordinated. Duties required of these posts are given below. Applications for these prestigious positions will be gratefully received by Mike (m.b.gravenor@swan.ac.uk).
Hotdogs: For every home game we go back to the rugby club. Hotdogs are always there, but someone needs to buy rolls for our team (plus a few extra for visitors) and bring them back. About 30 rolls is right, and this can even be done on the Sunday on the way past the Coop. At the club someone needs to heat them up, distribute, and collect 50p from parents who want them - or boys who want more than one. We are open to any other catering suggestions that involve something a tad healthier than hotdogs, though we all accept how much easier they are.
Lottery: At every home game we have the opportunity to sell lottery tickets. Half of the cost goes directly to the Wildcats. This should be a nice fund raising exercise for us, but needs to be promoted. It is dead easy - just get someone to go round the crowd on a match day, chose 4 numbers, leave a phone number, and that is it. Tickets can be returned to me or Skinny behind the bar. Draws take place every couple of weeks, and tickets are valid for 'the next draw'. We have had a winner in the lottery already - I think trousering £250, but if we get this off the ground across the junior section we will be able to offer a MUCH bigger jackpot, and more for the team.
Note nothing is required of either of these jobs on an away match day, just the home ones. It's not much, and would really help the smooth running of the team.
Tuesday 21 September 2010
Match Report - Skewen
Training on Wednesday 4:30 as usual.
A team of Luca, Arthur, Lloyd, Myles, Eddie, Ethan, Finley, Sam and Duncan took the field against our old friends at Skewen. The scoreline didn't really reflect the competitive nature of the match, with Skewen tackling fiercely throughout, and the real difference between the sides being the Mumbles pace out wide. It was great to see everyone contributing, with some notable tackles from Fin, and the team managed to keep its shape and not crowd the scrum half. Highlights were some excellent efforts to look for the pass after making an initial run. Duncan being the grateful receiver of some lovely passing from Luca. Thanks go to Chris and his team for the welcome and we'll hopefully be back at Skewen sooner rather than later.
A team of Luca, Arthur, Lloyd, Myles, Eddie, Ethan, Finley, Sam and Duncan took the field against our old friends at Skewen. The scoreline didn't really reflect the competitive nature of the match, with Skewen tackling fiercely throughout, and the real difference between the sides being the Mumbles pace out wide. It was great to see everyone contributing, with some notable tackles from Fin, and the team managed to keep its shape and not crowd the scrum half. Highlights were some excellent efforts to look for the pass after making an initial run. Duncan being the grateful receiver of some lovely passing from Luca. Thanks go to Chris and his team for the welcome and we'll hopefully be back at Skewen sooner rather than later.
Sunday 19 September 2010
Match Report - Gowerton
The Wildcats lined up as follows for this match; Josh R, Josh B, Connor, Tom R, Dylan, Cam, Keiran, Ike and Owen. Gowerton kindly leant us a player so we were able to play 10 a side, which is the correct number of players for us this year.
Gowerton, as usual, gave us a really good game, with them being very organised and well drilled. I felt we benefitted by having all our players on the pitch for the full amount of time, and they all were able to get into the game because of this.
I was delighted with the commitment of our team. We are beginning to follow the patterns of play we are trying to develop. I was especially pleased with the tackling that was going in from our players, (remember we need to keep the tackles low!) I must mention Cam here as an example of how we should all be tackling. Cam was alert and ready when we were defending. He was moving up on the attacking players and closing them down as soon as their player had passed. He didn't allow them to begin their runs. A great example to us all! Well done Cam, let's see if you can do this for every game!
Our running was also good, with some hard yards being made by most of the team. We need to remember to run straight though, and not across the pitch and eventually into touch.
Rugby is a team sport. Not everyone will score the tries. However all can play a part in the build up to a try. By running straight and hard towards the try line you will be setting up a try. Remember to place the ball ready for the scrum half to pass if you get tackled, and then offer yourself as a runner in the next phase of play.
The final score was 2-2. Our tries coming from Dylan and Keiran. Well done boys!
All in all another improvement, still plenty to work on, but the signs are good!
Gowerton, as usual, gave us a really good game, with them being very organised and well drilled. I felt we benefitted by having all our players on the pitch for the full amount of time, and they all were able to get into the game because of this.
I was delighted with the commitment of our team. We are beginning to follow the patterns of play we are trying to develop. I was especially pleased with the tackling that was going in from our players, (remember we need to keep the tackles low!) I must mention Cam here as an example of how we should all be tackling. Cam was alert and ready when we were defending. He was moving up on the attacking players and closing them down as soon as their player had passed. He didn't allow them to begin their runs. A great example to us all! Well done Cam, let's see if you can do this for every game!
Our running was also good, with some hard yards being made by most of the team. We need to remember to run straight though, and not across the pitch and eventually into touch.
Rugby is a team sport. Not everyone will score the tries. However all can play a part in the build up to a try. By running straight and hard towards the try line you will be setting up a try. Remember to place the ball ready for the scrum half to pass if you get tackled, and then offer yourself as a runner in the next phase of play.
The final score was 2-2. Our tries coming from Dylan and Keiran. Well done boys!
All in all another improvement, still plenty to work on, but the signs are good!
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Sunday Matches
Final arrangements for Sunday.
Gowerton team meet at 11:15: Owen, Cam, Ike, Josh R, Dylan, Tom H, Connor, Tom R, Josh B, Keiran. Coach: Matt.
Skewen team meet at 10:30: Ethan, Luca, Arthur, Myles, Sam, Lloyd, Eddie, Finley, Duncan. Coach: Ian and Mike.
Thanks for the effort everyone. It shows a lot of commitment that we can field two teams, especially with a few boys out of Swansea this weekend. Hopefully the players will really benefit.
We have had two invitations for matches this weekend, so will aim to send one team to Gowerton and another to Skewen. With the numbers in our squad so high this is the ideal opportunity for the boys to have a full game. We know from the last couple of weeks how frustrating it is to have continuous substitutions, and to travel for just a few minutes rugby. I know from older age groups that this can work really well for the boys, they learn more, develop quicker, and enjoy the game more. But it can only work if we have a committed squad. Teamer invites and instructions will be sent this evening. If people are away, that obviously can't be helped, but if you can make it WE WILL NEED ALL AVAILABLE PLAYERS.
If this works well, we'll try and do it more often, aiming to keep the full squad together for home games, and split for away games. More rugby. Less standing round.
Gowerton team meet at 11:15: Owen, Cam, Ike, Josh R, Dylan, Tom H, Connor, Tom R, Josh B, Keiran. Coach: Matt.
Skewen team meet at 10:30: Ethan, Luca, Arthur, Myles, Sam, Lloyd, Eddie, Finley, Duncan. Coach: Ian and Mike.
Thanks for the effort everyone. It shows a lot of commitment that we can field two teams, especially with a few boys out of Swansea this weekend. Hopefully the players will really benefit.
We have had two invitations for matches this weekend, so will aim to send one team to Gowerton and another to Skewen. With the numbers in our squad so high this is the ideal opportunity for the boys to have a full game. We know from the last couple of weeks how frustrating it is to have continuous substitutions, and to travel for just a few minutes rugby. I know from older age groups that this can work really well for the boys, they learn more, develop quicker, and enjoy the game more. But it can only work if we have a committed squad. Teamer invites and instructions will be sent this evening. If people are away, that obviously can't be helped, but if you can make it WE WILL NEED ALL AVAILABLE PLAYERS.
If this works well, we'll try and do it more often, aiming to keep the full squad together for home games, and split for away games. More rugby. Less standing round.
Sunday 12 September 2010
Match report - Penclawdd
With Penclawdd seemingly struggling for numbers, we got straight into a warm up practice match amongst ourselves. This got the team focussed and eventually we were able to play three thirds against our visitors, Penclawdd.
There were some excellent tries run in from our players today, tries from Dylan (2), Luca (2), Josh R, Myles and Connor. The final score was 7-7, and it was a really good exciting game to watch. All players contributed and played their part. As the season progresses we will make sure that all players get more game time to develop their rugby skills.
Last week we decided to focus on some areas to improve for this match. Those were highlighted in last weeks report. All coaches were delighted that the boys responded so well this week. Of particular improvement was the tackle area when we are attacking. We have learned to leave the area free so the scrum half has time to pass out and away from the built up areas. This means we can get tries being run in which we all witnessed today.
During the first third today we scored 4 tries, Penclawdd didnt score one. This was because the Wildcats team who were on the pitch were pushing up fast in defence. They lined up and as soon as the opposition had passed, they were running up to tackle. This was great rugby, there were some great tackles from all players. The oppostion did not have time to get running at full speed and therefore couldn't score. The following thirds this did not happen as well. We all need to work on our defensive line and pressurising the attacking runners. If we are able to master this, I am sure we will have another successful season.
All in all, a massive improvement on our first match. Well done everybody! Let's keep this momentum going!
Training Wednesday, usual time and place!
Thursday 9 September 2010
Gum Shields
(match this Sunday at home, against Penclawdd. Meet Bish at 10:00).
We mentioned last season that Luke's dad is offering to provide fitted gum shields for the Wildcats. We are aiming to do the fitting after the home match against Dunvant on Sunday 26th September. So we can proceed with the organisation, can you please send an e-mail or text to Mike letting me know if you want one. No need to reply if you don't need one. Contact numbers are: txt 07846 334962, email: m.b.gravenor@swan.ac.uk.
The gum shields on offer are of very high quality. The price has been confirmed as £30 (making it a very good deal as this price only covers the lab fees, the full price being about 60). More details to follow when I know the numbers required.
We mentioned last season that Luke's dad is offering to provide fitted gum shields for the Wildcats. We are aiming to do the fitting after the home match against Dunvant on Sunday 26th September. So we can proceed with the organisation, can you please send an e-mail or text to Mike letting me know if you want one. No need to reply if you don't need one. Contact numbers are: txt 07846 334962, email: m.b.gravenor@swan.ac.uk.
The gum shields on offer are of very high quality. The price has been confirmed as £30 (making it a very good deal as this price only covers the lab fees, the full price being about 60). More details to follow when I know the numbers required.
Wednesday 8 September 2010
Sunday 5 September 2010
First Game of the Season!
New rules, new opposition.....As keen as ever the Wildcats managed to have a last minute match against Neath Athletic this morning, on a damp and fairly miserable early season Sunday morning. Many thanks to their coaches and team who gave us our biggest ever test.
We split the teams up into two even sides as our squad numbers are now beginning to swell to its allowable maximum. Quarters were decided upon and we were soon back into the swing of things.
From the sidelines, the new rules seem to allow for a faster game. Obviously with it being only our second run out of the new season we were rusty. However the boys stuck at the task in hand and we did manage to score 3 tries. Luca, Lloyd and Ethan being the try scorers for this first game. However it's plain for all to see, we will no longer be able to perform like we have for the last two seasons without putting in hard work in training, and then transferring that to the match on Sunday.
There are many things we did well, some of our running was strong and direct. There were some good passes in open play, and some extremely good tackles coming in, all great to see!
However there are many things for us to work on.
- Our defensive line needs to get in position and put pressure on the attacking team quicker. If we hang back to try to think of where their runner is going, by the time he is near us, he will be running at full speed and difficult to stop.
- We need to get in position when we are attacking. We need to leave the tackle area alone and line up across the pitch. This will mean that within one pass, the ball will be out in open spaces where our fast strong runners will be able to have a go at scoring.
- As we did last season, we need to run hard onto the ball and not take it standing still. This will mean by the time the player is approaching tacklers, they will be at full speed and difficult to stop.
See you Wednesday at 4.30 to begin to get these areas sorted!
Saturday 4 September 2010
First Sunday of the Season
Rugby returns this Sunday (5th September). It often happens at u9s that teams take September off just to adapt to the new game, so Loughor have postponed their match with us. I have invited Skewen to come instead, and hopefully they will be able to bring a side. If they can't we will have a full training match instead, which will be very useful for the boys, especially after the long summer break.
Either way, meet 10:00 at Bishopston.
Training next Wednesday at 4:30, Underhill, as usual.
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