U15s through to the D&W Bowl Final
The Salisbury RFC U15s won against Wimborne away, 20-10.
On a blustery day Salisbury RFC U15s travelled to Wimborne (a team that they have never beaten before) for the semi-final of the D&W Bowl. Contrary to the coaches’ advice, Captain Callum Grant elected to start the match playing into the strong wind, similar to tactics used on the Eiger. Under pressure from a strong set of forwards Salisbury were pinned back and were losing out at the breakdown. Passing along the backs was also a challenge in the strong wind and there were handling errors, resulting in Wimborne gaining possession inside the Salisbury 22 and their number 10 going over for the first try. Shortly after, from a powerful kick return Wimborne went over for a second try to make it 10 - 0 at half time, but those two tries could easily have been four without some excellent last ditch try line defence and a crucial steal by Billy. It was a game of 2 halves, and Salisbury came out with new intensity and the wind behind them as Wimborne's big units tired. Excellent competition at the break down produced cleaner ball. Some clever kicking from Leo, Seb and Byron made Wimborne repeatedly turn to get back. A well-weighted box kick by Leo forced Wimborne to take the ball over the line and touch it down and from the resulting 5m scrum, Dylan at 8 picked up and beat three players to score in the corner, which was a boost to the whole team and touchline support. Another great steal at the ruck allowed Leo to put another box kick into space and Byron just managed to beat their 13 to score and make it 10 all. Salisbury were now on the up and the sustained pressure produced a penalty in the Wimborne 22 that allowed Byron to put Salisbury in the lead. With minutes to go, Salisbury were hammering away near the Wimborne try line when the ball was turned over again by the strong Wimborne pack. It went down the line until Fraser tackled one of their players and the ball squirted out backwards towards their posts. Callum K and Sam Thomas were in hot pursuit and as the ball bounced off the post protector, between a defenders legs, Will applied the downward pressure to score. Byron took the extra 2 to make it 20:10 and the final whistle blew.
A great come-back from 10:0 at half time and it seems the tactical choice to start off into the wind was vindicated, although of course it might have been 30:10 with the halves the other way round J. It was a real team performance and difficult to single out players, but in the clubhouse Wimborne players chose Byron as their man of the match. From Salisbury side, Dylan got a mention for the ground he made, Callum K too for his versatility at 12 and 7, but Billy was the coaches’ man of the match. Lots of other unsung heroes including Alex, Michael, Sam and Will for their tackling, Leo and Seb for their kicking and Bertie and Ronnie for their impact at the breakdown.
Squad: Alex, Bertie, Billy, Byron, Callum G, Callum K, Danny, Dylan, Ed, Fraser F, Fraser O'G, Jacob, Joss, Leo, Max, Michael, Ronnie, Sam, Seb. Toby, Will.