Playing Squad Reports AGM 2017 Lutterworth RFC...Playing Squad Reports – AGM 2017 Lutterworth RFC Page 3 of 14 The season Pre-season training started at the beginning of July and

Playing Squad Reports – AGM 2017 Lutterworth RFC

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Contents – Team reports

o Mens 1st XV – Steve Russell o Mens 2nd XV – Ian Evans o Mens 3rd XV – Del March o Ladies – Adam Lawrence o Colts – Leon Brown o U16 boys – John Martini o U15 boys – Nick Hutt o U15s girls – Jason Woodward o U11 – Daniel Siddons o U10 – Maddy Simons o U9 – Craig Dyke o U8 – Adrian Lott

Mens 1st XV – Manager: Steve Russell

Total games played (League & Cup)

P W D L

27 16 0 11

Points for = 650 Points against = 610

Midlands 1 East

P W D L

26 16 0 10

Points for = 624 Points against = 580

Finished 4th in Mids 1 having been promoted the previous season.

- Melton Mowbray, the other side promoted from Mids 2 last season finished in 6th, 9 points

behind Lutterworth.

- Apart from Kettering we beat all other sides in the league on at least one occasion, including

Newbold who were only beaten by ourselves and Kettering.

- We received 13 try bonus points throughout the season which certainly helped secure 4th place.

Leicestershire County Cup: Lost at home to Syston 26 – 30

- This being the semi-final as our opponents from the previous 2 rounds withdrew prior to the

games and conceding walk overs on both occasions.

The Season: 42 different players have represented the 1st XV this season

10 players have played in 20 games or more

Joe Sullivan & Josh Connor 26 games, only missing 1 game!

Adam Welsh 25 games

George Turner 24 games

Ed Hopkins 23 games

Mark Barber 22 games

Dan Glasse & Dan Jones 21 games

Olly Jempson & Ed Garner 20 games


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Points scored: 96 tries scored throughout the season, an average of over 3 tries/game

Top try scorers: Olly Jempson 11

Joe Sullivan & Dan Jones 10

Josh Connor & Ben Stone 9

Points scored: Dan Glasse 126

Olly Jempson 55

Josh Connor 52

Joe Sullivan 50

Dan Jones 50

Man of the match: 17 different players were awarded M.O.M

- Harry Wood, Ben Stone & Dan Glasse each received it on 3 occasions. Harry having only played

11 games and Ben only 10!

- George Turner, George Ball, Joe Benjamin, Joe Sullivan & Josh Connor all received it on 2

occasions

- 8 players receiving it on more than 1 occasion

1st XV Debuts: 7 players debuted for the 1st XV this season;

Dan Glasse 21 games

Conor Warburton 12 games

Charlie Neale 5 games

Ewan Grunwald 5 games

Jacob Tivey 4 games (Colt)

Charlie Watts 3 games

Reece Jones 2 games (Colt)

50 Ties awarded: George Turner, Luke Ball, Mark Barber & Olly Jempson

Awards: Most Improved Player....................Martin Rayner

Young Player..................................Dan Glasse

Coaches’ Player..............................Josh Connor

Captain’s Player..............................Dan Jones

Players’ Player................................George Turner

The Players’ player was particularly close this season between 3 players and it wasn't until the last game

of the season before it was decided. It's worth mentioning that Harry Wood was 1 of the 3 and he'd only

played 11 games this season due to his injury woes! Olly Jempson was the other player.


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The season

Pre-season training started at the beginning of July and straight away numbers were good, high 20's on

a Tuesday and well into the 30's on a Thursday.

Geraint Davies joined the coaching team for the season which, as in previous seasons, included; Head

Coach David Johnson, forwards’ Coach Steve Lamb, Assistant Coach Tim Walker, and Geraint

concentrating primarily on the backs.

Midlands 1 having 14 different teams would mean another 4 extra league games in the season rather

than the usual 22 we'd become accustomed too. Proceedings got underway on the first Saturday of

September with a 90 mile trip to Market Rasen & Louth where we were greeted with a miserable, rain

soaked afternoon playing on a pitch that didn't look as if the grass had been cut since the previous

summer!

A close game which could have gone either way until sadly the home side scored their second try of the

game in the dying minutes, scuppering any chance of a losing bonus point. Final score 15 - 7.

The following week and back on home turf. Lutts welcomed Leicestershire rivals and Mids2 winners

from the previous season Melton Mowbray who were no doubt still licking their wounds from last

season when their 2 year unbeaten run came to a bitter end at Ashby Lane. A tough physical game saw

Lutterworth clinch the honours with a 17 - 11 victory and our first points of the season.

The short trip to Newbold was next on the cards. Newbold having plied their trades in Mids 1 for a

couple of seasons now and narrowly missing out on promotion to National 3 the previous season would

certainly be a tough proposition. Newbold were first to score from poor Lutterworth defense but it was

definitely Lutts who held the upper hand with a younger, fitter and faster side. With 46 minutes played

and Newbold trailing by 6 points, we lost 2 key players through injury and then to top it all 2 yellow

cards causing Lutts to lose their continuity and handing the advantage to the home side in what was a

very physical game. Final score 45 - 24.

Rivals of old, Northampton Old Scouts were next to visit Ashby Lane, another side that had been playing

their rugby in Mids1 for 2 seasons now. Due to multiple injuries and holidays etc the 1's had to call upon

several players from the 2nd XV for this fixture and although each and every one of them represented

themselves and the club well, the opposition proved a little too strong on the day beating us 32 - 24.

Things certainly didn't get any easier as the first Saturday in October saw us travel to Old

Northamptonians, a side relegated from National 3 the previous season, seemingly confident as the 'Big

fish in the small pond'. Although Lutts conceded a try in a little under a minute, the lads showed real

strength and determination to run out winners in the end. 12 - 13 in what was a fantastic game of rugby

to watch.


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The advantage of home turf again and Lutterworth managed their first bonus point win of the season

against a very tough Paviors side. Final score 30 – 19. Fitness definitely proving the key in what was

perhaps a closer game than the score line suggests.

Lutts were lying mid table now and starting to gain confidence when they travelled to Bugbrooke. The

home side certainly bought out their big guns for the afternoon and progressively took us to the

cleaners, thrashing Lutterworth 47 - 3!

Dronfield were the next opponents, a side like us who gained promotion at the end of last season having

comfortably won Mids 2 East North. Lutterworth back to full strength and probably still reeling from the

previous weeks drubbing put on a master class performance, scored 6 tries and put their league

aspirations back on track with a commanding victory 36 – 10.

A very strong and bitterly cold wind greeted Lutts at Huntingdon the following week, a team the

travelling support confirmed we'd never beaten on their patch in the past. A controlled performance,

particularly from the pack saw Lutts dominate, with the score line definitely not telling the tale of the

ascendancy; 12 – 21.

Ilkeston seemed to be the whipping boys of Mids 1 East this season for various reasons and sadly now

well into November still not having won a game. Things didn't get easier for them either at Ashby Lane

as another dominant performance from Lutts saw a total of 6 home tries scored and another bonus

point win 37 – 7.

The end of November saw an away fixture against Kettering, apparently a side that were concerned with

playing us as we'd beaten their arch rivals and nemesis Old Northamptonians a few weeks earlier. On

the day the better side won and the home team were worthy winners 44 – 31, scoring 6 tries to

Lutterworth's 5 which guaranteed us a try bonus away from home.

Leighton Buzzard were the next visitors to Ashby Lane, a side that thrashed us at their place and beat us

comfortably at home 2 seasons previously when they were unbeaten in Mids 2 East. Strangely, Buzzard

were floundering towards the bottom of the league. The visitors put on a strong performance

throughout the game but Lutts proved stronger and in the end took the spoils 28 - 20 with another

bonus point win.

A journey to Cut Throat Lane to face old rivals Wellingborough the following week. Always a difficult

ground to play at and invariably in difficult conditions on a pitch that's always wet and boggy. A

miserable, grey day was certainly made better when the Lutterworth forwards literally took the home

side’s pack to pieces, dominated proceedings in the game and clinched the laurels 8 - 22.

The Saturday before Christmas saw the league turnaround and an away trip to Melton. A side who are

always dominant at home and no doubt still reeling from their earlier defeat at Ashby Lane.

Lutterworth's task was certainly not helped by the unavailability of 3 key front row players, especially

considering Melton probably have the best tight 5 in the league. We were further thwarted when we


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lost young rising star Harry Wood who broke his ankle mid game, putting him out for the remainder of

the season; final score 31 - 10. Despite this loss Lutterworth ended 2016 sat comfortably 6th in M1E.

League leaders and bitter rivals Newbold were the first opponents to visit Ashby Lane in the New Year.

A side that were unbeaten to date and certainly favourites for promotion at the seasons end. Lutts put

on a fantastic home performance, had total faith in their own ability, the ability of their team mates, and

in front of a large crowd showed real grit and determination to run out more than worthy winners 28 -

25, score 4 tries and seal another all-important bonus point win.

Northampton Old Scouts is always a difficult place to play and a confident Lutterworth side put on a

strong performance to score 4 tries away from home and seal the win 17 – 26. A victory that helped

promote us to 4th in the league.

ON's were next and a below average performance cost us dearly against a more experienced side which

handed the visitors the spoils and our second home defeat of the season 13 - 32.

A Lutterworth side now more or less back to full strength made the trip north to Paviors, a side that had

certainly found some form of late and appeared to be very strong at home. From the kick off Lutts were

in command and I honestly don't know how it was 23 minutes before the visitors broke the deadlock

and recorded the first score of the game. The first half finished Lutts up 0 - 10 and confidence was

running high for the second 40. Well, what a difference the second half was with the visitors now on the

receiving end of wave after wave of attack. Fortunately the game ended 7 - 10 in Lutterworth's favour

but if I'm being totally honest the result could well have gone the other way.

Into February now and the long awaited return fixture against Bugbrooke and hopefully a little red,

white and green payback. Despite Lutterworth's higher league position the visitors once again looked

confident and at the break Lutts were down 0 - 8. A stiff talking to at half time and a shuffle around in

the squad saw the home side score 3 second half tries and after a very controlled performance clinch

the game 17 - 11 at the final whistle and help us climb back to 4th in the league again.

Back up the M1 once again to face Dronfield, a side although sitting 13th in the league had also had

some strong results of late and definitely seemed in confident mood on our arrival. An even first half

saw Lutts 2 points down at the break but the final 40 minutes was a different affair with Lutterworth

playing with the slope, scoring 17 points to 3 and the all-important 4 tries to steal a bonus point victory

15 - 27 away from home.

Half a dozen games remaining and the league had certainly taken shape, Newbold, Kettering and Old

Northamptonians had the top 3 places in that order with Dronfield and Ilkeston the bottom 2.

Lutterworth were still sat at 4th with Huntingdon breathing down our necks only 1 point behind and

Melton ready to pounce in 6th should either of us slip up along the way. The other relegation spot was

taken up by the majority of the remaining sides as it was so very close with only the odd 1 or 2 points

separating the rest.


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Home advantage against Huntingdon would prove key, a side we'd dominated away from home earlier

in the season. What a different affair this would be in a game which really did go from end to end!

Every time Lutts scored the visitors came straight back with a score of their own. Fortunately the final

whistle bought the proceedings to a close, Lutts the better by only 2 points, although still managed to

score 5 tries. Final score 37 - 35. This helped further cement our league place in 4th and put a gap

between ourselves and Huntingdon who were still clinging on in 5th.

The second week in March and an away fixture against Ilkeston, a side to date with only 1 victory in the

league. Unfortunately for the home side their fortunes certainly didn't improve as Lutterworth ran in 11

tries to only 2 for Ilkeston and sealing another great bonus point win away from home.

Sunday the 19th March Lutterworth welcomed Syston to Ashby Lane in the semi-final of the County

Cup. Unfortunately the opponents from the previous 2 rounds had withdrawn prior to both fixtures due

to injury woes and both clubs wanting to concentrate on their league aspirations rather than a Cup

competition so handing walk overs to Lutterworth on each occasion. Sadly, due to work commitments I

was unable to watch the game but the lads were definitely confident of pulling off a home win and

allowing us the opportunity of another County Cup final at Welford Road. As Lutterworth Colts had

already progressed through to their respective final what an achievement it would be for the club if the

seniors could match the Colts success. Although Lutts scored 2 early tries in very quick succession and

I'm told looked the better, fitter and stronger side on the day (obviously some bias there!) we were

unfortunately unable to stamp our authority on the game in the second half and lost to a team who

perhaps have a little more experience, given that they play their rugby in National 3. In the end

Lutterworth lost 26 - 30.

Regrettably the tough encounter against Syston also resulted in a few key players suffering injuries.

Injuries that would keep some out for at least a few weeks and Charlie Turner unfortunately for the rest

of the season with a broken bone in his foot. So, Kettering were our last league opponents of March, a

side who although 2nd in Mids 1, in my opinion play by far the best rugby in the league and looked safe

for that 2nd place play off spot. Well Kettering undoubtedly bought their A game and although the score

was close at the mid-point, they put Lutts to the sword in the second half. Final score 12 - 34.

A trip south to Leighton Buzzard was next on the cards, a side struggling so far this season and certainly

looking like they could be the 3rd side to face relegation. A poor performance from Lutterworth and I'll

be honest, also by the match official saw the home side clinch the victory quite easily 22 - 5. Showing

that any team fighting to stay at a level can pull off a result against form as and when required.

Into April now and with only 2 games left of the season, both at home, Lutts played host to

Wellingborough on a beautiful spring afternoon. The visitors knowing full well that anything other than

a victory would probably see them relegated to Midlands 2 for next season. Unfortunately Lutterworth

played second fiddle in a game that the visitors showed dogged determination to win, scored 6 tries to

Lutterworth's 4 and ended the game as deserved winners 22 – 34.


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After the Easter break Lutts were almost back to full strength for the remaining league game of the

season, home against Market Rasen & Louth. Another team who'd also found recent good form and

appeared confident they could pull the double off against Lutterworth. At the end of the first 40, Lutts

were trailing by a single point but still positive of the right outcome. The second half was a different

affair with the home team dominating the last quarter, scored 6 tries in total throughout the game and

ran out victors 39 - 28.

In the end Lutterworth finished their season 4th in Mids 1 East. A great result considering it was the first

season competing at this level after promotion from Mids 2 in April 2016. I suppose Newbold and

Kettering were dominant and finished 1st & 2nd respectively with Old Northamptonians filling the 3rd

spot. Lutts pipped Huntingdon by 1 point in the end with Melton a further 8 points behind in 6th.

Unbelievably 7th through to 12th places were separated by just 4 points which only goes to prove how

competitive the league was. In the end Dronfield and Ilkeston finished bottom of the table and were

guaranteed relegation to Mids 2 for next season.

Lutts learnt a lot playing rivals from the East Midlands, some new and some old, and had hoped to take

this on to challenge for a top 3 spot in the 2017/2018 season. Sadly due to the structure of the

Midlands leagues and where Lutterworth sit geographically, we have been instructed to move across to

Midlands 1 West for the forthcoming season. This will certainly host some new challenges in what many

believe to be a stronger league.

Here's looking forward to the 2017/2018 season.

Mens 2nd XV – Ian Evans: Manager

Games played this season Pld W L D F A 32 21 11 0 988 656

Leicestershire Premier League: Finished 3rd Pld W L D F A Pts 14 8 6 0 441 296 30

Scored: 161 Tries, 81 Cons, 7 Pens, 0 Drop Goals County Cup: Lost against Vipers 1sts/2nds in the first round Clonmell Cup: Lost against Newbold in the semi final Players used 79 Colts used 14 Top points Scorers: Charlie Neale 97, Ross Wheatley 90, Robbie Spencer 76.


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Top try scorers: Pld Tries Ross Wheatley 26 18 Charlie Neale 11 14 Josh Johnson 15 10 Tom Barton 15 10 Robbie Spencer 29 10

Most man of the matches: Luke Evans 3

Kieran Hussey 3 Ross Lockton 3

Most games played: Robbie Spencer 29 (out of 32 games)

Ross Wheatley 26 ( “ ) Jonny Wright 26 ( “ )

Awards: Player of the Season: Ross Lockton

Most Improved Player: Robbie Spencer Captains Player: Ross Wheatley

Mens 3rd XV – Manager: Del March

20 games played

Captain's player: Tony Cole

Players Player: Simon Sandercock.

Ladies – Head Coach: Adam Lawrence

Number of Registered & Active Players is circa. 40, which is an improvement on last year. Although the number may be slightly less on paper, all 40 players are actively engaged in Lutterworth RFC Ladies.

Recruited several new players, most notable; Chloe Richardson, Dannie McKenzie, Kristie Marvin and Sophie Etheridge. Sophie joined us from another local club whilst Dannie went on to represent the County side.

Representation

- England Ladies Deaf Team: Amy Whittaker won her first senior Cap and has been selected to go on their upcoming tour in Australia.

- Leics County: Natalie McDonald, Emma Bliss, Dannie McKenzie, Carla Jones all represented the Championship winning side this season, with Carla Jones playing in the final at Richmond RFC.


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League Results: NC Midlands 1

Lutterworth HWO Deeping Devils

Ashfield 14 12 Lutterworth

Lutterworth 10 7 Old Leamingtonians

Wellingborough 0 12 Lutterworth

Rugby Lionesses 12 22 Lutterworth

Lutterworth 29 0 Five Ways Old Eds

Lutterworth 5 3 Ashfield

Deeping Devils 20 38 Lutterworth

Old Leamingtonians 12 7 Lutterworth

Lutterworth 24 5 Wellingborough

Lutterworth 24 17 Rugby Lionesses

Five Ways Old Eds 12 14 Lutterworth

- Finished second

- Played 12, won 10, lost 2, scored 44 points, points difference +95. - Highest placed finished for a number of years and highest points scored for a while. - Long time since we beat both Wellingborough and Old Leamingtonians in the same

season.

National Cup

- Lutterworth 15 vs 0 Lincoln

- Derby 34 vs 0 Lutterworth

National Plate - Lutterworth 12 vs 5 Mellish - Five Ways Old Eds 0 vs 26 Lutterworth - York RI 32 vs 0 Lutterworth

Reached quarter final of the National Plate Season awards

- Players Player: Carla Jones - Most Improved: Emma Bliss - Coaches Player: Gina Wagstaff.

Season summary

- A very good season for the Ladies, one of the best seasons they have had for quite some time.


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Colts – Manager: Leon Brown

Achievements Winners: Leicestershire County Cup Winners: Leicestershire Colts League (retained) National Colts Cup Quarter Finalists Unbeaten 21 game run 36-1 Win-Loss Record Over 1400 points and over 220 tries scored

How to sum this up? Record-breaking? Entertaining? Challenging?... historic. However you wish to summarise the Colts season it's one that will live long in the memory. A freak year, true, how often do you only lose one game which was in a National scup Quarter Final? Nonetheless it didn't come without its hard work and it didn't come without its tests. The league: After a pre-season which laid a foundation then lit the touch paper for the season, the Colts took to league action in September. Amidst wins against their local rivals the Colts were aiming to retain their title. By Christmas the first all or nothing type game arrived in the form of LFE away; a repeat of the County Cup Quarter Final two weeks before and the final game before Xmas. Everything was laid out for this win which would take the undefeated run to Christmas. A close game was a rare occurrence in the season but won worth collecting. Post-Christmas the Colts continued to sweep away the opposition in style racking up record wins against Hinckley 74-0 and Syston 75-7. Another game against LFE brought the closest result of the season 14-12 at home and a massive defensive effort was needed to give Lutts one hand on the trophy. The second was placed with a win at Hinckley two weeks later in March. The second consecutive year the Colts won the Leicestershire U18 Merit League. Although slightly more straight forward this time around Lutts managed to do it undefeated and from first to last minute, even after the league was won the competitive nature remained and the squad continued to push. National Cup: The first 3 regional rounds all came in the first couple of months with Rushden & Higham, Syston and Huntington all despatched with more than 50 points a game each. The first knockout came at home to Burton on a wet and horrible day, despite the test up front and Lutts not being at their best as a unit the individual brilliance shone through. Having to until March which turned out to be the busiest month, Lutts welcomed Yorkshire side Old Brodleians and again after a bit of a slow start got into top gear and notched another 50 points. The win pushed the Colts into the quarter finals. History in the makings and would travel to Old Albanians on a Sunday. The game was close, Lutts didn't have all their usual luck and against equal opposition they lost but to one score. The journey in the Nationals had took them far, it had showcased their skills wide unfortunate to have not gone further and on another day they would have. County Cup: Having beat LFE away in a stellar performance in December. Lutts had Market Bosworth at home on the first day back from New Year. An early lapse put the side behind but at full time it was a typical Lutts score line. scoring over 40 points. This paved the way to Welford Road and the final where they would play Hinckley. The wait was long and for the build-up it was painstakingly managed. Guests of Joe Sullivan, Geraint Davies and even one Geordan Murphy showed Lutts the way and on May 9th it


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was go time. Probably the most professional and mature performance of the season was kept ‘til last as Lutts won 34-10 at the home of the Leicester Tigers. Summary: Completing a County double championship Lutts had made sure their crown was secure at the top of the local tree. Individually Lutts had been represented at County for Leicestershire (winning the Midlands Championship) and Warwickshire, Rugby and District, Academies development squads for Tigers and Wasps, made their way into the full academy at Nottingham, as well as England in the U18 Counties team. Success was no stranger and it was down to everyone in the set up. Coaching from Marcus Stevens, Nobby Robbins and Les Ketteringham and Mitch Read as well as Ivan Tivey and Kev Jones, leading the ship was Ian Johnson who gave more than people will know. Management support from Debra Burgoine and Mike White to Leon Brown is greatly appreciated. Sponsors, the parents who supported every week and the players who week in and out trained hard and played hard regardless of selection and performance. Seasons like this only come about once in a blue moon and certainly it will be cherished. Awards: Players' Player George Willmott

Most Improved Joe Anderson Coaches Player Dan White Captain's Player Charlie Read (Twat Dan Jordan)

Representation England U18 Counties x2

Midlands U18 Squad x4 Leicestershire U18 x8 - Midlands Champions Leicestershire U17 x5 Warwickshire U17 x1 Leicester Tigers Academy Development Squad x2 Wasps Academy Development Squad x1 Welsh Rugby Union Exiles Squad X1 Irish Rugby Union Exiles Squad x1 Rugby & District U17 Champions x2

U16 – Manager: John Martini

70% win ratio County plate semi-finalists 2 players accepted into the Leicester Tigers Academy for next season. 5 players in Leicestershire U17 squad 5 players in Rugby & District 1 player in the Warwickshire U17 squad


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U15 – Head Coach: Nick Hutt

Played 19 games Won 10 Lost 9 Points for 479 Points against 439 Top points scorer; Olly Hutt with 166 (17 tries, 1 penalty, 39 cons) Top try scorer; Harry Smith with 24 A limited squad size of 24 which reduced to 21 by the end of the season. This impacted on the pre-Christmas period when several games were cancelled due to lack of numbers. However, thankfully this improved during January. Highlights included a second consecutive year reaching the county plate final but on this occasion we frustratingly and very disappointingly let the game slip in the final 10 minutes and lost to Oadby Wyggs and we hosted a touring side from Otley prior to a first team game in April which was highly entertaining for both on and off field antics. We toured in Colwyn Bay for a weekend in April with a squad of 20 plus coaches and somewhat apprehensive parents and it turned out to be a fantastic weekend which most got through unscathed with 2 games on the Sunday morning against Wrexham (won convincingly) and Nant Conwy (lost narrowly – the previous nights partying clearly kicking in during the second game). Nevertheless a memorable bus trip back via the scenic route enabling more time for bus related revelry and merriment. Representative honours (Worcester Academy, Tigers DPP/PDG and Warwickshire County) went to 4 players; Jack Hewitt, Harry Smith, Dave Ridley and Olly Hutt

End of season awards: Players Player; Harry Smith Parents Player; Jamie Lydall Most Improved Player; Joe Raine Coaches Award; Ben Andrews Thanks to all who have been involved this year in whatever capacity (coaching, medics, refs, sponsors and tour organisers).


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U15s Girls – Girls Coordinator: Jason Woodward

This year for the first year the girls have had a full fixture program and we have successfully managed to field a full team for each fixture. We had a few girls join us to play as a cluster through Old Laurentions RFC. We have seen some excellent rugby and team work shown throughout the season which was topped off with a great show at a tournament in London. There have been some notable achievements from both players and coaches. Our coaches, Nick Cameron and Pete Bucknell steered County under 15s girls to their most successful year. We have fielded nine girls in the county squad, with Frankie Langham winning under fifteens player off the year . We have also seem eight girls go through to Midlands Divisional trials with two girls, Mathilda Renault and Ella Woodward being picked to join the squad and go on to play in all Midlands Divisional games.

U11 – Manager: Daniel Siddons

A good year for the under 11s. As a team we moved to two playing teams due to our growth in numbers. This has enabled us to focus the training of forward and back positions. Due to this we have had one of our best years for team skill and morale improvement. With this being the first year for focusing on all players across clubs there has been no winners and losers, which in the whole has led to less of a competitive spirit with the players and parents. As a team we played in the county cup and went on tour to Kingswood and Holt RFC which the boys enjoyed greatly.

U10 – Manager: Maddy Simons

The U10s have had a great season with numbers holding fairly steady (we have lost a couple and gained a couple). There has been a really improvement in skills and the sense of team. As we are in the non-competitive era we have not tracked wins and loses but I think we had a pretty even split. The team have just come back from an enjoyable tour at Grimsby where both players and parents got to spend some quality time together both on and off the pitch.

U9 – Manager: Craig Dyke

Very encouraging season for the 9s given it was their first year contact was introduced. 7 new players registered to the under 9s with no players leaving in the season. We continue to pick two balanced teams each week apart from for County Festival, which has seen improvement across the board for all players. With the removal of winners and losers at festivals/tournaments there has been a bit of loss of competitive edge in these types of games. That said at South Leics tournament we entered two teams and both undefeated; County Cup we came nominal 5th (which would’ve been plate winners in old money); at on tour at Holt RFC festival Lutterworth Reds won 3 and drew 2 so were undefeated in the


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festival against much bigger squads and the Greens stood up to much bigger teams with great credit. Now up to 5 coaches for the Under 9s with two gaining Level 1 coaching badges.

Off the pitch the parents have been fantastic again in helping out in the kitchen and at matches with the children. We have raised funds again of over £300 which we will look to reinvest back into the players.

U8 – Manager & Head Coach: Adrian Lott

The 2016 / 17 rugby season saw a lot of changes within the U8's age group. Nine players returned to the club in September, having split away from the joint age groups of the previous years U6's and U7's. The numbers for the club were boosted by an additional eight new players, making the squad total 16 players. In addition to this Roger Clarke agreed to pass on his vast knowledge of rugby to the coaching staff and joined the coaches team, resulting in the age group having four coaches. The age group have two UKCC Level 1 coaches.

The new players were greatly assisted by the players whom played previously and the team developed

in strength and consistency over the season. This resulted in some excellent performances especially at

the end of the season, where both teams did themselves proud at the Hinckley, Nuneaton and County

Festivals. Due to the RFU rule changes there were no winners unlike last season where the U7's were

crowned County Vase winners.

Both myself and the other coaches are looking forward to the interesting transition from tag rugby to

contact next season.

Finally we would like to thank Aggregate Industries for their generous sponsorship and providing all the

boys with training tops.

** end **

Documents

Playing Squad Reports AGM 2017 Lutterworth RFC...Playing Squad Reports – AGM 2017 Lutterworth RFC Page 3 of 14 The season Pre-season training started at the beginning of July and