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Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
MINI MATTERS & YOUTH NEWS
Week 17
Sunday 11th April 2021
Our second week back and the sun was still shining at Datchworth. Great to see a good turn out across all
age-groups and it was very pleasing to see a few more new faces at the Club. We have a couple more
Sunday mornings remaining, and fingers crossed for more good weather before we move to the Monday
evening slots.
The age-group updates for this weekend are all detailed below…
Ladies First…
Girls Section
A great afternoon on Sunday for the girls as we slowly introduced contact work back into our sessions.
The U11s and U13s worked together on ball handling and tackling basics to help our newest two
members. They finished with a game which gave Eady, one of our newbies, an opportunity to shine.
Great game awareness for such a new player, amazing speed and she responded well to feedback. A well-
deserved player of the week for Eady for this age group.
The U15s and U18s worked hard knocking the padding out of the tackle shields with some impressive
defensive work, followed by some practice receiving the ball from a kickoff. Some fantastic work between
forwards and backs as the girls become more familiar with the structure of the 15 a-side game. Del
Wynne was our player of the week with a very high work rate, making most of the carries and hitting a
high percentage of rucks. Well done Del
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
Mini Rugby…
U6s Datchworth Training Session
Another week, and some more fresh keen faces. Maximum effort all round,
especially as we started working on some more advanced passing drills, and
getting more communication going.
Bulldog was very exciting this week, with some great defensive movement.
Player of the week was Jack, well done buddy.
U7s Datchworth Training Session
Good numbers again with 19 under sevens at Datchworth this week. After a
warmup we split up in to two groups (game and relays) and rotated throughout
the session. Two coaches along with some brilliant helpers took care of the
relays. This week the U7’s had the opportunity to crash in to the tackle bags
which they love. The relays are brilliant and help with many of the games
needed attributes which come in very handy at game time. On the other pitch
another two coaches were with the remaining U7’s with 5 a side match.
Because of the long enforced gap between training there were a few offsides
and knock-ons at first but as always they get the hang of it pretty quickly. New
starter Liam made some tremendous tackles throughout the game and some
brilliant tries were scored by Jude, Gabriel, Toby, Ethan and a few others.
Cameron got past all the Bulldog chasers at the end which finished the session.
Player of the week was a close call but this week it went to Toby for his illusive
sidestep that led to his brilliant try.
U8s Datchworth Training Session
Look out for a local age-group update… training as usual next weekend.
U9s Datchworth Training Session
22 eager players stepped onto the field this morning, on what was a great day for some rugby.
Starting at 9.30, the team warmed up by competing in pairs for the ball, some good sprinting and
friendly competition got the blood pumping.
The team's ball handling and offloading skills were thoroughly tested in two exercises. The first,
passing down the line to then lead an attack against the coaches, always helps the players to get
used to drawing the tackler in. The second, was a two against one affair where the primary ball
carrier either offloads or runs in the try. Some great runs by the kids, a few decent side steps and
some lessons learnt about hanging back in support and taking the ball whilst moving at speed.
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
This season hasn't been as we would have wanted and as coaches, we
are keen to safely return to full contact. As such, we completed the
regular tackle practice to ensure everyone knew what they are doing and
how to fall properly.
We closed out the session with some hard-fought games. It was great to
see the players pick and go, stick to their defensive line and carry
through the offloading practice into the game situation. I think I can
safely say that everyone put a great deal of effort into both attack and
defence. Player of the week went to Dally for displaying great maturity,
making some fantastic straight runs and putting in the effort to always
making it back to his team's defensive line.
Well done to everyone.
U10s Datchworth Training Session An excellent week for the U10s as we finally got to take on the ruck and introduce it to the game
with what can be said to a degree of success. To get us there we started with a running warm-up and
stretches before starting the contact work with some pushing and wrestling. After everyone was
ready to go, we split into four sessions to introduce the ruck, along with building on the contact,
movement, and passing work.
We've been waiting to get stuck into the technicalities of the ruck for a while so it was really good to
see so many players taking up the challenge. The coaches explained the ruck and what good looks
like before setting a training game for the players to try it out. It would be fair to say there was a lot
of excellent work in trying to learn this new skill with Jamie showing great energy in getting stuck in.
Tommy and Kyran also brought their strength to training which was great to see as touch doesn't
allow them to show their natural skills.
We finished with a full game of tackling and rucking with some excellent
rucking from Edward who showed that technique and hard work wins
rucks, good work from Finlay L who quickly switched on to getting to
the breakdown protects and ball and player, and lastly to Nathan who
also picked up where he left off but tackling everything (others are sure
to catch up with softer ground).
A massive welcome to two new players. Tom started brilliantly and
clearly has the right attitude to rugby taking on anything in his way, and
Seb who looks to bring a bit of flair to our game. Welcome both - you
were awesome.
Player-of-the-week (PoTW) this week went to Finlay J who took to the
ruck work brilliantly but also kept up his skills in the passing and evasion
games with direct running and a little bit of movement (perfect outside
centre work). Well done Fin!
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
We are back on Wednesday at 6pm - 7pm and Sunday at 9:30am. Can we request all to confirm
attendance on SPOND as it really helps to plan sessions especially contact work.
U11s Datchworth Training Session
A sunny but chilly morning saw another good turn-out for our second session since training
recommenced.
The boys' fitness is notably better than it was at the end of the first lock-down, notwithstanding the
Easter chocolate, and their handling skills have improved too despite the cold!
We began the session with a game of netball rugby, using a variety of different sized and shaped
balls, to develop their handling skills and awareness of space. This was followed by tackling drills,
both with each other in pairs and individually on tackle-bags, so that they remember how to tackle
safely when we reintroduce this into the game. There was plenty of commitment on display, not
least from Coach Nick - we all winced a bit when he demonstrated how to take down a tackle-bag....
We finished the session with a game of touch rugby. The boys are clearly
rusty after the long break, and are not yet thinking as a team again: in
attack, they need to support each other, look for space and move the ball
around to find it; and in defence, they need to work together to cover the
gaps across the field and move forward to shut down the attack before it
gains momentum. That said, Zac and Ben worked particularly well together
to exploit the current rules to the full.
Our first "Player of the Week" of 2021 went to our new recruit, Gene, who
has shown a really positive attitude and worked hard in all aspects of
training. He narrowly pipped Ben, who can always be relied upon to show
great commitment.
U12s Datchworth Training Session
I would like to start the report with a little bit of recognition.
Our squad Captain Sam Gore certainly led by example during the lockdown. Sam came up with the
idea to create some squad unity whilst creating a fun fitness challenge. The idea was for the squad to
cover in kilometres the total distance the England rugby team would travel to away games in this
years 6 Nations. Pretty much every player took part cycling, running. hiit workouts, walking the dog,
family walks, rugby work outs you name it the players done it. Sam G calculated all the distances and
gave us all daily updates. The players smashed the challenge before England travelled to Ireland.
Well done Sam G for organising and to all the players for taking part.
So second Sunday back. Same format, running around, fun, skill and play zones. We had a special
visitor this Sunday, Mini Chair Mr Andrew Howard who looked on and listened in to what was going
on. We hope he enjoyed some of the skills on display.
4 teams two 7 a side games of "Duncan Rules" with the players coming up with their own rules so
we gradually stripped it back to a structured game of rugby. We have decided as a group not to have
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
any contact in this window until the end of May. With the firm pitches and short time, we have, why
risk injury??
We then made two teams on a full pitch. Similar to last week, great structure, moving the ball down
the line, shuffle defence great to see. Once we start some one-to-one coaching in September and
take that in to games, things can only get better.
Well done to all the players today, great attitude and commitment and lots of smiles.
Boys Youth Rugby…
U13s
The U13s continued to re-establish their rugby side with a game of rugby netball before the boys
were split into groups for some 1 on 1 tackling and contact work before a game of tag rugby to
conclude the session.
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
U14s
Our U14's had another good turnout both for mid-week training on Wednesday night and for Sunday
training over at the Village Hall, which was cold and windy despite being sunny. After a warm up, we
got back to basics with some passing drills followed by building up tackling skills again after such a
long break. We then moved on to practice some dummy pass moves and finished with a touch
game. It was great to also welcome Lennie Smith this week, a hopeful new addition to our squad.
U15s
The U15s were more or less at full strength today with the squad coming together to play some
good rugby. The handling was looking better this week and the Captains’ Run and training games
both showed good intensity and commitment. It was great to welcome Dash back and also to see
Tom Moore back with us.
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
We are firming up plans for three games in May although we will continue to keep a close eye on the
ground conditions as it is getting quite hard already. Provisionally though we are looking at:
• May 9th Enfield Ignations (Away)
• May 16th Chess Valley (Away)
• May 23rd or 30th Welwyn (Away)
We will be training under the lights on Thursday from 7 till 8 and again on Sunday at 11:30.
U16s
Another sunny Sunday saw 13 boys put through their paces by Phil, Bob and Jason. The session
involved forwards and backs having separate drills working on their respective core skills, as well as
game practice. The boys present worked hard, and put a lot of effort in.
Going forward, we are now looking to fill the May weekends with matches, which will have to be
away. Consequently, we really need more boys to start to regularly attend training, so we can do
our best to get them match fit and ready to play. At the moment, we have matches at OVs (St
Albans) on 16th May and Cheshunt on 23rd May. I will be contacting other local clubs to see if they
want fixtures in May this week.
Next training is on Thursday 15th at 19:00hrs on Pitch 3, hopefully with alfresco use of the
clubhouse.
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
Mid-Week Training Plan APRIL 2021
– Time & Pitch Space Allocations
Age Group
Head / Senior Coach(s)
Pitch Space
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
7 till 9 6 till 7 7 till 8 8 till 9 6 till 7 7 till 8 8 till 9
Senior Sides (Inc
U18s)
Ian Reid / Andy Riley / Simon Little
Full Pitch
Main Senior Session
8-9
U16 Phil N / Jason P
½ Pitch 7-8
U15 Andrew H / Neal J
½ Pitch 7-8
U14 Warren S / Woody
½ Pitch 7 – 8
U13
Darren H / Marie F
½ Pitch
U12
Danny S / Dave G
½ Pitch 6 - 7
U11 Pip G / Nic B
½ Pitch TBC
U10 Matt S / John McG
½ Pitch 6 - 7
Girls Squads
Phil Solomon ½ Pitch 7 - 8
Women’s Rugby
Phil Solomon ½ Pitch 8 – 9
Mini Mid-Week Training:
• Mid-week training slots are provisionally as detailed above, please ALWAYS confirm mid-week
arrangements with your age group manager on week-by-week basis.
• Any squad with a 6 till 7 can start earlier if Coaches / Players are able to do-so.
• Later Sessions must end very promptly to give other squads training a full hour.
• The Flood Lights must be turned off at 9pm.
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
Training Arrangements & Car Park Plan
Next Weekend – (Sunday 18th April) Car Parking
Thanks to Duncan, (U12s), for getting the cones out again at the start of the morning and to Alex,
Matt, Richard and Neal for helping to collect them after the Youth Session. We would be most
grateful if others from the Youth Groups can help collect the cones at the end of the second session.
Next Weekend’s Training Plan & Session Timings Arrangements:
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
APRIL 2021 - WEEKLY PITCH ALLOCATION AND TRAINING SLOTS
Mini & Youth Return to Rugby 2021:
1. Sunday Morning Mini and Youth Rugby will continue on Sunday 18th April. We will use the two time slots as we adopted pre-lockdown; i.e. 9:30: 11 for Mini Section Age Groups and then 11:30 till 13:00 for Youth Section Age Groups and the Girls Squads. We will again not be able to offer catering for the time being.
2. Girls and Boys Mini and Youth Sunday Rugby will take place, (as above), on:
a. Sunday 18th April b. Sunday 25th April
3. During April, Youth age-groups are running mid-week sessions; (Managers to confirm arrangements directly)
4. In May, (the RFU encouraged Season Extension Period), we will host and offer ‘Monday Night Rugby’ for all age-groups; 6 till 7 for Mini Age Groups and 7:30 till 8:30 for Youth Age Groups; all sessions will take place on the Back Field; we will work with any age-groups struggling for available coaches at this time to try and make sure all age groups have the chance to participate.
5. Mini and Youth May Monday Night Rugby will provisionally take place on:
a. Monday 3rd May b. Monday 10th May c. Monday 17th May d. Monday 24th May e. Monday 31st May
6. During May there will be NO other Youth Rugby training sessions as the cricket section will have primary use of the Club at Weekends and Tuesday thru Friday.
7. The Rugby Season this year ‘ends’ on the 31st May. The Youth Section will then have a total rugby break in June and any pre-season training will take place on the Village Hall Pitch for Youth
Session Time Age Group Pitch Allocation
Session 1 Mini Rugby
9:30 till 11:00
U6 Lower Grids
U7 Top Grids
U8 Pitch 2 Middle / Club End
U9 Pitch 2 Far end
U10 Pitch 3 Club end
U11 Pitch 3 Far end
U12 Village Hall Pitch
Session 2
Boys Youth & Girls Rugby 11:30 till 13:00
U13 Pitch 3 (Far end)
U14 Village Hall Pitch
U15 Pitch 2 Club end
U16 Pitch 2 Far end
Girls Pitch 3 (Club end)
Datchworth Rugby Football Club
DRFC - 51 Years of Rugby at Datchworth 2020/2021!
and Senior Teams in July and August (timings TBC). Mini Rugby will not take place until September.
8. During the Summer and subject to the rules we will plan at least the following to help recover the Rugby Section:
a. Summer Rugby BBQ Saturday afternoon when no home Cricket Match (date TBC)
b. Mini and Youth Section Lions ‘Camp Over Night’ (subject to local permission and ability to watch the games without social distancing restrictions in July) – date TBC,
9. Mini and Youth Rugby will resume on Sunday 5th September.
10. The 50th Datchworth Birthday Party (Dinner and Dance) is rescheduled for the Sat Oct 23rd 2021 (at Tewin Bury Farm), if you have a ticket for this event you don’t need to take any action.
11. The Mini Section Tour to Holt has been provisionally rolled forward to Easter 2022 (as per my previous email).
Mini Section Fixtures 2020/2021:
We have about a 6-week period remaining until the Summer break; there is the possibility of a
fixture or two during this period but everything at this stage remains quite tentative with the large
number of people involved in moving around for a Mini Section fixture. While it is not normally our
plan for Mini Age Groups there may be some age-group specific arrangements, but this is also TBC. I
will share plans as soon as I am able to do-so. Youth Age Groups can look at fixtures during this
period, (using the modified ‘return to rugby’ laws), but due to Cricket and Parking considerations
Youth games are almost certainly required to be Away fixtures and Managers will coordinate on an
age group by age group basis. More generally while it is great that we now have the potential to play
fixtures during this period we must be mindful of the rapidly hardening ground conditions and the
more ‘normal’ rugby safety considerations.
Closing Notes
Our second week back started to have a feel of normality as we re-establish the Rugby routine! We
will look forward to seeing everyone back next Sunday and we will keep you posted about the
possibility of a fixture before the break and our summer events.
Have a great week and see you all soon,
Best wishes,
Andrew
Andrew Howard
Chairman – Mini & Youth Section
Datchworth Rugby Football Club