The U11‘s were proud to be able to field three teams against Battersea. After a rigorous four weeks of training all the teams were looking forward to putting what they had trained for into action. Coaches, parents and players were all feeling a little trepidation and excitement especially after a weekend of interesting results on the international scene. At least our French, Welsh and Australian contingents were happy! (We don’t openly admit to knowing any Kiwis!)

All the coaches would like to praise the players this season so far, for their commitment, attitude and sheer hard work. You only need to see how the squad is applying itself to the last ten minutes of Ian’s fitness regime, now known as ‘Mumby’s Run!’ and the group effort they make to complete the shuttles, especially this week after playing some heavily contested games. Despite the groans of despair they all (bar a couple carrying injuries) joined the mass and completed the laps. Sadly even after the two hour session we still can’t beat Alex Sharpe-Neal in the last sprint.

It was good to welcome Battersea to Twyford Avenue with a view to putting to rest a few ghosts from last years fixture. After a short warm up and skills session we went straight into the games. with 15 minutes each way on a bigger pitch the boys had to pace themselves but still give Battersea a good run for their money.

Thank you to Battersea for providing a tough and overall equally matched opposition. and thank you to all the teams for providing some more entertaining rugby than we’ve seen on ITV!

Match Report for the B’s by James Illingworth

For the first match of the season this was both a satisfying and encouraging result.
We have had just one months training together, under new rules and with a 5 man scrum, and yet are showing a mature approach to teamwork which was often missing last season. It was also the first time we had played 15 minutes each way and our fitness stood up well.

To start with the forwards it was apparent at an early stage that the selection of a strong front row of Tom Blackler, Adrien Alexandre, and Allegra Young with the physicality of Kai Logenleku and Sam Kelly in the second row would pay dividends. So it proved as we won most of our set piece plays and severely disrupted the Battersea tight five throughout the game. Allegra showed that she is back to her best with a strong display of running and tackling capped off with two fine tries. Kai was also full of running and Sam ran himself into the ground in support. Tom Blackler also showed his good hands, running and distribution. Adrianne played a good hookers game throughout with a maturity way beyond his experience.

Behind the scrum the half backs were outstanding; James Skinner was fully deserving of man of the match with darting runs, accurate passing and fearless tackling whilst James Pye showed what a classy player he can be.

The centres of Rhys Llewellyn and Yamota Bando played excellently in defence and Battersea were unable to make much progress with the ball in hand. Nate Thiede-Palmer is a real find with natural skills and excellent game sense- he caught the eye of the Battersea coaches. Theo Such played with real determination on the wing and Charlie Averre was a staunch final line of defence at fullback. When we brought on Dylan Hodgson and Max Keenleyside at half time the team lost none of its effectiveness. I expect that all these back players will grow in stature through the season.

The game itself was relatively straight forward. In the first half we strangled Battersea who had little territory or possession with our front five dominant. Both tries were scored by Leggie after strong interlink play amongst our half backs and forwards. In the second half Battersea improved considerably but our defence remained strong.

Well done everyone for a huge effort and roll on the Ealing festival !

Final Score: Wasps Bs - 10 Battersea Ironsides Bs - 0
Man of the Match: James Skinner

Match Report for the Development Team by Bill Beverley

For our first competitive match of the season we played host to Battersea Ironsides who have traditionally been quite strong opposition. The Development team were playing their first match together and getting used to the larger number of players on the pitch (now 12 from last year's 9) and the novelty of having a 5 man scrum. as it was the first match we agreed to play uncontested scrums. Later on in the game as more and more players arrived our team grew first to 13 players, with the addition of a No 8 and finally to 14 with a second fullback.

The game got of to a brisk start with Battersea moving the ball quickly down their back line but our backs managed to keep holding them out. Much of the first part of the game was spent close to our tryline with the Wasps team putting up a stalwart defence. The back line, comprising of Oscar Paterson and a strong French element of Etienne Legoater and Anton Mathieu, who were clearly still fired up by their comaptiots recent despatching of the English team in the World Cup, continued to bring the Battersea runners down often in the nick of time. The rucking of the pack and especially Mathieu Duarte, prevented them getting quick ball and also gave us some turn-over ball to run back. Charlie came into his own with a number of very strong runs from the back and together with Oscar, came close to scoring. In the end, the pressure of Battersea brought them tries and by the end of the first half we were 10-0 down.

The second half was much more balanced and it was great to see Max Weber getting fired up and really taking the contest to Battersea. He charged forwards and at times looked like a Christmas tree with Battersea players hanging off him like festive decorations. The Battersea team had a few big beasts of their own and although we made ground it was still proving difficult to get to the try line. Eventually Oscar managed to evade the Battersea tacklers to put us on the scoreboard to give the team heart but Battersea managed to round off the match with a final try of their own to bring the final score to 15-5 in their favour.

I was very proud of all the members of the Development Team especially as this was their first game. Everyone got involved in the game and got their hands on the ball. We have a lot of talent that I look forward to seeing develop over the rest of the season.

Final Score: Wasps Dev - 5 Battersea Ironsides - 15
Man of the Match: Mathieu Duarte.

Match Report for the A’s by Jok Dunbar

Battersea had already had a couple of fixtures this season so had had the opportunity to test their skills. After we checked the passport of one if their players, the game commenced. I am pleased to say we started extremely well pushing the territory from the start. We tackled with a controlled aggression particularly from Alex Gibbs and Will Sawyer in the backs and kept the ball predominantly in their half. Our scrums were well set, thanks to the strong propping of the two Sam's, and Eddies hooking was sublime. The loose ball was well looked after by Eden and James M picking and running when they could. The scrums did slip a little on occasion but only after we had won the ball and Jamie's and Fergus quick hands and feet gave us some good ball to the backs. With Nikita as a crash centre (in the true sense of the word crash) we made the gain line time and again, slowly making our way up the pitch. Our first points however came from a quick ball from the back of the ruck, finding its way to Alex S-N. His quick feet and snake hips meant he slipped through their defense and whilst Battersea scrabbled to backtrack he put the ball down in the left corner. Not bad for a right wing.

Thanks to Sam A and Alex G for subbing at half time. Despite an incisive kick from the restart in the second half, Battersea’s passing backs kept returning the ball to the half way line. Five minutes into the second half the intensity of the first half began to show on the boys and a couple of missed tackles meant that Battersea broke through and scored the equaliser. I believe the shock of this score spurned the boys into action as some of them dug deeper to regain control. Indeed a lovely pick up by Fergus from a battersea kick and some incisive running and passing to Alex S-N almost translated to a second score, proving that kicking is not always the answer. but the Battersea defense had caught on and looked determined not to let Wasps in again. thanks to Leo’s cover as full back ensured that battersea didn't get through again either. Thank you to Tom and Gus for subbing the game.

Final Score Wasps - 5 Battersea Ironsides - 5
Man of the match: Will Sawyer.

In conclusion

Every player gave a good performance and i believe our only weakness was a lack of match experience, particularly experience in how to pace the game whilst keeping the intensity in loose play especially in the ruck. it will be interesting to see how we fair at the festival next week with at least three, albeit shorter, games. thankfully we had no major injuries on our sides which I put down to ‘Mumby’s Run!’ each week. Thanks Ian!