Sunday in Cheshunt

Letchworth girls - and a few ex-Letchworth girls (Rosie, Mel and Nikki) - took a trip to Cheshunt last Sunday to try out rock-climbing and kayaking.

From Wonky's pictures the rock climb certainly looks challenging ...

Reports back say that it was a great day out and a good time was had by all.

So near and yet so far ...

This year's RFUW National 7s was again held at Harpenden RFC and, as defending Plate champions, Letchworth U18 girls were looking to the prospect of finishing off the season in style and, maybe, gaining a third National 7s Plate title in 4 years ...

However, things didn't go to plan from the start - well, from before the start, really! Even before we set off to Harpenden we had lost 2 players - one to school work comittments and the other to a turned ankle during final training on Thursday which refused to get better in time.

Nevertheless, undaunted, Letchworth Saracens girls set off on Saturday to discover that we were in a group with Burfield, Ellingham & Ringwood and Tyldesley. Those of you who have followed Letchworth's fortunes at the National 7s over the last 5 years will know that we always seem to have a tough group - not that there are any easy groups at the National 7s - and this year was certainly no exception as the group contained teams who would be the Plate winners and runners-up, a cup semifinalist and the eventual cup winners!

Our first game was against Burfield. As has been traditional for Letchworth over the past 5 seasons, Letchworth Saracens duly got off to a slow start; something that you just cannot afford to do against a side as good as Burfield. Inevitably, Burfield opened the scoring and, following an injury to Claire which saw her sidelined for the rest of the game, cantered away to claim the opener 26-5.

Second up were our old friends from Ellingham & Ringwood who had beaten us so narrowly in the group stages 12 months ago. Fortunately, Claire was recovered sufficiently to rejoin the team for this match. Letchworth Saracens put on a somewhat better display, though maybe the long wait between games on (another!) wet tournament day did not help their concentration, and they were eventually beaten 17-5 by the team who were to be crowned National 7s champions later that day.

The game against Ellingham & Ringwood was a good result against such fine opponents and it was also notable because it was Nikki's 200th junior game. Letchworth girls rugby founder, John Birch, was on hand to present her with a commemorative shirt.

With two group games lost, Letchworth Saracens were heading for the Plate competition and the result of the final group game against Tyldesley would determine whether they would finish the group in 3rd or 4th place and would, therefore, affect how difficult their Plate quarter-final game would be.

After raising their game in the second match of the day, Letchworth Saracens did not really get going in the final group match. Tyldesley were a well-drilled side who took the game to Letchworth Saracens and dominated proceedings from start to finish to record a 24-0 victory.

So at the end of the group stages, Letchworth Saracens found themselves in fourth place in the group and facing a Plate quarterfinal against Morpeth who were placed third in their group. Entering the knock-out phase, and a change to some dry Letchworth shirts, brought out the best in Letchworth Saracens who were determined not to exit the competition so early. A tight first half in which Claire broke away to score the only points was followed by a much more determined and assured performance in the second half resulting in a final scoreline of 26-0 in Letchworth Saracens favour.

The Plate semifinal opponents turned out to be Reading who have several times been our undoing in previous touraments however, on this occasion, a tight game was resolved in Letchworth Saracen's favour by 12-5.

So for the third time in four years, Letchworth girls found themselves contesting the Plate final. This time the opposition were Tyldesley who had convincingly beaten Letchworth Saracens in the group stages and, with a depleted squad and several girls carrying injuries, it was always going to be a difficult game for Letchworth Saracens to win. Although they put in a much better performance second time around, it turned out to be a similar result to the first game with Tyldesley running out deserved winners 19-0.

In the end, they Letchworth Saracens girls can be proud to have done so well at this national event when starting with a depleted squad some of whom were carrying injuries. To have finished as medal-winning Plate runners-up - that is, 10th place overall in England - is a very significant achievement. Well done, girls!

Results :

Group : Letchworth Saracens 5 v. 26 Burfield

Group : Letchworth Saracens 5 v. 17 Ellingham & Ringwood

Group : Letchworth Saracens 0 v. 24 Tyldesley

Plate QF : Letchworth Saracens 26 v. 0 Morpeth

Plate SF : Letchworth Saracens 12 v. 5 Reading

Plate Final : Letchworth Saracens 0 v. 19 Tyldesley

Scorers :

Tries : Claire (3), Natalie (2), Jess (2), Chloe

Conversions : Claire (4)

Double Disappointment!

This year's Herts 7s was hosted by Tring Rugby club on what is traditionally a hot early summer day. Traditions are there to be broken, I suppose, as the day was mostly cloudy with occasional rather heavy downpours. No good for the suntans but much better for playing rugby in! Nevertheless the ground was quite hard and rather sandy so a number of bumps, bruises and grazes ensued.

The Letchworth Saracens U18s were drawn in a group with Aylestone St. James, Herts Baa-Baas and Rochford Hundreds. Given that Rochford had recently beaten Letchworth Saracens quite comprehensively in the 15 a side version of the game, this was clearly not going to be an easy group! The first game was against Aylestone St. James and Letchworth Saracens got off to a good start with a 20-0 victory.

Second up was the Rochford side who were, as expected, a force to be reckoned with. Letchworth Saracens put up a very strong game and defended magnificently against this high quality opposition but could not deny the Essex girls a well deserved victory by 0-20. Regrettably, an injury to Claire saw her sidelined for the rest of the day.

The final group game against Hertfordshire Baa-Baas was a bit of a surprise as part of the opposition appears to comprise of players who had been playing for Welwyn earlier (and indeed played for then later on as well)! As football commentators are often heard to say, this was a game of two halves : the first half belonged to the Baa-Baas and the second half saw a resurgent Letchworth Saracens begin to take back control. It was a really good response but the four try advantage that Herts Baa-Baas took into the second half was just too big to overhaul and the game ended 10-20.

And so, at the end of the group matches, Letchworth Saracens found themselves in 3rd place and heading into a Bowl semi-final against Thomas Beckett. This was a game in which Letchworth Saracens took an early lead through Jess and never looked back, running in 5 tries to take the game 29-0.

The Bowl final against Paviors was a very keenly contested, evenly balanced, rainy affair which was still scoreless at halftime. Early in the second half, Letchworth Saracens took the lead with a converted try but were then put under strong pressure by a commited Paviors side that was clearly not going to give up easily. Letchworth Saracens put up a resolute defence but, with just a couple of minutes to go, Paviors determination paid off and they crossed the line to close the score to 7-5. Then, in the final minute, Paviors scored again to take the Bowl by 7-12 and make it a very disappointing finish for Letchworth Saracens.

Results :

Letchworth Saracens 20 v. 0 Aylestone St. James

Letchworth Saracens 0 v. 20 Rochford Hundreds

Letchworth Saracens 10 v. 20 Hertfordshire Baa-Baas

Letchworth Saracens 29 v. 0 Thomas Beckett

Letchworth Saracens 7 v. 12 Paviors

Scorers :

Tries : Jess (3), Nikki (3), Claire (2), Alice (2), Megan, Natalie

Conversions : Nikki (3)

Photographs of the Herts 7s by TSI Photography can be found at http://www.tsiphotography.co.uk/event/Tring_Rugby.html

The "Wonky's Words" Letchworth Saracens U15s report will follow shortly.