U15 Boys Rugby Blitz Report

What is it about rugby? When it is played in the swirling wind and wild rain, it can often bring the best out of a player. Villiers U15’s boys took to the field once again this Wednesday 14th March to compete in round 2 of the North Munster B Schools Blitz. As we took to the pitch for our first of three 12 minute matches, we knew that good performances in our games would edge us closer to the big day in Thomond Park, where the top teams who have qualified from throughout North Munster, would come together to compete for the title of North Munster B Schools Blitz Champions. The weather galvanised our group. For all three matches we ended up playing into a very strong wind and rain and only work rate would get us out the other side. These were 11 a-side games and only 12 minutes long. This meant we had to set out our stall early on, as we knew that scoring the first try would lessen the time the opposition would have to get one back. Eoin McCormack touched down for our first try and would go on to touch down a few more times as the morning went on. We on the first game 3-0, the second game 3-0 and the third game 3-0. Played 3 and won 3. 9 tries scored and none conceded. This was as impressive as it could get from a group of players who are really gelling and becoming a very good rugby team. Without our injured captain (Tadhg Shanahan), Thomas Lillis stepped in to fill the role and although Eoin McCormack took it upon himself to go up for the coin toss before the last two games, (losing two of the tosses) Thomas led the boys very well and went about his job quietly but with great effect. Thomas is trying to convince me he is an out-half. He started the game in the pack and played well, but when he was switched to his favoured position, he played some very good stuff indeed. We will see!! Tommy McDowell epitomised our defence and work rate as he kept chasing one particular ominous looking attack that looked like a losing battle. Against SMI Newcastle West Tommy had to work so hard to make a tackle that everybody else thought was pointless. As their player got over the line and went to touch the ball down, Tommy kept running and made a last gasp effort to disrupt the touchdown. They knocked it on. To say the boys were proud of him after that effort, is an understatement. The pats on the back and the “Go on Tommy”, went on for quite a bit. Ross O’Shea really came into his own today. In the second and third games, he made a number of big carries that turned into a huge amount of ground gained for our attack. Ross knows how to run good lines and with a bit more physicality added to his game over the coming months, Ross could be big player for us next year. As could Christian Storey. He made some big carries and made some impressive yardage in all 3 games. These are just a couple of highlights from an impressive display from everybody. We will be notified in the coming days about whether we were successful in our pursuit of the big day in Thomond Park. Do we deserve to be there? Yes! Have we done enough and built enough points over the two preliminary rounds? Time will tell. We are back on the training pitch tomorrow in preparation for our Cleary Cup Final against the winners of High School Clonmel and Abbey CBS, Tipperary next week. Still plenty of work to do if we are to win the cup, but these boys are not afraid of hard work. After all, 6 of our players are attending Munster U16’s Preliminary trials in UL over Easter. More on that in the coming weeks. It is a big few weeks for the Villiers lads. Who knows how successful these next few weeks will be. Will we give it everything? Of course we will!!!