November 17th 2017
Thrilling Rugby from our Year 4s
The U9A squad made the long journey to Winchester House School to compete against a large number of schools in a thrilling rugby festival. Moulsford’s draw in Pool B saw first round matches against Swanbourne House, Caldicott, Akeley Wood, Bedford and Magdelen College Schools. As was the theme throughout the day, Moulsford defence was ferocious, with many boys making their presence known on the pitch. The Moulsford team played tactically and controlled each game well working their way up the pitch to score, time and again. Wins against the first three sides were well-deserved, but the team knew Bedford would provide tough competition – they had performed very well in the festival so far.
A very competitive game followed, with Moulsford gaining an early advantage with two quick tries, but soon Bedford, determined to score some points of their own, managed to score three tries in quick succession. A superb try from Rory W took the score to a draw, with just one minute to go. In the tense remaining seconds, with Bedford on the rampage, a huge and perfectly timed try-saving tackle from Rupert T secured the draw.
Our final pool match which was to decide our ranking was against MCS Oxford. Unfortunately, from the kick off the tiring Moulsford defence slipped off from a few tackles which gave the city boys a 1 - 0 advantage. This however was to be their only score of the game. Four tries soon followed, with two scores from Rory W and a try each for Harvey C and Freddie C. All four tries demonstrated the progress the team had made throughout the day. None more so than by George W, who set up three of the tries through his accuracy of passing, long rampaging runs and awareness of his teammates to offload out of the tackle.
After winning four matches and drawing one this placed us top of our pool and about to face the mighty Dragon who topped Pool A. This was a very firey and hard fought game. Moulsford were first to score though through the ever present Rory. Next though it was The Dragon's turn to attack, they scored after the 6th tackle showing the grit and determination the Moulsford boys had to try and keep them out. With 5 minutes left of the game to go Moulsford raised the intensity again, Jasper H and George W combining to making some punishing carries and tackles. Four tackles after the Dragon restart, Charlie K's menacing defensive pressure allowed for a miss-timed pass to be read beautifully by Harvey who dashed for the line 30m out. Moulsford were three tries to one up with a minute to go and Dragon on the attack. Moulsford's defence was resolute to the end. As had been present throughout the day their continual pressure resulted in a turnover of the ball. With seconds left before the final claxon, Moulsford flung the ball out wide, travelling through nearly every pair of hands, eventually reaching Freddie who, with still plenty do, bounced and barged his way past one defender and fixed a second with yet another sublime goose step before scoring in the corner. They had done it, Moulsford were victorious, the Lion defeated the Dragon.
All in all, a very successful day. Not only did Moulsford win many of their games, they got the opportunity to enjoy the game of rugby at its best. They showed real tenacity and a fantastic mind for the game. Wonderful rugby spirit was shown at the end as Moulsford asked for a shared team photo that was interspersed with players from the Dragon. Many thanks to all the parents for taking the time to come and support the team.
