Thank you all for turning up to the 1st Ivel Barbarians Rugby Festival. Although a grey, wet & murky Sunday morning it was ideal weather to play some quality rugby games.

Being a strong & determined squad we had our sights set on taking home the trophy, we just had to stay cool & play the flowing rugby that we were capable of.

I’m not going to break down each game; I’ll give a general summary of how our tournament went.

Throughout all the games the standard of attacking running & the line breaks we made through the opponents defensive lines were fantastic. The quickness of passing the ball once tagged, the support play, lack of bunching around the player was brilliant.

Against these teams our defence had to be firm, we had to get quick tags & defend around our fringes; everybody did this very well, only occasionally letting fast runners get around us.

Overall it was a fantastic team effort & even though we didn’t win it was a very successful tournament.  It allowed us to put all our skills into practice, and can be used as a stepping stone towards our next tournament in March.

Finally, special thanks goes to all the parents for helping out, without your support the tournament would not have been such a success.  If anybody took photos of any of the games & would like to have them displayed on the team webpage can you please email them to Stuart?

A special thanks to our, two Ref Assistants for not just running the scores to the officials, but also for being lines persons and keeping score.

We on behalf of Ivel Barbarians would like to thank all the teams that took part as with out them there would not be an exciting tournament, thank you.

Games: W (1), D (1) & L (3) – points 4
Try Scorers: Neo 7, Alistair 6, Matt 3, Oscar 3, Charlie 2 & George 1

Firstly a big thank you to all that made it to the far reaches of Somerset, well done.

After a bit of a slow start our matches got underway. With only six players out of twelve making it to Bath, we knew we would have our work cut out. This situation is always a problem when matches are so far away.

First match Ivel v Cheddar.
Cheddar won the toss and elected to attack first. With all our might we defended and although we gave them the try, we did not make it easy for them. Then us in attack with Neo at No2 he flew down the field to put the score at 1-1.  Then Cheddar in attack and a turn over ball had us in the lead by 2-1.  Then Cheddar got wise and scored another try, breaking through our defence. As Simon said “we have to keep our line”. Much of the match was mostly even, but a good try from George, Neo, Mat, Charlie and Oscar left the score a stunning 8-8. Good runs and defence from all that played and what a game to be a part of, well done.

Match two Ivel v Bath
This was the game most teams would fear, the mighty Bath, home of some great Rugby legends.  We went out strong in mind and feeling great. The players all focused and dug in. Spirits where high and all now waiting on the whistle. Bath to attack first and were nailed at the start by our defence. Tag two tag three and finally a break for Ivel with a knock on. Ivel on the ball great run for Neo, only to fall at the last, causing a knock on at Baths try line. Not bad Neo it was a good strong run, I know you did not get your try, but you gained a lot of ground. Bath replied with a zigzag run making short work of all defence and scored the first try. We were in attack, Mat number two went for a straight run, now with Bath closing in on him goes right across the face of the try line and scores his try. 1-1.

Bath to attack, defence was a little tired at this stage and the team starting to drift away from position and at this point it was every man for himself. Bath saw a way through and scored. At half time we rested and dug deep and went out all guns blazing. Lots of tries from Oscar, Mat and Neo. Bath also scoring well. This was one tough game of Tag Rugby. Both teams doing extremely well and a very high standard indeed. 5-5 final score.

Our thanks to Bath for hosting the event and will certainly look forward to playing you again.

Summary  We need to hold the line in defence, and get some more forward running. This will become apparent in the years to come but get it under your sleeves now and it will be a lot easier later. If we go forwards we will win, if we  go side ways we will not win. That’s all of my of my summary for today.

I would just like to say a well done for all the players of today, drawing with Bath Is a great achievement and I was so proud of all of your efforts, well done.

Well done to everyone who turned up at Chard on a very wet and windy Sunday morning, not actually knowing if the game was going to be on or not due to the weather conditions and the poor state of the pitches. A decision was made and the game would go ahead, but with only having 5 players, Chard sportingly lent us 2 of their players to even the numbers.

With George as captain, we won the toss and went on the attack, with the ground resembling a swamp, the quality of running, passing and support play from everybody was fantastic, which ended with Charlie scoring in the corner. Chard came straight back at the Ivel defence but even with some brilliant tagging Chard managed to break through and score.

Straight back on the attack with some weaving runs from Thomas, Louise & George & great support play from David we again crossed their line for another couple of tries.

The second half resembled the first with some great passages of play by both teams and some determined defensive tagging by Ivel. A fantastic break down the line by George would have ended up with a try in the corner only to be disallowed as his tag fell off mid gallop, unlucky George!!.

Overall, very well played by everyone, it was a hard game, only made harder by Chard being constantly offside, and pulling the tops of our players as they where attacking.
Final score 6-4 to Chard

Thanks to all parents who made it through the new road layout and found Weymouth RFC. The weather was hot and the day was perfect for a real good days rugby. The team of eight strong was charged up and ready to do their best, this being the last couple of games of the season.

The first of the games was Teddington, a real tough game against a real quick team. They moved the ball very sharply but Ivel had done their upmost to give them the hardest time. The defence, although bunched up, took enough tags to rock their attack. Some great runs by Charlie and Alistair with their quick thinking combo at the line, got the first try. Then Teddington replied with a fast run, quick pass and a try. This surprised all of us as it was so slick. But then the galloping Taz Aka Neo bolted down the line to score the second try. The game went backwards and forwards and was a great game to watch and was probably one of the fastest, hardest matches we have played. The only thing that stopped us winning was a disallowed try because the cones where not placed on the white line. This was addressed after, score Ivel 5 Teddington 6. (if I have forgotten names I apologise they were so fast)

Game two: Ivel v Teddington again.   This after the first game was even faster, harder and seemed even longer, although it was the same. The Teddington second team seemed a lot slicker, passing the ball down the line like it was well drilled, but again we made it hard for them to get to the try line. The only thing that let our side down again was bunching in defence. This was clear when Teddington made a long pass and had a clear run at the line. Having said that we did make the same move back with Taz (Neo) having another good run to the line. Great tries by Charlie, Mat, Oscar, Neo and again if I left you off the list I am sorry. Ivel 5 Teddington 6

Game three: Ivels v Weymouth.   The hosts were again, just as good a team as Teddington. We had our work cut out. Legs tired and began feeling the last two games although the team was in high spirits. Ivel went out knowing this is finally it, the last U8’s game of the season. The way they played as a team with the years bonding between them showed. They played like a team. Quick slick moving, great defending, everyone played a part in the game. George had a try disallowed which everyone thought was unfair, but the ref decided that he stepped out. Never the less, it was a fantastic run from the teams “Dark horse” (George). He never smiles, cheers or gets excited, even when he gets a try he just walks back as though nothing happened, and that is just so cool. Well another close game, even at half time noone could know which way it was going to go. Weymouth scored, we scored, and they scored and so on. Well by the end a stunning three all Ivel and Weymouth. I must say a great game; it was so exciting each team played a great game.

Our thanks to Weymouth, for a fantastic tournament. Also our thanks to Teddington too. A great final finale, to a great year’s rugby, well done.

Summary
You know what I shall say but I will say it any way, Run straight, stay off the side lines and respect your team, Oh and your coach. (ah that surprised ya) well played. What a great team and my thanks for the whole year with you all.