The Wheels On The Bus

Tournament report by Marcus Edwards

Thanks to all the parent helpers especially to Alex Farrow & Co for erecting the gazebo which saved the day for the U15s who were playing on the totally exposed far pitches.

Match 1
Manchester (3 tries) v Super Miren (0 tries)

Rachael Jones try – smash through defence from five metres.

Katy Bacon try – through centre field (22 metres out) beating several players, dive over line for first ever try for the team. Took a bloody nose for it but quote ‘worth it’!

Olivia Farrow try – from scrum 5 metres out beat inside defence for dive over try.

This was a fantastic team performance all round from every player, despite the horizontal rain! Overall Manchester were well on top with no impression on our 22 metre line by the opposition.
The game was played on the widest pitch I have ever seen – paced it out and it must have been ten metres wider than Twickenham – virtually a square pitch! Pitch conditions were good though.

Casey Thompson took another knock for the team which avoided her face for a change(!), it was an accidental stamp on the hand this time. Post match it swelled, effectively retiring her from the tournament.

Match 2
Manchester (4 tries) v Drybrook (0 tries)

Olivia Farrow 2 tries:
First try same as in opening match, five metres out from scrum ball.
Second try nice sidestep in open play for run into try line (training last Tuesday paid off).

Rachael Jones try – break through centre field play form half way line, outsprinted the covering wingers! The try everyone/players were talking about post match.

Katy Bacon try – ball passed down the line to Katy as winger who rounded the last defender and ran in from 35 metres out to finish our scoring.

This was another great team performance especially with our two rolling subs slotting perfectively in the team. The opposition struggled to make any impression on our defence even when they had the wind in their favour.
The result earned the team a bonus point win and lloking good at the top of the pool table, setting up a pool decider clash with Cardiff which would have been the next match.

Final Comments
After watching these two performances, we honestly believe that we would have qualified for the cup playoffs if the tournament had been able to continue. In any case we took the award for the weirdest rugby team song ever - ‘The Wheels on the Bus’, sung under the gazebo to entertain our youngest supporter on the day and keep up morale!

"Survivors of the 2012 Worcester 10s" and joint "Players of the Tournament" were: