Gloucestershire U18’s 2006/2007

 

Once again the first event of the 2006 season was the development day held at Gordon League RFC on Sunday July 2^nd. 

 

Despite changes in the age grouping the enthusiasm for involvement in the Gloucestershire U18 side was shown by over 100 boys attending, on what was again a very warm day.  With the help of the Coaching co-ordinator several excellent coaches offered their assistance and the boys were exposed to what would be required of them at this level of county rugby.

 

The County trials took place in both the north and the south of the county culminating in a final trial held at Stroud RFC and the first squad was selected to play Munster U18’s at Clifton College, Bristol on Sunday September 24^th.

 

As in previous years, this was a very close affair, with the Irish side winning 17-16.  The second friendly fixture saw the side travelling to Kings Norton RFC to face the North Midlands.  A much changed side started well leading 17-5 at half time, but the home side fought back to level the scores at 17-17 but a final try and conversion saw Gloucestershire win 24-17.

 

Having seen forty boys already the selectors were able to pick a full side to face Devon in the first of the South West Divisional matches.  Originally due to be played at Plymouth RFC bad weather led to the game being switched to Newquay RFC.  The long journey did not affect the team performance though as the side rallied well to win 22-25 with a strong second half performance.

 

Cornwall were the next opponents and school ‘Daily Mail’ fixtures led to a much changed fifteen.  This side though, did produce some of the best running rugby of the competition winning comfortably 51-0 at the excellent Hartpury facility.

 

Somerset was the last fixture, another home game, this time at Cleve RFC, Bristol.  Not surprisingly the team took a little while to settle but accelerated away from being 5-5 to be 36-5 up, only for Somerset to score a late consolation try to make the final score 36-10.

 

Therefore, for the third year running Gloucestershire had won all three of their South West Divisional matches, and 18 boys were invited to the South West Trial at Clifton on Sunday December 3^rd, they were joined by Mark Davies (St Peters) who was required to attend having previously being involved with the England Conference squad.

 

As a result of the day held in atrocious weather conditions twelve Gloucestershire boys were selected to represent the South West Division at the Divisional Festival from December 28^th to December 30^th (see attached sheet).  The South West defeated the North (20-10) but lost narrowly to London and South East.  Three Gloucestershire boys, Scott Morris (Colstons), George Porter (St Peters) and Harrison Tovey (QEH) were selected for the A.E.R. England squad and Mark Davies and Henry Trinder (Hartpury) were chosen for the more senior Conference Six Nations squad.  There they joined Luke Eves (Colstons) and Charlie Sharples (St Peters) who had played no part in any of the South West competitions.

 

The final Divisional match was played against the Midlands and once again we had an excellent representation supplying 13 of the 24 players in that squad, a game only lost in the final minute (17-12).  In this game Oliver Winterbottom (Rednock) scored two tries and as a result was included in to one of the England squads (exact one not known at the moment, but expect AER).

 

Once again an excellent season for Gloucestershire at this age group with eight boys selected for the two England squads.

 

The two County coaches (Dave Pointon and Andy Phillips) deserve praise once again for their excellent preparation of the County squads as does Mike Young (Physio) supplemented by Geoff Twinning when needed, who gave excellent care on and off the filed of play.  Bryan Long despite a major operation remained fully involved and Mike Shore was a firm guiding hand as Chairman.

 

George Tavner and Chris Dewsnap did excellent work as our South West selectors in their first year of office and it is hoped they will carry on in this role next year.

 

Fixtures

 

September 24^th  v  Munster at Clifton College                         lost 17-16

 

Gloucestershire scorers:

Kristian Cook – try

Elliott Read – 3 penalties

Sean Denning – 1 conversion

 

 

October 1^st v  North Midlands at Kings Norton RFC                  won 24-17

 

Gloucestershire scorers:

Henry Bird – try                         Kristian Cook – 2 tries

James Kerr – try                                    Peter Clifford – 2 conversions

 

 

October 29^th v Devon at Newquay RFC                                                won 22-15

 

Gloucestershire scorers:

Oliver Winterbotton – try             Luke Morgan – try

Henry Trinder – try                                 Kristian Cook – try and conversion

 

 

November 5^th v Cornwall at Hartpury College                         won 51-0

 

Gloucestershire scorers:

Oliver Winterbottom – try                        Henry Trinder – 2 tries

Darren Barry – try                                  Elliott Read – 3 tries and 3 conversions

Jack Preece – try                                   Ben Morgan – try

 

 

November 14^th v Somerset at Cleve RFC                                             won 36-10

 

Gloucestershire scorers:

Stefan Hawley – try                                Josh Bennett – try

Luke Morgan – try                                  Elliott Read – conversion

Henry Trinder – try                                 Kristian Cook – try and 2 conversions

Harrison Tovey – try                              

 

 

Played	Won	Lost	Points For	Points Against
5	4	1	150	58

 

                                   

Dave Howell

Team Manager

 

 

The following boys from Gloucestershire have been selected to attend the South West Training Camp to be held atHartpury College between December 15/19th, in preparation for the Divisional Fixtures at Castlecroft December 28/30th.

 Hartpury

Chris Hawkins - Matson RFC

David Blackwell

Henry Trinder - Cirencester RFC

Will Foden

 St Peters

Mark Davies - Gloucester RFC

Dan Wright - Gloucester RFC

George Porter - Gloucester RFC

 

Q.E. Hospital

Kristian Cook - Clifton RFC

Harrison Tovey - Clifton RFC

Pates G.S. - James Williams - Chosen Hill FP RFC

Rednock - Oliver Winterbottom - Gloucester RFC

Colstons - Scott Morris - Stourbridge RFC

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

   SOUTH WEST ASSESSMENT & TRIAL         

VENUE:       CLIFTON COLLEGES, BEGGARS BUSH SPORTS GROUND

DATE:            SUNDAY 3^rd  DECEMBER   PLAYERS REPORT 9.30 AM      

For your information the following Gloucestershire players have been invited to the above assessment day/trial.

All the above have been contacted individually and sent details of the trial/assessment day from Dave Howell

GLOUCESTERSHIRE U18 XV    v    CORNWALL U18 XV

51                                                                                                                         0

Despite making nine changes to the squad who had beaten Devon the previous weekend Gloucestershire U18's still put in an outstanding performance to beat their Cornish counterparts 51-0 at Hartpury College on Sunday November 5^th.

As was to be expected the side took a little while to settle, but once the units gelled points quickly started to flow.  Wing, Henry Trinder opened the scoring rounding off a good handling move to score wide out.  Darren Barry then added the second try, before Trinder put on a repeat performance to score try number three.  Not to be outdone Olly Winterbottom on the other wing scored wide out this time on the right hand side.  Kristian Cook, captain, failed with the conversions but this was the only blot on an excellent all round performance, getting the three quarters running with real purpose and effect.  Good line-out work in particular gave Gloucestershire plenty of good quick possession and an excellent front 'peel' nearly resulted in a further try but the score remained 20-0 at half time.

Gloucestershire then used all their replacements but this brought no respite for the Cornish side.  The new halfback pairing of Jordi Pasqualin and Elliott Read continued to torment and Elliott added three tries, adding the conversion points to them as well.  Further tries were scored by Jack Preece (hooker) and Ben Morgan (No.8), as the forwards joined in an excellent free flowing open game.

The final score of 51-0 reflected a very good performance, enjoyed by both the players and the large crowd present at the excellent Hartpury College facilities.

Gloucestershire now face Somerset in the final Divisional fixture at Cleve RFC (Bristol) on Tuesday November 14^th, k.o. 7pm and hope to finish the tournament undefeated.

Gloucestershire Squad

Chris Hawkins - Hartpury College & Matson RFC

Oliver Winterbottom - Rednock & Gloucester RFC

Rob Winchle - St Peters & Dursley RFC

Jack Ford - Kings Gloucester & Chosen Hill FP RFC

Henry Trinder - Hartpury College & Cirencester RFC

Kristian Cook - Q E Hospital & Clifton RFC

James Williams - Pates GS & Chosen Hill FP RFC

Tim Brockett - Filton College

David Blackwell - Hartpury College

Joe Jones - Cirencester College & Cirencester RFC

Josh Bennett - Farmors School & Cirencester RFC

Darren Barry - Filton College & Old Redcliffians RFC

Gareth Betteridge - Bournside & Gloucester RFC

Will Foden - Hartpury College

Harrison Tovey - Q E Hospital & Clifton RFC

James Wilkins - Bishops Cleeve & Cheltenham RFC

Jack Preece - Saintbridge FP RFC

Chris Tuck - St Peters & Lydney RFC

Ben Morgan - Dursley RFC

Jordi Pasqualin - Kings Gloucester & Dursley RFC

Elliott Read - Filton College & Bristol RFC

Henry Bird - Bournside & Cirencester RFC

Gloucestershire U18 XV v Devon U18 - Sunday 29 October @ Newquay RFC - Kick Off 2.00pm

Players Name School & Club

Players Name School & Club

15

Stefan Hawley - St Peters & Gloucester RFC

Replacements from:

14

Oliver Winterbottom - Rednock & Gloucester RFC

13

Scott Morris - Colstons & Stourbridge RFC

Richard Townsend - Colstons

12

Luke Morgan - St Peters & Cheltenham Saracens RFC

Joe Jones - Cirencester College & Cirencester RFC

11

Henry Trinder - Hartpury College & Cirencester RFC

Rob Rees - Colstons & St Mary's OB RFC

10

Elliott Read - Filton College & Bristol RFC

Dale Harper - St Peters & Saintbridge FP RFC

  9

Jordi Pasqualin - Kings Glos & Dursley RFC

Jon Cresswell - Colstons & Northampton RFC

  8

Gareth Betteridge - Bournside & Gloucester RFC

Chris Tuck - St Peters & Lydney RFC

  7

Will Foden - Hartpury College

Jimmy Williams - Pates GS & Chosen Hill FP RFC

  6

Joe Gardiner - St Peters & Widden OB RFC

Kristian Cook - Q.E. Hospital & Clifton RFC

  5

Darren Barry - Filton College & Old Redcliffians RFC

Chris Hawkins - Hartpury College & Matson RFC

  4

Dan Wright - St Peters & Gloucester RFC

Rob Winchle - St Peters & Dursley RFC

  3

Leigh Green - St Peters & Lydney RFC

  2

Tim Longton - St Peters & Lydney RFC

  1

George Porter  - St Peters & Gloucester RFC