Up for the Cup

The boys had been invited to take part in the Jack Conn Cup, a 10s tournament hosted by Chingford. Not having played 10s before it was very much a learning process for the boys. The matches were played on a full pitch with 5 forwards and 5 backs. 5 man contested scrums (proper pushing unlike Rugby League), 10 minute halves and rolling subs.

Game 1

Rochford v Chingford Barbarians

You can imagine the disappointment that our first opponents (Westcliff) had been replaced with a Barbarians side of mixed age group lads from Chingford. However, the boys lined up for their first foray into 10s rugby determined to give their opponents the respect they deserved and secure a win.

It was clear from the start that the Barbarians were not going to roll over against their older opposition and Rochford had to fight for everything. Reece Garstin opened the scoring for Rochford with a powerful run with defenders hanging off him as he touched down. Louis Croll secured the extra points. On the next attack, Louis Croll sold the defence a dummy to open a gap and allow him to add a second. The final attack of the first half saw Henry Willis use a combination of speed, agility and extreme (but fair) aggression to power through tackles and score in the corner. Liam Baker slotted over the conversion.

To suggest the boys relaxed at 19-0 up would do a disservice to the Barbarians who started the second half the better and they scored a well-deserved converted try. This sparked Rochford into life and, as if wounded by the score, they went on the attack again. A long pass out to the left was taken in mid-air and well above his head by Aaron Cocks who sprinted for the line to regain the initiative.

But Rochford weren’t finished and began to attack again with Liam Baker taking on the defence himself and scoring Rochford’s fifth under the posts. With the clock ticking down Rochford had time for one more attack which saw Louis Croll out-fox the defence again and score his second and Rochford’s sixth. Liam Baker successfully converted.

Final Score: Rochford 36-7 Chingford Barbarians

Tries
Reece Garstin
Louis Croll 2
Henry Willis
Aaron Cocks
Liam Baker

Conversions
Louis Croll
Liam Baker 2

Game 2

Braintree v Rochford

The boys only had a couple of minutes to recover before plunging straight back into their second match against a strong Braintree side. We had finally secured our first victory over Braintree at the beginning of the season and had played a very close match against them in recent weeks. So we knew it would be tough and they had the advantage of fresh legs.

The match was typical of one with Braintree, good expansive play, solid defence and hard tackles. It was Braintree that found the gaps most effectively and exploited any poor passes from Rochford. Despite their attempts to break through the Braintree line Rochford hit a bit of a wall but didn’t give up. Their determination was rewarded by a late try from a Jack Cahill trundle who seemed to take half the side with him to the line.

Final Score: Braintree 45-5 Rochford

Tries
Jack Cahill

Game 3

Rochford v Hampstead

Rochford’s last group game was against an unknown quantity of Hampstead. Securing a win here would guarantee a place in the Howard Hartley Plate Final for the second place teams in the groups.

With Rochford now having the fresher legs they started at a sprint, pushing the Hampstead defence back into their own twenty-two. A step inside from Aaron Cocks left the defence flat footed and it allowed him to squeeze through a gap and open the scoring. Liam Baker secure the extra points. Another attack, this time stretching the Hampstead defence left and right created the space in the middle for Louis Croll to break through the middle for Rochford’s second.

With the next attack Henry Willis took on the Hampstead defence, breaking several tackles and then sprinting down the right to score. The clock had just enough time left for the restart and for Aaron to take the ball down the right to add a fourth.

With the score at 22-0 at half time, Hampstead may have been forgiven for letting their heads drop, but they didn’t. To their credit they came out fighting (not literally) and continued to try and frustrate Rochford and create chances for themselves. With the ball secured Rochford began to attack and make the most of the space available for the wingers to exploit. Aaron Cocks made it a hat-trick with a trademark run down the right to add Rochford’s fifth. Liam Baker secured the extras.

With the ball secured at a ruck in the Hampstead twenty-two, Rochford span the ball out to the left for Chris Martin to make the most of the overlap created by Hampstead’s over commitment in the ruck. He took the ball at speed and the change of direction left him in acres of space to add another try. Liam again successfully converted.

Rochford could have eased up at this point but kept pressing for another and it inevitably came. This time it was some quick combinations through the middle that set Liam Baker through a gap score the seventh try and round off the scoring with the conversion.

With the clock ticking down Rochford were determined to get a score on the board and went on the offensive. The ball broke to Austen King who drove through the defence, handing off defenders and beating three tackles to find himself in the clear and in front of the posts. As he strode towards the posts with no one left to beat, somehow the ball shot like a wet bar of soap, out from under his arm and was scrambled away by the Hampstead defence.

Final Score: Rochford 38-0 Hampstead

Tries
Aaron Cocks 3
Louis Croll
Henry Willis
Chris Martin
Liam Baker

Conversions
Liam Baker 4

Game 4 – The Howard Hartley Plate Final

Chingford v Rochford

Another quick turn-round meant Rochford were going into the final with no break from their previous match. They were also down to 12 with Louis Croll nursing a swollen knee. This quickly became 11 as Henry Willis was withdrawn due to dizziness.

The match was pretty even in terms of possession and territory but it was Chingford who had the fresher legs and who exploited the gaps more effectively. Rochford kept plugging away and looking to work combinations to open up the Chingford defence. With Rochford forced to play forwards in the backs it began to limit their chances to use the space and they began to concentrate on forward play.

Rochford continued to press but as the clock wound down the fatigue and lack of fresh legs made the chances to score increasingly scarce and eventually Chingford closed out the match.

Full time: Chingford 38-0 Rochford

This was a great day with plenty of good rugby played and a really positive note on which to end a season that had some real ups and downs. The boys can be proud of their efforts, put their feet up for a while and look forward to next season.

Liam Baker was chosen as player of the tournament for driving the team forward and his hard work in defence and attack. Joe Mitchell was voted as the hardest working team member and miss of the tournament was awarded to Austen King.

1, Chris Martin; 2, Joe Mitchell; 3, James Mowle; 4, Ben Parsons; 5, Jack Cahill; 6, Reece Garstin; 7, Sean Honey; 8, Austen King; 9, Liam Baker; 10, Henry Willis; 11, Louis Croll; 12, James Berry; 13, Aaron Cocks;