Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96Under 14 team report This was always likely to be a season to test this group of boys, given the loss of a key decision- maker and a highly mobile prop in the previous summer, and the small size of the cohort. It has placed huge demands on the pack, who have been smaller than their opponents in most of the matches; and on the backs receiving ball on the back-foot, and without a ready-made fly half ready to get the back line running at pace. Thus it has been a great credit to the many boys involved that they have maintained such a positive attitude and a willingness to keep working at developing their weaknesses. It is hard in matches where you are physically tested to continue to pick yourself up, but the team kept going with this under most circumstances. That grit will serve them well, provided they start to develop their game awareness and team-play. The front-row players of Toby Barham, Tom Sibbald, George Carroll and Henry Gregory worked tirelessly to secure first-phase scrum ball. There is a committed streak within these boys, who coped well with the physical strain of being outweighed in scrums. They all have the potential to carry the ball strongly, but will need to work on their fitness so they can keep making these runs throughout the game. Lock forwards including James Grogan-Hall, Jon Borkan and Austin Mitchell-King have decent height to contest in the line-out, and tremendous all-round ball skills. All of them are capable of making significant breaks given their speed, although having the confidence to break the tackle is a crucial next stage of development. In the back row was a combination of options, including captain Ollie Kenyon, Sam Duckers, Alex Goodwin, Matthew Bailey, Gurjeevan Aujla and Declan Cutler. When fit, this is a combative, skilful group of players, whose qualities complement one another effectively. Unfortunately, it was very rare to have all available, with significant injuries befalling Ollie and Alex at various stages of the season. George Gawthorpe and Deepinder Dyal provided the half-back links, and when quality ball is available, few could match their accuracy of work. Both are tremendously adept players, being able to dodge most opponents and having excellent passing quality. Next season will benefit from both coping with the untidy ball that can happen in certain games, and recognising how to quickly establish the backs on the front foot with a well-placed kick or calling blocking runners. The centres were quite fluid in composition, as the search for the perfect 10 and coping with injuries created problems in selection. George Edwards was often present and played strongly – although always straying towards a position that a natural flanker would prefer to take! He was joined throughout the season by various players, including Ollie, Deepinder and Austin, according to the nature of the injury problems. Ollie managed the remarkable feat of being identified by Coventry Schools’ Rugby Union as an equally strong option at lock as at centre! If the team is able to secure fewer injury problems, a genuine pairing might emerge to give the speed and strength required of this challenging area. The back three consisted of Tom Honey, Will Kelly and Henry Monnington often, with frequent cameos by Kai Wayne-Wynne and Sam Steven-Clynes amongst others. Tom scored a remarkable number of tries – 25 including the tour matches – and had the pace and strength to penetrate the defensive line. The wingers worked tirelessly with the ball, and especially hard at developing their defence against bigger opponents. Speed is so valuable in rugby, and so worth them working hard to increase this aspect. The boys have been a pleasure to work with, as was so well demonstrated on the Portugal Tour. I wish them every success in their future adventures in rugby, and hope that they continue to develop as individuals and as a team. Mr Honey 84 | the Coventrian