Under 14's
28/01/01
Away vs Ipswich
Only thirteen turned out for this one again. Sam, Peacock and Kristen were absent on this cold fresh morning. We arrived by people carrier convoy with a complement of 13 and were delighted to loan two backs from Ipswich. Right from the kickoff Swaffham played in the faces of Ipswich and James had an inspirational game at No8. The scores were tight throughout the game and a titanic battle unfoded up front between Lee and a very big loose head from Ipswich.
The game was lost narrowly by some poor discipline from Scott and James leaving the pitch feeling dizzy. The final score was 30:24 to Ipswich with tries all coming from James and conversions by Ricki and John. An excellent team performance showing we have progressed by 43 points against such a strong side as Ipswich in one season!
Man of the match was Lee who fought throughout the game against a bigger stronger boy. Worthy of note were the performances by John, Paul, Ricki and Charlie all of whom played better than ever.
Next week away at West Norfolk to get back in winning ways, 0915 at the clubhouse for an early arrival to fully prepare for the game.


14/01/01
Cup vs Beccles Home
Action Photos, see Gallery
Beccles were stung today by a full team performance. James Davey had an outstanding day to lead the side to a 79:0 win! All members of the team performed at a level consistent with their ability. Beccles were two men light but started strongly with a large pack. It took six minutes for Swaffham to get a feel of the ball and a lot of hard tackles were made keeping the Beccles team out. Then the ball was won in a ruck and James ran in a 70 metre try to open his account. After twenty minutes the game was won and Swaffham began to plan how to bring down their numbers to try to even up the teams.
The second half was closer with 12 or 13 a side depending upon when you counted but Swaffham were still hugely in control and left the Beccles team looking despondent.
An excellent team performance, well done everyone. James was awarded man of the match but the whole team played superbly rewarding all of the hard work done in training. Ipswich are next and we owe them!

17/12/00
Training
Once again poor turnout on the first really cold morning this season. Training was aimed to be fun and an impromptue game of Water Bomb rugby was enjoyed by all. Chris was outsmarted several times by James when the 'ball' was stolen from its presentation through the legs. Try scorers enjoyed being able to bomb anyone!
On a serious note the slightly flimsy ball was passed from hand to hand with a lot of skill and recycling was far better than with the normal Rugby leather!
Happy Christmas
10/12/00
Home fixture vs Fakenham
A hastily assembled team for this fixture immediately dominated the game. James was once again awesome in loose play and scored dramatically throughout the first half. Startling play was also seen from man of the Match Scott. James was taken off at the start of the second half to try to even the game up a little. Fakenham immediately came right back into the game and scored 4 tries to close the gap. The physical nature of the game began to tell and players were suffering minor injuries all over the park. James was restored to the side and Swaffham eventually ran out 55 24 winners. A notable opening performance from Kryten who scored a debut try and converted from in front of the posts. Well done Swaffham!

03/12/00
Training
Poor attendance at training but many known reasons. Jos turned up to help and contributed some insights into forward play from his many years of competitive play. In the four a side game at the end we saw James, Alex, Jethro and Charlie win but the defensive patterns of Lee, Ricky, Sam and Ben improved markedly as time progressed. 10.00 start next week to take on Fakenham.


19/11/00
Away fixture vs Wisbech U13
Again nice and early at the clubhouse. Travel over to Wisbech saw us arrive with 13 palyers. A swift look at the opposition and it was decided we would play as we were against their 15. Swaffham went well first half just maintaining a lead into the second half. The half time PEP talk was all about continuity and support of James who was having a field day. Second half saw us romp away and tries scored by Ben and Scott thanks to support running for James. An outstanding performance that showed we could all play at the best and Lee was awarded Man of the Match thanks to tireless work in the loose and set pieces without ever being a glory boy.

Kick off at 1100. Swaffham started with a full team thanks to a loanee from L&Y. The game was played at a fast and furious pace but class showed through with the backrow combination of James, Jethro and Paul soon engaged in many hard tackles. The older age group of L&Y showed in their sheer power and bulk but Swaffham held them in the tight. The first half saw L&Y score 6 tries from power play and clever kicking from the fly half. Swaffham relpied with an individual try by James converted by Robert. At half time Hugo retired with advice from Red Cross due to suspected danmage to his right knuckle.
The second half was a more even contest where Swaffham held L&Y to three tries to one again to James who tirelessly destroyed opposition attacks and took the initiative himself. Heavy groundwork was carried out by Gavin, Lee and Paul but the power of the L&Y forwards was too much. Much applause has to be given to Badger at Scrum half and the new recruits who all showed well in the game. Final score 53 12 does not reflect the effort put and there was no loss of face for the Swaffham team who are half U13.
Training next week at 10.30 to include kick offs and lineout variants as well as developing the attacking back line. Full turn out will make the results go our way. Well played!
We have entered a team into the Norfolk Cup at U 14. All players must be full club members registered with the county for at least 21 days. No players may play for more than one club in the tournament. No over age players will be allowed.


Under 13's
05/11/00
Home fixture vs Lowestoft and Yarmouth U14
A good early turnout for the prematch turn out and to practise some moves. Many thanks to the ladies who kindly cooked and provided coffee.
Kick off at 1100. Swaffham started with a full team thanks to a loanee from L&Y. The game was played at a fast and furious pace but class showed through with the backrow combination of James, Jethro and Paul soon engaged in many hard tackles. The older age group of L&Y showed in their sheer power and bulk but Swaffham held them in the tight. The first half saw L&Y score 6 tries from power play and clever kicking from the fly half. Swaffham relpied with an individual try by James converted by Robert. At half time Hugo retired with advice from Red Cross due to suspected danmage to his right knuckle.
The second half was a more even contest where Swaffham held L&Y to three tries to one again to James who tirelessly destroyed opposition attacks and took the initiative himself. Heavy groundwork was carried out by Gavin, Lee and Paul but the power of the L&Y forwards was too much. Much applause has to be given to Badger at Scrum half and the new recruits who all showed well in the game. Final score 53 12 does not reflect the effort put and there was no loss of face for the Swaffham team who are half U13.
Training next week at 10.30 to include kick offs and lineout variants as well as developing the attacking back line. Full turn out will make the results go our way. Well played!
We have entered a team into the Norfolk Cup at U 14. All players must be full club members registered with the county for at least 21 days. No players may play for more than one club in the tournament. No over age players will be allowed.


29-10-00
Training
Eleven members materialised for this important session prior to our fixture with Lowestoft and Yarmouth. Lee, Charlie, James, Ben, Paul, Scott W, Badger, Jethro, Robert, Alex (no contact) and Sam. We worked on tactics for line out attack and defence, scrummaging, penalties and various set pieces. Full turn out would enable us to develop better roles for every member. Meet at 10.00 Sunday at the club for prematch warm up and team talk.


15/10/00
Away fixture vs Wymondham RFC
Once again we met early at the club on what promised to be a beautiful day for Rugby Football. Early phone conversations with Wymondham led us believe that we could field our normal side but dissappointingly we were not allowed. Our sympathy with Patrick, Ashley and Tom who travelled and were unable to play.
We were left with eleven players and wipped together a team including 3 loaned from Wymondham. The starting line up was Jethro hooker, Lee and Gavin at Prop, Sam and Charlie in the second row, James, Paul and Billy (on loan) in the back row. Scrum half was Badger, fly half Peacock, and then Scott and John in the centre with two other loan players on the wings.
The game was contested ferociously from the first kick off and Wymondham reeled from an early try by James converted by John. They soon returned with two tries to lead 10 : 7. Some high tackling was penalised and Swaffham found themselves slipping further behind to another unconverted try. Then winning the ball from a ruck Badger gave Peacock the room to use the ball. After making 30 yards he was brought down but the ball was recycled to Billy and then James who ran in a try converted by John. This pattern was repeated almost immediately and Swaffham went in to the second half slightly behind 20:19 after another two Wymondham tries out wide exploiting the weakness of the two loaned players.
The second half was marked by some tremendous forward work and heavy defensive tackles. Wymondham were left cold when twice they were turned over and the possession was used by the outstanding James to score two more converted tries. The game dragged on as Wymondham manfully tried to get back on even terms and a late scrappy try after a forward drive meant that Swaffham missed out 35:33.
This was a great team performance and if everyone could turn up when promised we will build on this to form a winning team. James was awarded the Man of the Match trophy and the whole team was commended on their play. A good time to play well as the county coach was among the spectators and was very complimentary about the Swaffham performance. Well done everyone, we will work hard on the set pieces and attacking back play to further our skills in the coming weeks prior to playing Lowestoft and Yarmouth.

1/10/00
Home fixture vs Ipswich RFC
On a beautiful morning for rugby we were disappointed to find we were only able to field 13 players. Thanks to the guys from Wymondham college who played on their home weekend. The score was a poor reflection of the game and was more of an indication of how much room there is when players are missing. Ipswich capitalised on the space with mature perfomances from the fly half and inside centre who created space for a number of tries. At scrum half there was an even battle with both players taking a lot of stick with no clear winner. The Swaffham forwards had an immense game driving Ipswich backwards repeatedly. Gavin was awarded man of the match for his contribution.
Unfortunately the score was 47 : 0 but Swaffham showed that they have a pack to compete with the best and we now need to focus on the backs. Up coming sessions will be devoted to attack play and offensive tackling.

Well done Gavin.