Blues North v Blues South - under 16s

Blues North played a friendly fixture against Blues South at Ynysybwl on 7^th February. This was a great opportunity to see those players in our squad who haven't featured much throughout the regional competition. These players have worked unbelievably hard but unfortunately for them game time has been hard to come by. The fixture served the same purpose for both sides enabling both coaching staffs the opportunity to repay the efforts of their squad members.

The mood was very upbeat with a night made for rugby. Both sides took a no-nonsense approach with some big hits going in. South drew first blood with a penalty awarded for persistent offside offences. North's patience and ball retention however payed off when lock Darryl Hodges drove over from a close range ruck giving his team a lead of 5 pts to 3.

Both backlines seemed to cancel each other out but from a shortened four-man lineout the North backs excelled in a fine move to be just held up five yards out. The exact same move bore similar results but from the ensuing ruck outside centre Owen Lewis dived over for a try which he himself ably converted. 

Unfortunately the second half was scoreless but the North just fell short on three occasions. Although we as coaches have given ourselves a selection headache I'm awfully chuffed with the performances of the players. Both teams promoted themselves well and if as separate identities we need to play against each other more often then so be it. These fixtures will only allow more development, enhancing the prospects of the region as a whole.

Dale McIntosh
Crownford & WRU Rugby Development Officer