Y8 Rugby
On Monday 6th February the Year 8 Boys played in their first ever 13-a-side rugby match for the Academy as they travelled across to Wakefield to play Crofton Academy.
Before we start on the match report, I would just like to say a massive well done to all the boys that travelled to Crofton and represented the Academy, their behaviour and respect was absolutely outstanding throughout the day.
Crofton Academy 24 Sirius Academy North 14
The game started well for Sirius as they managed to work their way towards the tryline with ease on their first set of six, and it was smart thinking from captain Mason Buchanan who saw a gap near the tryline and scooted over for an early try under the sticks, the conversion by Mason was successful to make the scoreline 6 – 0. Crofton replied immediately as their fast players found some joy on the edges and went over in the corner to make it 6 – 4 to Sirius. Sirius were their own worst enemy as they made a few errors with ball in hand, which gave Crofton some good field position, which they capitalised on and went over again in the corner to make it 8 – 6 to Crofton at the break.
The second half saw Sirius going down the hill, and they took full advantage of this as Jake Hall ran onto the ball at pace and there was no stopping him as he ran over 50 meters to touch down in the corner with a fine individual try. This put Sirius back in the lead at 10 – 8. The strong running of Jake Hall was infectious as Max Cunha was next on the scoresheet with a powerful run that was too much for the Crofton defence as they couldn’t stop him going over for a try on his rugby debut, extending the lead to 14 – 8 with 15 minutes remaining. Concentration lacked at the kick off as an error was made, giving Crofton a set of six near the Sirius tryline, they managed to create an overlap and go over to make it 14 – 12. Unfortunately, the kick off to Crofton after that try sent the ball to their fastest player, who picked up speed and raced over 70 meters rounding the Sirius defence out wide and saw them take the lead for the first time as they went over under the sticks to make it 18 – 14 in Croftons favour. Sirius got another chance to attack but another error saw them give away the ball and they were back defending again. Having to get back the 10 meters up the hill was taking its toll as Crofton got back-to-back penalties for offside, and as fatigue set in it was inevitable that Crofton would cross over again to seal the victory at 24 – 14.
Considering this was their first ever game together at 13 – a-side the boys did themselves proud and with a bit more rugby knowledge I am sure it won’t be long before they get their first victory for the Academy.
Player of the match in the forwards went to Jake Hall, he was constantly causing Crofton problems down the middle of the park and if there had of been more support for him when he broke through there could have been a few more tries in us.
Player of the match in the backs was the captain Mason Buchanan, whose work rate in attack and defence was superb, but his leadership skills and positivity caught my eye as he really led by example to help the other players who are less experienced.
Max Cunha also picked up a player of the match award for his outstanding performance in his very first game of rugby, he ran onto the ball well, getting through a lot of work in attack and defence, he completely deserved his try – definitely more to come from Max in our future games
Please congratulate the full squad for their performance, teamwork and attitude, they were a real credit to the Academy on and off the pitch.
- Leon Mulchinock
- Charlie Elwood
- Jack Ellis-Green
- Kian Coopland
- Brajan Stanski
- Mason Buchanan
- Denis-Dorian Duta
- Finley Coates
- Dominic Arnold (Year 7)
- Max Cunha
- Jacob Lowther
- Mason Beet (Year 7)
- Jake Hall
- Bawan Karim
- Jacob Mawlood
Special thanks to Ellie for her support with the team.
