After a continental breakfast, the teams departed for their destinations for the day.
The Year 8 boys football team arrived at HMVV and the Y10 rugby boys continued their journey to RC The Duke.
The Y8 boys football team written by Mr S Maginnis & Mr C Brinsden:
As the boys arrived at the venue, we were very impressed with the facilities and the welcome by our hosts.
After Mr Maginnis had gone through the team selection for the day and our tactics, the team then went through a comprehensive warm up with Mr Brinsden. After the exchanging of pennants the game began in very good spirit. It was soon evident that Weydon had the upper hand in this game and after 10 minutes we were soon 2-0 up. Weydon were playing some nice football and we were finished the half winning 8-0. 4 goals from Oscar Hayes and a fantastic chip from Toby Elstow were the highlights.
We agreed with the opposition that we would mix the teams up, it was a pleasure to welcome the 5 players from HMVV into a Weydon shirt. The second half was an evenly balanced and some helpful translation from some of the mums helped Mr Maginnis get his instructions across. The half finished with the the new Weydon team winning 2-1 with both goals being scored by our Dutch guests.
We finished the game with a friendly penalty shoot out with our replacement goal keeper Tom Lycett playing very well.
Our hosts fed the boys well and invited us back for a return fixture next year.
Y10 boys rugby team written by Mr T Jackson & Mr B Wish:
The boys arrived at RC The Duke excited and ready to play rugby after their confident display the day before. After a quick turn around the boys jogged out on to the dusty 1st team pitch in front of a growing crowd. The team were quick to switch on and focus on the job in front of them.
RC The Duke Kicked off and straight away it was clear that this game was going to be much harder than yesterday. The under16s chased the kick hard as a line and defended the ruck as a well drilled team. It wasn't long before The Duke had scored and Weydon were 7-0 down. The boys quickly replied with Joe Volossevich touching down under the posts. The year 10s fought hard but poor defence around the ruck and missed tackles soon led to a score of 17-7 at half time. The 1st aid kit and water came on and the boys gathered round to listen to the inspirational team talk of Mr Wish. Some key points were raised and the boys rallied together to start the 2nd half. The boys started the 2nd half looking a new team but unfortunately conceded quickly to a brilliant team try started by The Duke fly half. A try by Callum Self initiated a turn around from Weydon and the come back began. A brilliant break by Ben Hand (including numerous broken tackles and hand offs) ending with a perfectly timed offload to Marcus Brain led to Weydon's 3rd try. Royan converted his third to bring the score to 21-22. The boys fought over and over to attack the opponents try line. Foiled time and time again by brilliant defence from RC The Duke and little mistakes from Boys who could see victory. Finally a scrum on the Duke 5m line was secured to give Self a platform to attack from. With the line in sight he darted and dived only to be forced back by the alert defence. After frantic 'pick and drives' the composed and focussed George Keogh grabbed the ball and broke through over the line to score the winning try. The boys stormed to his side elated with the score and the result. Royan disected the posts with a casual drop goal to leave the final score as a well earned 28-22 to Weydon. The boys were in high spirits and exchanged shirts and pendants and chatted happily with the opposition after the game.
