3 Way tie - Wetherby & West Park

York Spiders vs Wetherby 7 - 0 W
An emphatic result built on a robust defence from the kick off which saw Wetherby with all the possession but driven back by a remorseless defence retreating. Then following Frankie P's try saving tackle on their quickest (and best) player, the tide turned - a turnover resulted with Jake H collecting the last pass of some quick hands to go over in the corner.
Thereafter a fine forward display repeatedly turned the ball over for our backs to keep punching through the Wetherby defence. After a wobbly first scrum the York pack then exerted the pressure for the remainder of the game - ensuring quick ball for the half backs to work off. Apart from some stunning individual tries, the way backs (and forwards) continued to move the ball up the park, passing to players in space/recycling was the most impressive aspect. One move resulting in a score in the corner (for Sam or Finn Beherrall!!) following three phases of flowing at pace rugby - this set the team up nicely for the 'tougher' WPL clash...

York Spiders vs WPL 8 – 1 W
The result was never in doubt, from Archie's quick break and 40m jinking run through the WPL defence, backed up by Ed D's drive over and quick recycle for the first try to the last play of the game. The ability for Spiders to work as a team was the most encouraging aspect. Ball recycling was quick and decisive, with Josh S. and Freddie I. having a field day managing, distributing and bringing York's strike players onto the ball at unstoppable pace. West Park had no answer, only breaching the white wash once. Jake H. scored probably his best (individual) try of the past couple of seasons... taking a beautifully timed pass off Freddie I. at full pace from inside York's half to beat seemingly the entire WPL team! This was closely matched by Lucas W again taking the ball from a sweetly timed Freddie I. pass to rip through a shocked defence. However as with the first match the way the players connected was most impressive. All the forwards played as one, rucking and winning all key ball. My highlight of the morning (and possibly the season!) was York's prop/centre Frankie P again taking a great pass at pace to score in the corner from the half way line.
• Frankie P – upfront and all over the park - exceptional
• Ed Brown – none against the head, not one missed tackle
• Luke Redman – Tireless all day none against the head , great tackling and all round display
• Saif – Awesome in the front row and work rate getting over and securing ball superb
• Freddie L – along with Ed D dominated the scrum and the loose every ball from every run came back for quick distribution = made his presence felt
• Henry GH’s best all round game - we know about the tackling, play of the ball but on Sunday his unselfish ball distribution was fantastic
• Ed D -best morning of total rugby I’ve seen in a long time from support play to massive hits and decisive runs and not forgetting driving over and securing the ball.
• Josh S – A fantastic demonstration of making the right decisions as SH, delivering quick ball all morning (I don’t recall a single poor pass)
• Freddie I’s best game in a York shirt. Sublime – his distribution and organisation of the back line meant WPL (or Wetherby) had no answer.
• Lucas Winn – Strength in both defence and attacking positions outstanding.
• Archie Glover – his best morning of rugby for a long time - timing the pass, making the right break at the right time, supporting the player with the ball.
• Jay Elders- straight back into the fray running straight and showing no mercy in the tackle
• Jake Hopkin – We know about the impact in attack he makes- his size and speed is no match for any opposition we’ve met last season of this, however his defence and reading of the game on Sunday was of the highest order – making every tackle always in the right position on the field.
• Sam and Finn B – A can’t break them apart - but their defence equals their attacking prowess – not one successful outside break by an opposition player all morning
• George B-C – Played superbly well all morning- going into Backrow and keeping up the momentum – continually drove over the ball all morning.
Of note – just one accidental high tackle in the PWL game – the referee was a WPL man so also no excuses!
Areas to improve on … even quicker and be more decisive at the breakdown...
• York Wasps vs WPL 4 - 1 W
• York Wasps vs Wetherby 2 - 0 W

Ollie Gardner: York Hornets

Amazing day at rugby yesterday for a number of reasons.
1. York beat both WPL and Wetherby with truly mixed teams. We have come a long way as a squad to have 2 mixed teams that both gave WPL a good thumping!
2. The performance against WPL was sensational; Wasps won 4 – 1 (tries Charley Hughes x 2, Elias and Finlay Recchia). Right from the off the boys were totally up for this game and the simple fact was, York wanted it more than WPL. In defence, they were very disciplined; plenty of communication and I don’t think I saw 1 missed tackle in the whole match. And in attack, well, wow … they were sublime. Strong straight lines of running, great support play and selfless team play (seen by the fact that most of our tries were scored on the wing out wide). We need to work on rucking as this was the one area that WPL competed very well against us, but our scrum, again, was totally dominant!

3. Wasps performance against Wetherby (and in a strange way, the highlight of the day from a coaching, learning perspective). Wasps beat them 2 – 0 (tries Charley Hughes and Elias) and whilst they never really looked like scoring (except for 1 break away which required a try saving tackle at full back), Wasps were far from dominant. I spoke to the boys about this after the game and they (en-masse) told me the issue: “We weren’t switch on at the start.” And for me, that’s a brilliant learning. It’s easy to get pumped up against WPL with all the coaches motivating and revving the players up, but it is important now (and over the next few years) as the boys start the transition to adult rugby that they learn to motivate themselves before the start of every game, so they hit the ground running in every match (not just the high-profile ones). I love evidence based rugby learnings like that! Also, whilst Wasps won most scrums, they were driven backwards twice. This was to do with body positions and loose bindings; we’ll work on this on Wednesday.
4. Wasps were consistently pulled up for 2 things, which I think we need to work on. Wasps first consistent foul was being offside at the scrum / ruck and also after a penalty (for not retreating far enough). Secondly, Wasps were picked up a lot in the second game for hands in the ruck. I counted about 7 players pushing the ball backwards in the ruck with their hands, whilst they were on the floor. Wasps often even did this when we had already won the ball, but were just trying to get the ball back as quick as possible. I think this is just an education thing that we can discuss on Wednesday.
Finally, the camaraderie of the boys was great to see. Lucas has slotted back into the squad wonderfully and I loved how the whole team supported Emile, which visibly gave him a huge lift during the matches.
• Elias was brilliant again. Read the game, supports brilliantly and always seems to end up with the ball! (my man of the match).
• Charlie Hughes – Very strong in attack and desperate (in a good way) to get his hands on the ball.
• Lucas B – huge talent. Great in the tackle, great support play and brave.
• James M – He played really well on Sunday. Most notably, his straight running and also the way he didn’t hesitate when clearing out. One time he did it won the ball for us, which resulted in Charlie H scoring in the opposite corner.
• Henry Budgen – OX!!!!!!
• Henry Du-B – A wonderful team player. Great tackling and a pleasure in every respect to have on the team!
• Josh Ellis (captain in the second game) – much improved. I didn’t see him back away from any tackles. Also, he did a couple of super strong runs, where he believed in his own size and strength.
• Charley Gardner – tackled like a demon. When he was in the forwards, he was first to almost every tackle and very brave. Did a try saving tackle against Wetherby when he was at fullback. Also, great in support, ready to the pop pass when Elias or the 2 Henrys were tackled.
• Finlay Recchia – the best game I have seen from him in quite a while. Selfless play at fly half, bringing Toby, Lucas and Charlie Hughes into play, and then supporting their runs (which resulted in him scoring a try against WPL). Also, did a couple of typical Finlay runs, jinking his way through several players and then passing the ball out wide for Charlie H to score.
• Charlie McNichol – Had a good morning of rugby and did a couple of strong runs
• Emile – Some strong runs and seemed to really enjoy the game. Still some work to do on his tackling, but I loved seeing him play with that smile on his face.
• Louie Hare (Captain in the first game) – showed real aggression, in particular against WPL was determined and brave.
• Joe H – Showed great perseverance all morning
• Joseph Jacques – had a strong game against WPL. He is a brave lad and never shirks a tackle. His preference was to play in the backs and he started on the wing – performing well. Then when Charley G tweaked his back, Joe kindly volunteered to move to the scrum and again he did well.
• Miles Philips – Worked hard and ran lots. Lovely passing off both hands; I’ve seen a real improvement in his left-handed spin pass.
• Toby B – A solid morning of rugby – perhaps benefitting from having others around him who can carry some of the load!
• Charlie Pegram – Played well lining up with Finlay superb running when in full flow. I also love how selfless he is.