Two match squads  were taken away to play Staffordshire on the AWP at Walsall on Sunday 3rd February.  We came away with two good wins and almost 50 players had game time.

In the first game, Staffs started well.  They were big and mobile and it took our lads time to settle in to their stride.  After going down 7-0, Leics ended the half 29-7 up.  The first three tries were scored by the wingers, demonstrating the team’s ability in attack and desire to spread the ball.  Then it seemed that Staffs were so fearful of our pace out wide that gaps opened up in the middle.

Staffs gathered themselves and came back strong in the second half.  There was a point where it seemed like they might get a foothold back in the game, but Leics kept their structure and went on to win 41-26.

The second game seemed to be far more evenly matched with the first half staying scoreless until the final few minutes when Staffs took the lead with a well worked try.  The Leics players were more confident for the second half and really started to turn on the style.  Champagne rugby on a cold afternoon in the West Midlands?  They came close to that at times.  Not only did they score five unanswered tries to win the game 29-7, some of their defending was immense.

A great afternoon out, for Leicestershire anyway – and Staffs were great hosts.

Report by Stuart Davies, U16’s manager.