Bluebirds are go!

September 30, 2008

New League, New Players, Newbury BlueBirds are go!
Newbury Bluebirds 22 - 56 Sutton and Epsom

Although the scoreline of Newbury’s first match of the 2008-2009 season reads comfortably in the Sutton’s favour, it belies a spirited and extremely promising performance from Newbury, who put 22 points past a vastly more experienced opposition and played some fantastic rugby which suggests that they will be a force to contend with in the league this year.

Newbury’s starting line up included 7 players with fewer than 2 games under their belts (among them 3 full debutants), whereas their opposition had experience in all the right places, most notably at scrum half, fly half and in the front row. For the first quarter the Blues’ inexperience was heavily exploited: Sutton took advantage of some nervous tackling and lack of positional nous to run in an early 3 tries, all converted by their ice cool fly half, and Newbury were dealt a further blow to their confidence when experienced flanker Jo Hampton was forced to limp off with a knee injury after a furious first ten minutes of tackling. Despite this, the home side started to gain some good possession and their pressure paid off when they won a penalty under the posts for Sutton holding on. Fullback Jeannie Ivanov converted to post 3 points against Sutton’s 21.

Although player down, with no replacements, early nerves had been abated and The Bluebirds set about containing Sutton far more effectively. Debut scrum-half Andrina Douglas to feed the backs with better ball, which led to some brilliant passing between new centres Emma Button and Laura Smith. This paid off 20 minutes in when Smith, who had an extremely impressive debut game at outside centre, fed Ivanov a perfectly weighted pass on the wing to allow her to cut in and score under the posts. The try and resulting conversion visibly rattled the visitors and they responded strongly with a further two tries. But Newbury’s new pacey back line, fed by hard fought, freshly stolen ball by the forwards, caught them sleeping again and the experienced Button found some space down the right and ran in a lung-bursting 50 yard sprint to score Newbury’s second try, converted by Ivanov.

The second half Newbury played with increasing confidence and began to match Sutton in various areas, most notably the line out, where new hooker Stephanie Clark connected with aloft lock Emma Galbraith time and time again. Sutton’s impressive scrum half scored a very well engineered try off the blind side of the scrum, which only inspired the pack to work harder at securing ball. This increasse disruption meant Sutton dropped more ball and started to give away silly penalties. One such opportunity was taken quickly by skipper Bryony Clow on the five meter and with sheer determination and strength she shook off two tackles to go over the line. Unfortunately she had failed to follow pre-match instructions that all tries should be scored under the posts and a conversion didn’t follow.

Sutton continued to press the Newbury side and were rewarded with two late tries, but Newbury bravely defended for long periods in their own twenty-two with long serving fly-half Helen Mitford showing incredible stamina popping up, apparnetly, all over the pitch to put in some great tackles.

Newbury will take a great deal of positives from this game and will already be relishing the prospect of their next league fixture in South East West 3 against Bracknell on the 5th of October, away. The Bluebirds will look to focus on their fitness and ensuring all new players have a better understanding of the tacticle basics, but if they can ensure that these areas match their shere commitment they can look forward to a competitive debut season in the league.
Scorers:
Jeannie Ivanov 12 (1 try, 2 conversions, 1 penalty)
Bryony Clow 5 (1 try)
Emma Button 5 (1 try)

U16’s win Lexus Regional Tournement

September 30, 2008

Stocks ‘Super Show’ Seals Lexus Tournament Title for NewburyNewbury U16s A played their first competitive rugby of the season at Bristol on Sunday and started the new term in emphatic fashion by lifting the South West and Wales Lexus Regional Title against very strong competition from an area that is a hotbed of rugby excellence. The victory will see Newbury compete in the final against the 5 other regional title winners from around the UK on Easter Saturday 2009.

There were no easy games to be had in the 8 team tournament which started through two leagues of 4 teams each. The group matches got gradually more difficult for Newbury as first they saw off Wimborne from Dorset 26-0 followed by a 12-0 win against Swindon. Their final group match was against the tournament favourites Ivybridge who are Devon County champions. This was the match where Jamie Stocks took matters into his own hands with a virtuoso performance which was breathtaking to behold. He scored a typical Stocks breakaway to put Newbury into the lead and this was followed by an excellent Chris O’Halloran try which put Newbury into a good 10-0 lead. However, Ivybridge showed their Champion credentials by catching Newbury out twice with a kick and run tactic which put their lightening quick winger over on both occasions. Both tries were converted which put Ivybridge 14-10 in front with little time remaining on the clock. Newbury battled hard, but it looked like a lost cause when the ball got buried in a maul in the dying seconds of the match. However, much to everyone’s surprise Stocks emerged with the ball in hand and scuttled over to give Newbury a 17-14 victory to clinch the group to the absolute dismay of the Devon players. Other Newbury scorers in the group stages: Tries: Ben Pritchard, O’Halloran (2), Jack Moates, James Macaulay, Jacob Coplestone. Conversions: Pritchard (4), Chris Abbott (1).

In the semi-final against Pentyrch from Wales, Newbury once again had Stocks to thank. Not only did he again put the Blues (playing in pink!) in front with another barnstorming try (converted by Pritchard) but he also led a magnificent defensive effort which constrained the Welsh team to a solitary unconverted try which meant that Newbury went through to the final by the narrow margin of 7-5.

So, after a long day of hard rugby, Newbury were again to face the Devon champions Ivybridge in the final. Ivybridge had beaten Group A winners Cheltenham in the other semi-final to line-up the rematch. This time, Newbury weren’t reliant solely on the inspiration of Stocks as the whole team ‘turned up’ and played their best rugby of the day to clinch a convincing 38-14 victory over the talented west country team. Arland Craik got practically his first touch of the day and steamed over in the corner after a 60 metre sprint to the line. Next Coplestone burst through the middle of a stunned Ivybridge defence to cross under the posts. Skipper Moates went over for his second of the day after poor Will Harwood had seen a perfectly good try not given because the ref and linesman were both unsighted. Obviously, the irrepressible Stocks went over for another cracker before O’Halloran went in for another length of the pitch effort - his fourth of the day. Coplestone finished the scoring by completing the best team try of the day that saw the ball pass through 8 pairs of Newbury hands before the unstoppable second row crossed under the posts. The icing on the cake was provided by 4 excellent Pritchard conversions.

This was an excellent start to the season for the U16s who turned on the style in the final after playing off their early season rustiness in the group stages. It was a complete squad effort with all 17 boys contributing to the success. The trophy and medals were presented to the winning Newbury squad by Welsh and British Lions legend Scott Quinnell who commented on their excellent performance in the final..and on their bravery in wearing bright pink shirts for the day! Matt Perry the Bath, England and British Lions full back was also in attendance to congratulate the winning Newbury squad.

Camberley U16 A/Bs versus Newbury U16 Bs

On a glorious autumnal morning, and with a fine playing surface the
depleted squad had a tough challenge facing a well-drilled Camberley outfit.

Newbury were first to take possession but the bigger Camberley pack took
early control and with some precise forward kicking and strong
contesting of the line outs the home side were a try up within the first
five minutes with a break on the left. The ensuing conversion effort was
well-directed by just fell short. *Camberley 5 Newbury 0*. Newbury
forwards were tending to stand off the action and the home side were
soon adding to their lead with a second converted try. The home side
gained a third try to bring the first ‘third’ of the game to a close.
*Camberley 17 Newbury 0.*

Camberley generously loaned their star winger to the visitors who were a
man short, and Newbury started brightly in the second ‘third’ taking
advantage of the slope and the forward line gained a number of turn-over
balls. With a penalty just about on the halfway line, a quick-thinking
run from number 8 Joe Harwood taking advantage of half of the home side
having turned their backs on the play, saw Newbury opening their scoring
with a touch down on the left. Unfortunately the visitors could not
convert from the difficult angle. *Camberley 17 - Newbury 5*. Newbury
forwards began to get on top at this point, when flanker Ben Hornby on
his debut received the ball on the Camberley 10 metre line and was able
to evade the home side’s defensive players to touch down between the
posts. Freddie Reschwamm secured the conversion, before the end
of the second third. *Camberley 17 - Newbury 12.*

The third ‘third’ was dominated by the on-loan Camberley winger who
touched-down for Newbury on the left to level the scoring. *Camberley 17
Newbury 17*. The visitors looked to pinch the victory with some good
pressure with the Camberley 22 metre line but after coming close a
number of times, some good defensive kicking turned defence into attack
for the home side to see Camberley secure victory one minute before the
final whistle. *Camberley 22 - Newbury 17.*

Well played to both sides for a good contest played with good
sportsmanship!

Newbury Blues 10’s squad win!

September 29, 2008

This weekend Newbury Blues 10’s squad won the Heineken 10s tournament at USC Portsmouth. They move on to the finals at Tickenham. More details to follow….

Newbury U17’s Squad v Grove U17’s, Sun 14th Sept 08

September 24, 2008

Newbury U17’s started their 2008/2009 season with a friendly/training game against Grove U17’s at Newbury RFC

The match was split into four 20min quarters allowing plenty of substitutions and drink breaks, both Grove 28 players and Newbury 30 players had agreed to get all the boys on the pitch for some match time.

Newbury started the strongest and spent long periods camped in the Grove half in the first 15 minutes but were unable to convert the pressure into points, a mixture of good defence from Grove and over eagerness from Newbury giving away penalties and losing possession.

The breakthrough eventually came with some good forward play resulting in debutant back row Jamie Gutteridge crossing the try line 5-0 the Blues. Towards the end of the first half a great run from another debutant center Remi Digby cut apart the Grove defence resulting in him going over close to the posts, Rhys Jenkins converting 12-0 to the Blues.     

The second half saw several changes by Newbury but this did not seem to disrupt the play and after several good flowing moves Remi Digby scored his second try in the corner 17-0 to the Blues. This seemed to sting Grove into action and they managed to break through the Newbury defence with some powerful running to make the score 17-5 to the Blues. More substitutions failed to disrupt the style of play and after some good phases of flowing rugby George Rossiter scored to make the score 22-5 to Newbury. The Blues were now gaining the upper hand over Grove and the ball went through several phases of forward and backs play before the ball was spun out to winger Darren Smith who outstripped the Grove defence to touchdown under the posts George Rossiter converting 29-5 to Newbury.  More good play from Newbury resulted in the forwards mauling several yards allowing Rhys Moore to gather the ball and crash over the line making the final score 34-5 to Newbury.

Sweet revenge for the 22-0 defeat the development squad suffered at Grove last season.

 

A good all round performance from every member of the squad giving the Blues a winning start to their season. Well done to you all!!

Newbury Squad: -

J. Bartlett, P. Burns, J. Caunt, D. Clarke, T. Clarke, D. Craigen, L. Davies, R. Digby,

R Drysdale, T. Dyer, J. Futcher, L. Gibson, J. Gutteridge, J. Haynes, M. Hobbs, R. Jenkins, 

S. Jones, C. Lawrence, J. Love, T. Martin, J. McIntyre, J. Monger, R. Moore, W. Murray,

G. Rossiter, T. Sanders, J. Sherratt, D. Smith, T. Thorne, B. West.

U17’s Tour Italy - Report…

September 24, 2008

Newbury RFC U17’s play Twin Town in Italian Tour 

Newbury played two games in northwest Italy. The first was against Feltre, which became a twin town of Newbury in 2003, the second at Treviso, one of the most successful clubs in Italian rugby. 

 The Feltre rugby club has employed ex-Leicester and England prop Steve Redfern as its professional coach in order to raise the standard of their game. As a result, they welcomed the opportunity to play Newbury and gain an insight into English playing style and performance. 

During the tour the squad was invited to a morning reception in the Town Hall hosted by the Mayor, the Municipal Councillor for Sport, the Head of the Town Twinning Committee and representatives of Feltre Rugby Club. This reciprocated the visit two years ago Newbury received from Feltre XV. 

Rugby was singled out by officials as an important means to create new friendships and strengthen the relationships between our respective towns. If the Feltre hospitality is anything to go by, Newbury has won some excellent friends at the foot of the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy. 

In the afternoon they went on to play a victorious game against Feltre, winning 48-0.  

Less than 24 hours later the Newbury team were back on the pitch at Treviso, albeit with injuries sidelining some players. They again won against the local team in a hard fought contest, which saw control, communication and strong team spirit dominate over a physically larger side. The margin of victory this time came in at 25-5. 

As they progress from Youth to Adult rugby, this was the final performance by this group under the coaching of Bill Brogden and Jim Wilson. Fitting then that against the Italian Academy champions it was surely also their finest hour.

The Italian Job Part 1 - Newbury Under 17s vs Feltre - (20/09/2008)

From the start the physical superiority of the Newbury side was evident, and on 7 minutes Jack Caunt charged down a Feltre kick. Pete Burns was well released and was unlucky to be stopped just short of the line. But the ball was recycled and two huge miss passes presented Jamie Mcintyre with a run-in on the opposite side of the field. George Rossiter made no mistake with the kick. For a while Feltre came back into the game but excellent Newbury tackling, notably by Sam Jones and James Monger kept them well at bay.

Brave defence by Feltre, coupled with too many handling errors by Newbury and the temptation for the forwards to take it “a phase too far” saw the score remain at 7-0 until 25 minutes. Then Mcintyre ignored the overlapping Burns, choosing to cut inside, and when he was stopped Michael Hobbs followed up to score between the posts. Another Rossiter conversion made it 14-0. Soon after Rossiter kicked long, Monger followed up to nail the gathering full-back, and the pack arrived together to disrupt all Feltre’s attempts to clear, with Ben West picking up to score out wide (19-0). This time the conversion narrowly missed. Then on 28 minutes the backs, now combining with real fluency, moved the ball around well. Mcintyre cut inside again and this time released Monger to score. The conversion made it 26-0 at half-time.

For 9 minutes of the second half, Newbury moved the ball with great style but were unable to add more points. Then Mcintyre put in a huge up-and-under and the full-back was unable to hold it. Newbury pressured to win the ball and swung it wide to the left with Darren Smith making the touchdown. The conversion was just too difficult - 31-0. Dom Tarquini emphasised the growing dominance by catching the kick-off and bullocking 30 metres through the Feltre pack. When the ball was fed out, Newbury had too many players in the line and Chris Lawrence was able to cut simply through a gap and score next to the posts. That conversion was good, so with 20 minutes to go the score was 38-0.

On 28 minutes, Burns arrived at great speed to disrupt a Feltre movement. Newbury foraged for the ball, and swung it right this time, ending with Jamie Futcher making a none-too-easy final surge to touch the ball down. No conversion, so 43-0. Right on the whistle Lawrence, Smith and West combined well to release Burns, but he put a foot in touch. But the pressure continued and right at the death, another fluent set of passes by the backs left Burns out on his own, wide on the left, to score an eighth try.

Final score 48-0, great driving pressure throughout by the Newbury pack and really fluent passing by the backs once they got going. George Rossiter’s kicking was excellent, 4 conversions from eight didn’t really tell the true story.

Much credit too must go to Feltre for their never-say-die attitude.

Chris Lawrence was named man of the match for Newbury with the Feltre scrum-half receiving the reciprocal award.

Newbury: Drysdale, Love(Martin), Caunt(Sanders); Dyer, Sherratt; Hobbs(Tarquini), Jones, West; T.Thorne(S.Wilson), Rossiter; Burns(Futcher), C.Lawrence, Monger, Smith; Mcintyre

The Italian Job Part 2 - Newbury Under 17s vs Treviso - (21/09/2008)

With Newbury stripped of Monger and Sanders by injury, several players looking tired after a long day on Saturday, and Treviso appearing incredibly big and strong in their warm-up, it seemed this would be a bigger challenge. Early indications were this was true, but Dyer stole a line-out early on, a pattern which would be repeated throughout the game by Newbury’s three big line-out jumpers, and Rossiter kicked calmly to touch. On 6 minutes Newbury forced a line 5 metres from the Treviso line and recycled twice for Hobbs to finish off an excellent forwards’ try. Rossiter’s huge conversion attempt from the touchline fell just short.

Treviso stepped up the power but Newbury defended resolutely and Rossiter continued to kick to touch with calm assurance. A huge Treviso kick saw Darren Smith catch brilliantly on his own goal-line and the have the confidence to run from defence, with Chris Lawrence and Pete Burns continuing the good work to take Newbury back into the Treviso half. Rossiter, Lawrence and Jamie Futcher repeated the act to set up a scrum on the Treviso 22. Hobbs took it from the back of the scrum, and fed Rossiter who fed Lawrence. Lawrence was stopped just short of the line wide on the right. He was injured in the challenge and new find Daniel Thorne came into the match on 20 minutes. Watching this boy play with such calm assurance, it was really hard to believe that he was just 16.

When the game restarted after the injury, Newbury pressured Treviso into touching down in their in-goal area. Hobbs took the ball of the back of the 5m scrum, but was stopped just short.

As Treviso came forward and applied more pressure, the referee awarded a stream of penalties against Newbury. The Newbury support were perplexed by these decisions, and voiced their disapproval when Treviso scored after what appeared to be a knock-on. The conversion came back from the post. Shortly after, a heated confrontation between Hobbs and a Treviso player led to Newbury being awarded a penalty which Rossiter converted in style (8-5 Newbury).

As the second-half began, the disgruntled Newbury supporters were buoyed by the news that Delia Jones had found a toilet with a seat in the clubhouse. But the penalty count continued to grow, perhaps due in part to the language barrier making it hard for the referee to explain to the Newbury players exactly what he wanted.

Newbury remained calm in the face of adversity and the defensive catching and kicking by Smith, his wingers and Rossiter was exceptional. On 15 minutes Sam Jones paid the price for all the penalties, being yellow-carded for playing the ball off the ground. 5 minutes later Rossiter was also harshly yellow-carded for tackling the man without the ball. Newbury seemed destined to lose this match, but nobody had bothered to read the script to the remaining 13 players. They fought tooth-and-nail to preserve their 8-5 lead until Jones returned, then a penalty to Newbury on the Treviso 10 metre line saw Daniel Thorne step-up to kick for goal. With a kick like a mule, he cleared the bar to give Newbury a little breathing space at 11-5.

With 3 minutes left and Newbury back up to full-strength, Newbury won a scrum against the head on the Treviso 22. Hobbs fed West who somewhat inevitably fed Daniel Thorne who scored under the posts. Thorne kicked his own try for 18-5.

From the restart, Ben West ran the ball out of his own 22 as far as the half-way line. He was stopped but slipped the ball brilliantly to Josh Love who showed the speed of a winger as he ran fully 50 metres to score. The conversion was the last kick of the match and it thus ended 25-5 to Newbury.

As they progress from Youth to Adult rugby, this was the final performance by this group under the coaching of Bill Brogden. Fitting then that against the Italian Academy champions it was surely also their finest hour.

Newbury: Drysdale, Love(Martin), Caunt; Dyer(Tarquini), Sherratt; Hobbs, Jones, West; T.Thorne(S.Wilson), Rossiter; Burns, C.Lawrence(D.Thorne), Mcintyre, Futcher; Smith

Annual Financial General Meeting

September 23, 2008

NEWBURY RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

TO: ALL VOTING MEMBERS OF NEWBURY RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

 REFERENCE: ANNUAL FINANCIAL GENERAL MEETING

 Notice is again given to all members of Newbury Rugby Football Club that the Annual Financial General Meeting of the Club is to be held at The Clubhouse, Monks Lane, Newbury on Wednesday 29^th October 2008 at 7.30pm for the purposes noted below:

 AGENDA

 1. To receive and approve the Financial Statement, for the financial year ending 30^th June 2008, and the Auditors’ Report.

2. To consider and vote on any other financial business of which due notice shall have been given in writing four weeks prior to the Annual Financial General Meeting and which shall be submitted in the same manner as described in Rule 8.5.1

2. To appoint the Auditors for the ensuing year.

3. To elect a Treasurer for the ensuing year.

4. To hear any other relevant matter for consideration of the Committee during the ensuing year, but on which no voting shall be allowed. 

This AGM is called by resolution of the Committee, at a meeting held on 10^th July 2008 at Newbury Rugby Football Club, Newbury, Berkshire. 

Rosie Golby

On behalf of Newbury Rugby Football Club Management Committee

Changes to Kick Off times for Autumn Internationals

September 14, 2008

The kick off times for the following games have been changed:

Saturday 8th November - Manchester - Kick off time 1.30pm followed on TV by England vs Pacific Islands at 2.30pm

Saturday 15th November - Exeter - Kick off time 12.00pm followed on TV by England vs Australia at 2.30pm

Saturday 29th November - Leeds - Kick off time 12.00pm followed on TV by England vs New Zealand at 2.30pm

New Website - What do you think?

September 5, 2008

We are pleased to have launched the new look Newbury Blues website.  There’s a lot more coming soon with online shopping just for starters.

We hope you like the new site, let us know what you think by adding your comments below.

Supporters Special

September 4, 2008

In recognition of the contribution made by Supporters we have reserved 20 “Grandstand Advertising” spaces and are making these available for Supporters to purchase as a special deal.

Purchase as an individual, as a family, club together with your friends, or even the blokes down the pub.

These spaces are in a prime position – take a look at the current boards!!!

For you contribution you get …

A 6×4 advertising board with the message of your choice (legal, decent, honest, and truthful only, please).

Price just £500 per board.

Or get a Board + season ticket at the special price of £625 (if you’ve already bought a season ticket we can still do a deal).

If we sell all 20 we will put “sponsored by NRFC Supporters” against a player’s name in the programme for the whole season.

Replies to nrfcgrandstand@btinternet.com please.

Wilds Sports are now running the club shop

September 4, 2008

Wilds Sports are now running the Club Shop.
This now means that you can purchase kit 7 days a week!!!

The exciting new look shop at the club opened on the 19th August.
All the kit will also be available at Wilds Sports In the town centre (14 Bartholomew St – opposite the main entrance to the Kennet centre).

Look out for the great new range of Newbury Blues kit.

The club shop will be stocking many lines from our main store, including Boots, Balls, Headguards, Rugby gloves etc.

Initially the Club shop will be opening the following hours :-
1st team (Home) matches
Sunday mornings 9.30 – 1
Occasional training evenings at the start of the season
(more details will be on display outside the club shop)

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