Cliddesden Primary School

Learning Together, Growing Together

Cliddesden Primary School, Cliddesden, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 2QU

01256 321571 - Fax: 01256 3336

adminoffice@cliddesden.hants.sch.uk

Year 5 and 6 Sparkling Rugby Tournament

On Tuesday 23rd of May some of our Year 5 and 6 pupils attended the annual Sparkling Tag Rugby Festival at Overton Rugby Club. Cliddesden were lucky enough to be allowed to take two teams, the Sharks and the Cats, to this year’s tournament. This meant that 20 students got to play in six matches with many of them playing every match.

 

George and Cameron joined the Barbarians team at the start of the tournament and performed really well, playing every game, scoring two tries each and making a number of try saving tags.

 

The Cats team consisted mostly of year 5 students with Adam in the centre as captain and James, who has trained hard all year and made excellent progress, in the key role of scrum half.

 

In their first match against Castle Hill James, Elspeth and Luke scored but they were unlucky to lose 4-3.

 

The next match against Chiltern Primary was a thumping 5-1 win, with Luke and Sol scoring two tries each and Adam scoring another. In this match Adam organised a series of passing moves which completely confused the opposition.

 

Fortunes changed against Hurstbourne Tarrant who fielded an extremely strong team and beat The Cats 5-1. Luke scored The Cats’ try which came from another excellent passing move called by Adam.

 

None of the players let the defeat get them down. Adam borrowed a clipboard, drew a diagram and taught his team an extremely complex passing move. Then they went out to face a strong St. Anne’s team, with Sol, Luke, Adam and Fin all scoring as they won 4-2, with a try coming from Adam’s new move.

 

Fin then put in a guest appearance for Tadley and scored a try for them and then the rest of The Cats faced Tadley themselves, drawing 2-2 with two more tries from Luke.

 

In the final match The Cats were level at 2-2 with the Barbarians after two tries from Luke. In his final match for Cliddesden Adam pounced on a loose ball and ran half the length of the pitch to score the winning try. Straight afterwards the ref blew the final whistle, crowning a great day for Adam and his team.

 

Adam’s leadership was excellent from start to finish. He organised his team on and off the pitch and was positive throughout. The team followed Adam’s example and tried their hardest and supported each other all day. The majority of tries were scored after several passes and somebody was always there to receive the final pass and score. Usually, it was Luke! As well as the try scorers Alex, Ella and Emily put in great performances, with several blistering runs from Emily and great defence and support play from Alex and Ella, who will both play a lot more for Cliddesden next season.

 

The Sharks played well in their first two games against tough opposition, forcing two well deserved draws. Luis and Frankie led the attack well showing good pace and determination. Victory came in the third game against Longparish with tries from Hope and Luis.

 

The remaining 3 games didn’t go so well and team spirit took a dive when Katie sustained a minor injury and had to sit out. The Sharks unfortunately lost their remaining games, but 2 of these were against the teams that went through to the quarter finals including local Norman League rivals, Chalk Ridge.

 

After the matches several of the players were introduced to various Basingstoke RFC coaches who are recruiting new players. In particular there will be some summer training aimed at the girls to expand Basingstoke’s growing girl’s team- please contact Mr. Martin-Dye or Elspeth if you are interested in this.

 

Click here to find out more about Oak Class.