Rugby Under 12’s        14 points         v          Birmingham Solihull Under 12’s        21 points

On a narrow pitch Rugby played well without reaching real excellence.  Early play was concentrated in midfield and after thrust and counter thrust Birmingham’s prop Linnett drove through for the opening try (oldies will remember his dad playing for Rugby Lions and later England) but debutant Zac Baldwin then responded with an impressive equaliser. The second half followed a similar pattern except Birmingham managed two early tries.  From quality forward play and from the day’s best driving maul, Rugby then rucked and mauled their way down the pitch before spinning the ball wide for yet another near miss.  Rugby finished in the ascendancy and Zac Baldwin burst through for his second try, but as Kiron Phillips kicked yet another conversion the referee whistled for full time.

Rugby Under 12’s        28 points         v          Birmingham Solihull Under 12’s        14 points

Supporters cheered as Rugby attacked from the kick off.  Kiron Phillips was all muscle as he scored a brace and Zac Baldwin turbocharged as he sprinted down the wing for another.  In the second half Birmingham forced their way back to score two fine tries and during this spell it was only fine tackling by James Scott, Rich Bannister and Tom Swindell that kept them in front.  Once again Rugby finished on top and with the last play Kiron Phillips grabbed a try to complete his hat-trick.  Over both matches Rugby looked good and quite rightly Connor Jenkins and Ben Warman shared the man of the match award for their hard work.

Keresley 0 v Rugby Lions Dev 27

The lions development team turned in a good performance to beat their counterparts from Coventry. The lions started well moving the ball with every possession. With a secure platform rugby ran the ball. Centre Tom Findlay opened the scoring for the lions when he angled his run to open up the Keresley defence. The forwards played well rucking quickly to give Kyle Giles at scrum half quick ball which he used well. The lions added another try when centre Sam Udall found an overlap in the defence and scored out wide. Conor Deery at 2^nd row had a storming game as did Danny Wardle at wing forward putting in some crunching tackles. This lead to the lions 3^rd try when Conor picked up a spilled pass and fed Greg Clarke who passed to Tom Findlay to score under the posts. Corey Venus added the conversion. Not to be outdone the forwards scored another try when Conor Derry drove over the try line from close range after some superb ball handling between the forwards and backs. The final try was scored by Greg Matthews late in the game to give rugby a well earned win.

Silhillians 17 The Rugby Lions U14’s 26 Sunday 25^th March

Having been looking forward to this encounter the squad and spectators could hardly hide their disappointment in the influence the 16^th man had on the game. Had the game flowed the result could have so easily had been closer. Looking to stamp their authority on the proceedings from the start the Lions forwards came out of the blocks running and after just 3 minutes had set a platform for Craig to take a blind side run, touched down just right of the posts – Skez converting.

The forwards domination continued recycling the ball move after move to set the backs up for another attack. On 14 minutes it came with Rhys taking the spoils after a customary 20m dash - Skez converting.

Being caught off side on numerous occasions sent the Lions deep back into their own 22 gifting Sils the opportunity to take some points of their own and on 19 minutes an unconverted try came.

As the first half ended the second began infringement after infringement putting the Lions on the back foot reducing their play to defence only facing the inevitable, which on 4 minutes came as the Sils crossed the line for their second try – converted.

Determined to take control back the Lions stepped up and pushed the oppo back into their own 22. The resulting Sils penalty failed to make touch. Falling at the covers feet the Lions counter attacked and with a straight forward return, chip then chase they were back on the score board with Craig doing the damage – unconverted.

Two failed kicks at goal kept the home side in their own half until the 18^th minute when an excellent clearance kick had the Lions back to their own 5m line. Poor communications paid dividends for the Sils as they pounced on a spilled ball for their third try – unconverted. This did little to deter the Lions desire for one more try. Pushing the Sils back a forced error presented snipper Louis with the simplest of try’s Skez converting to finish off the match.

Man of the match went to Craig who really made the cover position his own.