Celts Win opening Festival of the Season!!

When we turned up at New Milton this morning in the beautiful Hampshire sunshine, I was thinking we had no need to put up the event shelter as surely it would stay dry all day… As it turned out it was a truly perfect day for rugby!
We started with our toughest group match against Winchester. I asked the boys to really focus on their rucking as we couldn’t afford to start cold as we are used to doing. However, things didn’t quite go to plan as we ended the first half one-nil down, mainly due to a distinct lack of rucking. A good chat at half-time changed all that though! The first ruck of the second half saw Jake Hoare put in a fantastic clear-out and the tone was set for the rest of the festival – our first try was scored and we didn’t look back. Two tries from Oliver Smith and one from Harry Cromie saw the Celts win 3-2 in the opening match.
Our second game was against a robust, hefty looking Fordingbridge side but the boys were not intimidated at all. Pleasingly, they kept a really good shape in attack, maintaining good width on the pitch. Oliver Smith kicked a couple of times during the first half, which was not part of the game plan. I was going to ask him to avoid kicking unless we were under pressure in our own half, but both kicks resulted in excellent tries, so I kept my mouth shut! William Breeze ran like the wind to score a hat-trick, Hugh Campbell-Baldwin cut a great line to score, Michael Cromie ran hard and straight for his try and Oliver Smith managed to grab another. I made it 7-1 but could be mistaken.
The third match was against New Milton 2 and proved rather more straightforward than we expected. Harrison Bennett used his pace to stretch his legs and arc around the players for his score, Hugh Campbell-Baldwin ran another clever line to outpace the opposition on his way to the line, Harry Cromie seemed to pop up everywhere and showed great strength for his brace, whilst Michael Cromie and William May used power and determination dotting down their single and brace respectively. It finished 7-0 and the boys were on a roll.
The final group match saw us up against an Overton side that had found the group tough going, however they were determined to put in a good performance. They continued to challenge us right up to the final whistle, making it more of a contest than we expected. In the first half, William Breeze managed to score one, Harry Cromie sniped for another and George Popplewell showed courage to squeeze in in the corner. The second half was very competitive but still saw tries apiece for Hugh Campbell-Baldwin and William May, finishing 5-1. We had won the group and would be playing a nippy Trojans side having won the other pool.
I should also point out that 8 of our players played for the Barbarians side during the Pool A matches. They all performed really well, providing an excellent demonstration of the rugby core values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship (TREDS).
The final match against Trojans was a tense, close run affair but I committed to giving all the boys some game time. None of them disappointed with their efforts. Both our tries were scored during the first half, with Oliver Smith pressing hard on the blind side after some excellent build up play, and Harrison Bennett showing a clean pair of heels to out-strip the opposition and score in the corner. Trojans really challenged us in the second half but our solid tackling and ferocious rucking saw the boys home in the end. Festival Winners!
A big thank you to all the players involved, who went home with bumps, bruises and big smiles, parents, managers and coaches. A great way to start the season!

Thank you Toby Shaw for the match report.

The rest of the Celts squad had a good training session at Gosport Park and look forward to meeting up with everyone next week at Eastleigh RFC.