Upminster v Chelmsford friendly

This week Chelmsford U16’s travelled to Upminster to play in a friendly, purposely arranged to give both teams the opportunity to get some newer & developing players some much needed game time. It was windy and muddy, but the pitch was in fairly good condition, and everyone was excited to play. The team has welcomed some new players this season and with the bad weather and tough league games, it has been hard to get them appropriate opposition. That said, the lads arrived, all raring to go and as soon as the team photo was taken, it was time for kick off.

Both teams started off a little nervous, but after 13 minutes, CRFC were awarded a penalty for not releasing. A quick tap and go, led to the first try of the game for Chelmsford which was expertly converted by the try scorer. A short while later, some quick passes out to the wing gave Chelmsford the opportunity to break through at pace, giving us our second try of the half. Unfortunately, the conversion went wide on this occasion. Upminster fought back hard, putting in some good tackles and some great passing skills and they clawed back 2 tries in quick succession, with one converted. Back up the other end of the pitch, a loose ball was pounced on by the scrummy, just within the touch line, for a third CRFC try. A difficult conversion this time, with the strength of the wind to contend with, but the ball flew between the uprights for another 2 points. 1 final converted try for Chelmsford before the half time whistle saw the score line Upminster 10 : Chelmsford 26.

With some half time words of encouragement, and with spirits high, CRFC was ready to go again. However, Upminster’s bench came out fighting and were determined not to let the scoreline run away. They used their physical size to power through tackles and broke through on too many occasions. There was a run of tries from both teams in this half, and the spectators were treated to some surprisingly exciting end to end rugby. With just 3 minutes to play for, the game could have gone either way, with just one unconverted try separating the teams. The last kick of the ball into touch welcomed the final whistle, ending the game with Upminster 36 : Chelmsford 38
The purpose of the game today was to get more players game time, however at times, there was some excellent rugby on display. What really shone through, was the team spirit, the words of encouragement from the players on the pitch and the general understanding that there were more important factors to consider than the score, in this development game. That said, the win was well deserved and was the “icing on the cake” and hopefully gave the newer lads some much needed confidence going into the next match.

Thanks to the Coaches, the 1st Aid support, and all the parents for making the journey. Thanks also to Upminster for hosting us, and for the URFC players for their determination & effort. CRFC U16’s now has 3 “back to back” league games to focus on over the coming weeks – fingers crossed the weather is kind.