Sunday 28th September 2008

Wigan RUFC Under 8’s v’s Liverpool St. Helens

Team.

Rhian, Ely, Luca, Alex, Jack, William, Joss, Josh, Megan, Thomas, George, George, Karl.

Wigan’s eagerly awaited first fixture of the season got underway at a sun soaked Douglas Valley in front of a sizeable crowd of home and away supporters. The Wigan team included a large number of debutants who couldn’t wait to show off their skills.

Game 1

Wigan 6 tries                        LSH 9 tries

LSH took the initiative in the early exchanges to take a 3 try lead without reply from Wigan. Rallied by coach Mike Parker and the unbiased Ian Morgan refereeing,  Wigan started to gain confidence and claw back the LSH lead. Tries from Lawless (2), Parker, Morgan (2) & Holland. Both teams showed excellent handling skills and support play as the game flowed from end to end.

LSH eventually ran out winners owing to Wigan’s preference to attack rather than defence.

Game 2

Wigan 6 tries                        LSH 4 tries

In game 2, Wigan took the advice of the coaches and shored up the defensive line to allowing them to take an early lead with scores from Luca, Rhian, Karl, George, William & Josh. Outstanding in defence for Wigan was Bradley, who stood up to the bigger LSH opposition. Game 2 was a team effort as Mr Sharkey Senior & Mr Roberts Senior on the touch line ensured the rolling substitute system worked to full effect and ensured all the players contributed to the win.

Game 3

Wigan 6 tries                        LSH 9 tries

In the final and deciding game Wigan got back to the old habits of not defending. Following a reshuffle, the defence was improved by the introduction of Hickman who made numerous last ditch tackles to prevent LSH from scoring. This allowed the attacking flair of Lawless, Carr, Parker and Morgan to take Wigan forward and stay level with the opposition. The highlight of one attack, being an outrageous side step by Lawless (that the Barbarians would have been proud of!) that wrong footed four defenders to score. However, the experience of LSH told as they ran out eventual  winners.

In summary the two teams were evenly matched and both played some excellent rugby and were a credit to both clubs. The discipline of  both sets of players was also exceptional, despite some rogue touch line decisions of Mr Sharkey Senior & Mr Roberts Senior. Both touch judges agreed in the bar afterwards that their positioning was not great and that they need to be more mobile  and would benefit from the use of a touch flag.