Sunday 14th January was the first Round of the Surrey Rugby Waterfall Cup for our Under 12s to Under 14s. We hosted 5 teams from 5 different clubs culminating in 200 kids and 70 parents eating and drinking in the clubhouse (it was obviously the parents doing the drinking!).

Now the results (please note that the results for just the U12s are the number of tries scored and NOT the points):

Under 12’s

Barnes A 5-8 Farnham A
An absolute belter of a game enjoyed by all players, supporters and coaches. Farnham are one of the heavyweight clubs in Surrey so going into the last 5 minutes at 5-5 shows the standard all the players reached in the game.

Barnes B 0-6 Kingston A
The score line does not always tell the story! This was 2 evenly matched teams, the difference being a couple of "A" standard players in the Kingston team. Strong rucking and commitment across the pitch bodes well for future rounds.

Under 13’s
Barnes A 25-25 Weybridge Vandals A
A very tough game and physical game where the lead changes hands a few times. The Barnes boys were outmuscled upfront against a heavier pack but looked the better side with ball in hand. Most pleasing was how the Barnes team fought back from 25 -15 down with 5 minutes to go to get the draw.

Barnes B 15-40 Streatham & Croydon
Overawed by the physical disparity between the two teams, the Barnes boys giving away what looked like about 2 stone a player! Barnes went down 25-0 in the first half. In the 2nd half, they started to gain confidence, realising that it is not all about size and in a fantastic 25 minutes of open running rugby, they showed real grit and determination to draw the second half 15-15.

Under 14’s

Barnes A 12-39 Guildford A
A much closer game than the scoreline suggests, a very hard-fought and competitive match against the last year’s waterfall cup winners, Guildford. A strong performance in the first half saw Barnes go in at half-time 12 – 10 up but in the second half 3 intercept tries and a number of missed opportunities to convert from short distance meant the game ran away from us in the end

A brilliant day at Barnes, and a fantastic learning experience that sets us up well for future games in the competition, for many of the lads it was the first time they had played 40 minute games so next time they will be ready!

A massive well done from me to Jason Betteley, Al Ryan and all of the junior coaches and players and of course to Zoe and her team for sorting out the refreshments and food afterwards.