Following a tough pool in which the two top seeds Chipping Norton and Henley ended up playing the cup final (congrats to Chippy!), our U14 All Blacks went into the knock-out stages for the plate competition. Having won the semi against Banbury, the Plate final was set up against Grove, who beat Wallingford on their side of the draw.

The final was held at Oxford RFC in beautiful sunshine, with some strong April gusts. Both teams had clearly come out to play, and it was a true spectacle to watch – excellent scrummaging, strong tackles, magnificent runs and some very cool linebreaks on both sides.
Our boys brought their full available squad of 21 players (giving us the benefit of a very strong set of finishers as each player played at least half the game). A tackle deemed dangerous left us with a player short for most of the second half, quickly followed by two yellows for a small tussle for the ball following a penalty awarded to us. Cards felt heavy handed, but we played on and kept heads high.

All in all, it was a game of end to end rugby: Grove were first to score, but our boys came back quickly. Our first attempt was thwarted by an unfortunate knock on in the try area, but as we were playing penalty advantage, 2 minutes later our 12 crashed over for the first try following a quick tap and go. Try converted and 7-5 scoreline. Grove came back with another try, and just as they were hoping to extend the lead, a nicely stolen ball and a nearly full pitch sprint by Louis to score under the post got us back in the lead: 14-10. One more score following a strong carry by Will before half time made it 21-10 at the break.

The second half saw us make all our replacements and fresh and strong legs saw more end to end rugby with a lot of space to run in for both sides (at one point playing 13 v 14). Two more converted tries stretched the lead to 35, followed by a final try by Grove in the corner.
Excellent play by the full team, some fantastic scrummaging and rucking by the forward pack, amazing try saving tackles by our backs and of course a hat-tip to our try-scoring machines Louis (4) and Will. Having some excellent kicking power definitely made a difference with all 5 tries converted to 7 pointers. Kudos to Luke, Ronnie and Nico for adding the points !

Credit to Grove for never giving up and fighting hard to the end, it was an excellent game in great spirit of rugby, ending with mixed team photos at presentation and both teams looking forward to next seasons fixtures!

We leave you with some words from our poet in residence (Gavin):

At last the day came, on that plate etched which name?
The warm up….intense,
There’d be no recompense.

Those Grove warriors danced round,
Eyeing up flesh on the ground,
They were here for the prize,
That was clear in their eyes.

Then strolled out our boys,
Amongst them little noise,
They veered straight through the crowd,
Their gait straight, true and proud.

Gumshields tucked into socks,
With a bench like the Boks,
Then the whistle it came,
What’s this? Where’s the rain?

With the stealth of a vixen Grove crossed GAB’s white try line,
You don’t ever do that, it’s their holy shrine.

With the beast soundly stung, you could feel the fire rise,
There’s no way on this earth Grove were taking that prize.

Like two Lazarus arising, one on each side,
The Chinese Dragon and He-man made a mark in scrum pride.

The GAB boys were hungry, started turning the screw,
Then Louis changed in his phone box,
And with a red/black cape he flew.

After half-time it was over,
The contest almost but done,
Grove were hoping for a backlash,
But they were staring a gun.

The monster it roared and GAB showed us their teeth,
They’re the scariest in black, Ten times tougher than Neath,

And then came that whistle, to signal the end,
Grove you’re a GAB foe but you’re also a friend.