This time last year we were told that the jump from Under 12 to Under 13 rugby would be the biggest jump of them all.

Expanding from 12 to 15 a side we didn’t feel was going to be a problem , but moving to a full size pitch most definitely did look a challenge .

With that in mind we set up some light training through the summer , one session in June , two in July and four in August and by the time we hit September we felt that the team was looking reasonably sharp though they still had not had the opportunity to play a game on a full size pitch.

In the middle of September we played our first match , home to Nuneaton . It was a nervous affair but one which we won 7:0 . This was a really important game to win . There was a lot of confidence gained that day and by the time our season ended 2 weeks ago , this time away to Nuneaton , we’d played a total of 27 matches and lost only 5 , we reached the final of the Staffs cup and won the Leamington Festival. We’ve scored 101 tries and conceded only 32. By any standards this has been a good season for us and one which has hopefully shown these guys what can be achieved through hard work and commitment .

On Patrons Day we had the honour of playing Tamworth on the Croft as a curtain raiser. The 31:0 win was great , but the real satisfaction came from the way in which this was achieved. Everything that we’d concentrated on through the summer and early season came together with great tackling , great rucking , great support play. This was a really good team effort.

This of course has been the first year we have played in a knock out County Cup competition. The first round saw us beat Longton 51:0 and through we went to the quarter finals at Lichfield .

This game was undoubtedly one of the high points of the season. 10:5 up at half time was just the ticket but as the second half progressed and tiredness crept in , the very skilful Lichfield back line which had been meticulously starved of ball in the first half was able to stir in to life and tested our defences to the hilt.

A more exciting game you’d be hard pressed to see but with the scores level at 10 all at full time , the away team – us – went through to the semi’s and Lichfield went out of the competition .

There’s no doubt that we were hungrier for the win that day , a point made also by Lichfield in their own match report

A win against Newcastle in the semi final in February put us in to the final

As the final against Stoke at Stoke approached in early March , everything was looking very hopeful , we’d lost only one game in the 17 that preceded the final and had already beaten Stoke earlier in the season.

Our guarded optimism wasn’t something we shared with the players , and instead considerable emphasis was placed on the unpredictability of knock out competitions but the facts were hard to ignore.

The final was a fantastic day but one which saw us out rucked , something we hadn’t seen all season. Stoke were as hungry that day as we had been in the quarter final at Lichfield and with minutes to go , Stoke were ahead by 10 points to 5 . We won a penalty close to the line in front of the posts and for a moment it looked as though we could get a draw and share the honours. But it wasn’t to be and that remained the final score. It was a tough blow.

That afternoon the entire Burton party came back to the club , no-one sloped off , and we celebrated , in some style , our cup run. The lads showed great attitude that day , on the field and off it , and hopefully took a great deal away from the whole experience.

Almost the entire squad came over to Stoke that day , even those who we couldn’t get on the subs bench and the support they all gave , by being there , was fantastic

It was also of course Mothers Day and we’d promised the mothers present that after the game they could all relax and leave the catering in our safe hands . In the event Domino’s did us proud.

In January we were asked to put forward 10 or so players to form an East Staffs squad with players from Lichfield and Tamworth . The squad formed was then entered in to 2 tournaments , one in Feb and the other in April when they played against squads from the North , South and West of the County that had been similarly formed. To no great surprise the East Staffs squad won both tournaments and the players from Burton did us proud on both of those days. This hopefully bodes well for next season when County Rugby begins. I’d like to congratulate those who played for the district – Dominic Minns , Nathan Taylor , Andrew Tattersall , Nathan Wrathall , Alex Stockbridge , Jon Briggs , Andrew Gosling , Tom Sharratt , Charlie Wainman , Ed Watkins , Tom Worthy and Jake Manning.

Unfortunately limits were set on the number of players we were allowed to put forward for this , and we were very conscious of a number of our players who were not on our list who are every bit as good as many players present on the two development days.

Playing rugby at County level isn’t for everyone and for the vast majority of rugby players , the challenges and opportunities of club rugby is more than enough . For those in our squad who do aspire to rugby at a higher level then this Autumn the opportunity may arise . If you don’t get picked in the trials don’t loose heart and keep trying . But we hope that Burton will have a number of players representing Staffordshire Under 14’s next season and we wish them well.

For the first time ever , we toured on our own as an age group this year – up to the Lake District . Those all important tour moments actually started before we’d even left Burton . Our 46 seater bus pulled up outside and 50 of us climbed aboard. Some of the party shared seats , some sat on toilets which by that stage of the week-end were still safe to sit on , but we all got on.

This ofcourse was no ordinary tour vehicle. Hawkes tours had , quite sensibly , stripped out the carpets before the trip but to our relief they’d left in the seats and windows .

Our driver Chris was as good as they get and infact half way through the week-end booked to come on tour with us next year to Wales .

Chris you won’t be surprised to hear , is now in a secure psychiatric unit receiving intensive therapy and is apparently making some progress .

We stayed at Borwick Hall , a Council run activity centre which was a great base for the tour. Saturday saw us play and beat Upper Eden in driving Lakeland rain and immediately afterwards , completely soaked , went straight back on to face Durham Under 13/14’s who were also in the area on tour – something we did not know until the previous evening. Durham however with fresh , and a few older , legs beat us 17:0 but the second half of this game saw the lads really pull out the stops and it was a great game.

Upper Eden had asked us earlier on if we could lend them some players for their game against Durham which followed ours and despite having just played two matches , both Nathan Taylor and Mat Martin , both cold , wet and tired , immediately volunteered to go out again for their third game of the morning – real ambassadors for the club.

In the clubhouse later our tour party showed both Upper Eden and Durham that we were no strangers to touring . Following a blistering version of sunshine mountain we should have been on our way to Windermere for a lake cruise but we had a problem. The tour ladies refused to move.

Now I know what sort of picture this conjures up but they really wouldn’t move until they had seen what colour dress Camilla Parker Bowles was wearing for her wedding which was being shown on the clubs TV .

How many self respecting rugby tours get rail roaded in such a way .

That evening back at Borwick , we held our Little Britain event. Everyone in the party had gone to a staggering amount of trouble and the outfits were brilliant and we had a terrific evening. Thanks to everyone for this.

Interestingly we shared the bar at Borwick with a group of sex therapists who were on a counselling week-end. As our party of ladies and gays slowly drifted in to the bar that night , the counsellors looked worried. One of them actually told me later that , to start with , they hadn’t appreciated that we were a touring rugby team or that we were holding a fancy dress event. God only knows what they thought we were about

On Sunday we returned to Kirby Lonsdale who we’d played whilst on tour three years previously. Kirby were holding their Presidents day this Sunday and we were greeted with a brass band , fairground rides , inflatables and a hog roast.

The rugby was fantastic too .

All our tour matches had been preceeded by our Haka and at Kirby , in the sunshine , it went down a storm.

Kirby had some big guys who’d presumably had a little more sleep than the Burton squad the previous night but they weren’t allowed control of this game and the second win of the tour followed . Tom Sharratt that day put in tackle of the season , decking as he did, a player considerably bigger than him who was travelling at considerable speed to score what was an almost certain try. Absolutely awesome

I think this is the first time we’ve played a match with musical accompaniment. Mercifully they didn’t break in to one of our tour sings which could have proved interesting and might have opened up the game for Kirby. They were asked !!

This was a great tour and our thanks again go to Steve Briggs for setting it up and ofcourse to Jonno Minns for sorting out the coach.

I guess we should also thank the mini junior chairman who joined us for the first part of the tour and who brought with him an unusual selection of novelty tour items

The following week-end Ron had hastily arranged for us what we thought was a fixture with Leamington Spa. On arriving we found out this was a small festival with teams from Stratford upon Avon , and Earlsdon competing. We won all our games , won the festival , scored 75 points and conceded none . This was a fine way to see our season drawing to a close.

No report of our year could be complete without reference to our lost property.

Throughout the season we carry round a bag of lost items. Occasionally items get taken out but they’re usually back home in the lost property bag pretty soon after.

On tour our lost property bag has a field day. It would appear that the lads take quite literally that old adage “ what goes on tour , stays on tour “

Our finest hour however came at Leamington Spa a few weeks ago when we actually managed to loose our lost property bag – not sure where it’s all gone.

Our match reports this year have been transformed. The paparazzi from Hilton ( Dave Wyn , Simon and Neil ) have taken these over and I’d just like to them all for the time and trouble they’ve put in to these.

At the end of August we are going up to the Lake District for a team building week-end when we will be hopefully climbing Scafell Pike , weather permitting and tackling a high level assault course through Grisedale Forest.

Following this week-end we will be saying good bye to Phil Stockbridge who has been helping with the coaching of these guys over the last five and a half years. Phil is emigrating to the States and we made a presentation to Phil at , an Under 13’s night , a week ago. I would like again to thank Phil for all his help over the last five and a half years and to wish him and Viv all the best in the States

Thanks also must go to Kev and Phil Manning without whom , this squad couldn’t operate and ofcourse also to all the long suffering parents who continue to support us way above the call of duty. They’re a fantastic bunch

This has been a very good season and one which will be hard to follow. We have a squad of great rugby players . We’ve all enjoyed their successes over the last eight month for which they should all be congratulated and as importantly we have had a lot of fun , and if these guys turn up next season with the attitude and comitment they’ve shown this year we can be very optimistic.

 Stats as at 24/04/05