This weekend, Burton U15 Cougars hosted local rivals Derby in a fantastic game of rugby which was played in excellent conditions.  The hosts were expecting a very hard fixture as they knew Derby would pull no punches.   Fielding a bare side of 15 players due to the school holidays, the Cougars had a good number of experienced players missing.  Their squad –mates had the ideal opportunity to put themselves forward and none fell short of the mark, pressing their opponents who were fielding a good number of county standard players.

Derby kicked off, pushing the ball deep behind Burton’s 22m line.  Taking advantage of the territory, the visitors pushed hard up front but were met head on by a determined Cougars side.  After several minutes of hard battle in the forwards, Derby utilised their large and fast back line to cross the Burton try line.  Burton Cougars were undeterred by the score and made nuisance of them-selves in attack.  Especially pleasing was the Cougars’ set piece, consistently edging out their opponents in the scrum and matching their opponents at the lineout throughout the game.  The young ‘Crofters dogged determination saw them matching the high octane attacking play that Derby brought to the game.  Unfortunately for them Derby had the luxury of a good compliment of substitutes and made use of their fresh legs from halfway through the first half, such was the effort put in by both sides.  The first half saw another 4 tries from Derby which went unanswered in spite of the Cougars considerable effort, to give the visitors a 29 point lead.

The sheer effort of the first half had taken its toll and the Cougars found themselves down to 14 men.  Graciously, Derby offered a player to make the team up to 15 players.

The second half saw the Cougars push hard from the territory gained from their re-start.  Their consistent efforts were finally rewarded by a try from Reece Collier.  Derby replied with an unconverted try.  The Cougars were unperturbed and continued to press hard, giving their opponents a hard time in defence; they found themselves with a penalty inside the Derby 22.  A superbly executed cross-field kick was collected by Matty Davies for a try converted by Tom Cooper.  This great display buoyed the Cougars and led them to producing some of the best rugby they have ever played.   Derby employed full use of the substitutes once again to inject some power and pace from their rested players.  Derby scored 3 more tries before the end of the game but it didn’t dampen the Cougars’ spirits.  In fact it seemed a fitting end that the last play of the game saw the Cougars driving forward, switching and pop – passing up the field in a great display of team rugby.

 

The final score line of 12 – 49 was representative of the high standards of the Derby team, as the visiting side made use of their fast backs and the staggered defensive line of the Cougars to gain their points.  However, the result falls far short of the tremendous efforts of the Burton Cougars.  To a man, they put in the performance of the season with the new and inexperienced players stepping up to the mark and performing to a high standard which will see the seasoned players not involved in this game challenged for their places in weeks to come.  Burton Cougars matched Derby up front, the rucking and mauling displayed by both teams was exceptional.  The majority of the games’ phase play came from the Cougars, recycling at the breakdown and passing fluidly on the run, though ultimately just lacking the killer edge to convert the efforts into points.    

The coaching team would like to convey to every player that graced the field in a Burton shirt in this game how proud they are of each of the players, their efforts, teamwork and determination to stay in the game