Year 8 Boys impressive, but a single late try meant we narrowly miss out

[17 Mar 2016]

Year 8 Boys impressive, but a single late try meant we narrowly miss out on the East Yorkshire Rugby Union Trophy.

Rugby Union Fundamentals for newbies:
· Try= 5 points
· Conversion = 2 points
· Ruck = A physical battle for the ball after each tackle, far too treacherous for the average rugby league player!

Setting the scene.

After defeating St Mary’s two weeks ago, Sirius Academy’s year 8 boys represented Hull in the East Yorkshire Rugby Union Finals. Playing 12v12 games against Beverly Grammar, Scarborough College and Wolfreton. The boys displayed excellent skill, strength and above all, solidarity right until the final whistle of the tournament, playing extremely well against teams with solid rugby union foundations.

Game 1:  Sirius Academy West 33 – Scarborough College 7.
Scarborough College was announced as our first opponent and from the beginning they looked a challenging bunch, arriving at the venue with a separate coach full of parents and spectators. However the Sirius Academy neophytes provided a great upset with Leon Stewart scoring two tries from kick off in the early minutes of the game, both conversions were taken well by scrum-half Lewis Wilson giving Sirius a 14-0 lead. The formidable Sirius academy front row consisting of Charlie Dobson, Lewis Walker and Alex Dunne proved far too menacing for the opposition, driving the Scarborough defensive line back consistently throughout the match concluding with brilliant tries from Ali Alsheriafe and Leon Stewart. Scarborough eventually scored a try, however the game concluded with a full length sprint from Ali Alsheriafe who (being the comical maverick he is), decided to stop on the try line to hand the ball to Alex Dunne who later scored the try, stating after the game that “he wanted everyone to score a try today”.

One parent of a Scarborough college student commented on the clear size difference between the two teams describing Sirius’s performance as “a demonstration of pure physicality”, to which I replied “we eat chicken, every Friday!”

Final score 33-7. Sirius delighted with the strong start.

Game 2: Sirius Academy West 19 Beverly Grammar 0
Elated by the strong win against Scarborough, Sirius Academy dominated possession against a brave Beverly Grammar line up who defended well to keep the score 7-nil at half time. Leon Stewart scored the first try after great passing and movement by fly half Sam McAuely. The half-time talk was simple; “control the rucks” and the second half was a different story, powerful running from Centres Tom Wilkinson and Joe Grant opened up space for Leon Stewart to score his second try and lock forward Connor Foster to also score before the final whistle.

Sirius were through to the EY Final following 2 wins out of 2 and looking forward to the ultimate showdown against local rivals Wolfreton.

Final Game: Wolfreton 19 – Sirius Academy West- 12.
Going into the final the lads knew Wolfreton would be a tough opponent. Wolfreton boast an established rugby union presence and have been competing in the prestigious national rugby union tournament “The Halifax Cup” since the start of the season.

First half

The game was a physical battle from the kick-off. The Wolfreton pack were formidable and un-yielding in the rucks. Our resilient opponents were not held up once or twice but three times Sirius defended courageously to hold Wolfreton above the try line with try saving tackles from Ben Harlington, Joe Grant and Lewis Walker.

Second half

The second half opened up with Wolfreton taking an early lead – scoring two tries and missing a conversion, making the score 12-0.  The lads battled well to bring the score back to 12-12 with two full length efforts from Leon Stewart following Owen Farr and Josh Harper’s valiant defensive effort on the wings.

The final whistle approached and an extra time, golden try scenario loomed. On several occasions Sirius looked as though they were going to steal a late winner, with Ali Hussein, Ali Alsheriafe and Sam McAuley all going close. However a late knock on and a penalty awarded to Wolfreton lead to a final try scored by a former Sirius Academy pupil!

Final whistle – Wolfreton 19, Sirius Academy 12.

Final word.
Several England RFU coaches watched the games and praised the team’s strong performance in our first ever rugby union tournament, representing our city to only miss out on a trophy by one late try. The boys were elated by their overall performance and look forward to their first home Rugby Union game against South Hunsley after Easter. It is noticeable that with more work on the basics, this Sirius team is surely going to be a force to be reckoned with!

Please congratulate the following year 8’s for their passionate performance:

Alex Dunne (x1 try) , Lewis Walker, Charlie Dobson, Connor Foster(x1 try), Leon Stewart (x7 tries), Ali Hussein Ali, Lewis Wilson, Sam McAuley (player of the tournament), Tom Wilkinson (capt), Joe Grant, Josh Harper, Ali Alsheriafe(x1 try), Owen Farr, Kieran Simpson, Ben Harlington.

Massive thanks to Glen Bilton and the rest of the PE department for their support in the lead up to the tournament. And finally a HUGE, HUGE thank you to Cheryl Norton for driving us to Driffield and supporting the lads, without her we were close to cancelling!

‘Til next time!
Shawn Boatin.

Test link

Test link