THE Bradford on Avon Rugby Football Club under 11s squad have just returned
from their inaugural overseas tour.
Twenty-two boys from the squad, accompanied by their coaches, David Hancock,
David Horner and Duncan Fisken, together with fathers travelled to St Jean
d'Angely, a small market town of about 8,000 inhabitants situated between La
Rochelle and Bordeaux, to complete in a local tournament organised by their
hosts, Rugby Athletic Club Angerien.
On Friday morning the squad enjoyed a training session in the local park
where they were joined by some of the RACA junior squad.
The tourists played against an under 13s side, which included boys who were,
in some cases, almost three years older, and physically much larger than the
Bradford players.
Age aside, there are some other notable differences between English and
French junior rugby, with the French allowing hand-offs, but do not play
scrums or line-outs.
In the pre-tournament warm-up games against the RACA juniors, the Bradford
boys gave a good account of themselves, but were defeated by superior RACA
junior sides.
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Bradford honour was restored however when a team of fathers and coaches
beat their French counterparts two tries to nil in a 20-minute game of touch
rugby.
The tournament was scheduled for Saturday afternoon with two Bradford teams
competing against junior teams from Rugby Athletic Club Angerien, plus
visiting sides from La Tremblade and Marreenes.
Despite a brief interlude of heavy rain, the weather remained warm and sunny
and a good crowd of supporters, including a handful of British ex-pats,
enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of competition under the supervision of chief
referee and RACA head coach, Benoit Paucher.
The tournament was won by RACA but the Bradford boys gave a commendable
account of themselves, scoring several excellent tries against older and
heavier opponents, eventually finishing second in the tournament.
Following the tournament, the Bradford tourists were once again treated to
an evening of hospitality by the local club, with dinner served in the
clubhouse.
Trophies were presented with several of the Bradford boys receiving prizes
for their performance.
Bradford under 11s head coach David Hancock thanked the hosts and presented
mementos of the tour to RACA vice-president Luc Bineau.
Bradford players collected several awards, including man-of-the-tournament
and a special award for fair play. Each of the Bradford tourists was
presented with a RACA supporters' scarf.
Opinion among hosts and tourists alike was unanimous; the tour had been an
unqualified success.
The Bradford under 11s squad, or under 12s as they will be for the 2008/9
season, have invited the RACA juniors to make a reciprocal visit to Bradford
on Avon next season and, with such a wonderful example set by the St Jean
hosts, planning will need to start very soon.
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