Shelford Under 16’s Tour to Canada

Saturday 17^th July: Shelford 50 Eastern Ontario 0

Shelford started the tournament well if a little ring rusty as it took a while to get on top of the EO pack.  Finally good support on the shoulder by Sam Porter saw him score the opening try.  Naïve defending by EO gave the Shelford backs plenty of opportunities to run at space, and this resulted in further tries by Lewis Green, Alex Flynn (2), plus two conversions by Lewis Cracknell for a 24-0 ht lead. Shelford with the second half wind advantage kicked ahead for Josh Till to chase down and score, converted by Cracknell.  Further tries by James Clare, Nick Webb and conversions by Alex Flynn and Lewis Cracknell.  Lachlan Finlayson’s try and conversion brought the half century on the stroke of full time.

Shelford 42 Fort Hunt (US) 0

A lackluster warm-up by Shelford continued on the pitch as they initially struggled against game opponents.  Poor execution, a lot of drifting and lack of depth saw Shelford squander a number of great openings early on.  Shelford did finally find the gears to notch up a few scores before ht, with James Clare, Alex Flynn, Josh Till, Lewis Cracknell and Toby Poirier all crossing the line plus a conversion by Cracknell for a 27-0 interval lead. Fort Hunt continued to be competitive in the second period, but found a stout Shelford defence hard to penetrate.  Shelford responded with further scores for Alex Flynn, Toby Poirier and James Clare to run out clear winners at 42-0.  In 40 degree heat this was not a bad day’s work for Shelford.

Sunday 18^th July: Shelford 41 Ontario U15’s 5

In an extremely competitive game Shelford had their stiffest test of the tournament by the regional team of Ontario who were a year younger in age, but not in size or physicality.  Shelford controlled most of the possession and territory, but after an early score by Lewis Green, converted by Lewis Cracknell, they squandered a host of opportunities.  An Ontario interception resulted in them putting pressure on the Shelford defence and brought them back to 7-5 with  score in the corner.  James Clare scored just before half time with a break from an attacking scrum for Shelford to lead 12-5 but missed many other chances to score. Shelford scored early in the second period through good support play by Sam Perry, and James Clare soon followed converted by Cracknell.  More good support play resulted in further scores for Louis Rawlings, Dan Burling and Alex Flynn with a  conversion by Cracknell giving Shelford a hard earned win 41-5.

Shelford 63 Quebec U16’s 0

Shelford ran out easy winners against the Quebec Region, with scores coming at regular intervals.  A first half hat-trick by James Clare saw him quickly banished to the replacements bench with further scores by Lewis Green, Toby Poirier and Alex Flynn, along with conversions by Lewis Cracknell and Alex Flynn for a 34-0 ht lead. Shelford rang the changes in the second period but still had lots of possession and space to run into.  Lewis Green and Nick Webb scored early on both converted by Cracknell.  A burst through by Harry O’Callaghan saw him score his first try for the club, and a bulldozing run by Nathan Taylor saw him score a deserved try.  Alex Flynn finished off the scoring at 63-0 against game opponents who never stopped tackling.

Thursday 22nd July

Shelford 27 Oshawa Vikings 12

Shelford started the game brightly against their hosts, a poorly fielded up and under resulted in a clear run under the posts for James Clare.  5-0.  Following this early setback a physical Vikings side, compiled of 15 - 18 year olds, responded well working the ball through the phases and testing the Shelford defence.  However, Shelford extended their lead after superb support from Iowan "Bob" Thomas-Mathieson saw him crash over for a try under the posts, converted by Lewis Cracknell.  12-0.  Shelford then squandered a host of chances to add to the scoreboard and this lack of ruthlessness, in both attack and defence allowed the Oshawa no8 to cross the line for a well deserved first try.  12-5.  A great solo try for Dan Burling relieved the pressure and Shelford went in at the break, 17 5 up. It was Oshawa who capitalised early on in the second half as poor defensive organisation allowed one of their players to retrieve his own kick and offload to a supporting player for their second try. 17-12.  This close score galvanised the Shelford team who then stepped up the pressure on their opponents.  Shelford's physicality in defence and at the breakdown proved too much for Oshawa and after stretching their defence, James Clare crossed the line for his second try.  22-12.  With Shelford now in control of the game and holding good field position the result was never in doubt, however with a few minutes remaining on the clock, slick offloading through the hands of the Shelford forwards paved the way for Dan Smith to touch down giving a final score of 27 - 12. This was a much sterner test for Shelford from a very tough and committed Oshawa side, who proved to be most welcoming after the match.

Saturday 24th July
Shelford 34 Georgian Bay Titans 5
Shelford took to the road and enjoyed the hospitality and surroundings of beautiful Georgian Bay and Collingwood.  Shelford put in a fairly lacklustre performance and lacked a lot of precision and thought into what they executed on the pitch, but did enough to secure a win against game opponents. 
Dan Burling opened the scoring making the most of an overlap, followed by Bob Thomas-Mathieson as the support play found him in the right position to take the offload.  Shelford then struggled for possession, as GBT took a grip on the game, with good ball retention at the breakdown, resulting in a deserved score.  10-5.  James Clare's pace from depth restored Shelford's 10 point advantage just prior to the interval, and he continued with another run in the second period for a 20-5 lead.  Two opportunities were taken by Toby Poirier on the wing, one converted by Cracknell which gave Shelford a comfortable 34 -5 win but squandered a whole host of others through lack on precision and wrong options.
 
Sunday 25th July
Shelford 34 Balmy Beach 7 
A threadbare looking Shelford XV took to the warm up looking tired and lethargic, but they put in a really controlled performance generally taking the right options for the most part.  Captain and flanker Sam Porter had an outstanding game in the loose winning a host of turnover ball at the breakdown.  After sucking in the BB defence, the Shelford backs managed to penetrate their defence on three occasions before ht with Nick Webb, Lewis Green and Dan Burling all being on the end of some quality back play.  Shelford lead 15-0 at ht.
Shelford continued their dominance into the second half as James Clare smashed his way through the BB defence converted by Cracknell.  22-0.  Shelford's support play continued to be superb as they scored two quality team tries, one finished off by Lewis Cracknell, with the second and best try of the day by James Clare as Shelford continued to move the ball away from contact, converted by Cracknell, 34-0.  BB finished the game strongly with good possession through pick and drives, and scored a converted try that their endeavours deserved, making the final score, 34 - 7.  Shelford then enjoyed some superb hospitality at the Balmy Beach Club House on Lake Ontario.

Shelford Return Unbeaten from their Canada Tour
 
Shelford Under 16’s 28 Ontario Under 16’s 19
 
Shelford finished their tour of Canada unbeaten as they came up against a big and physical Ontario under 16’s side in a bruising encounter. Shelford were put immediately under pressure as they dealt poorly with the kick-off, but did well to hold the Ontario pack up over the try line. Shelford responded well as they ventured up field and took the lead through a well struck Cracknell penalty, 3-0.
 
The breakdown was becoming a feisty contest as the referee gave countless penalties in this area against both sides. Both teams also struggled with their lineout possession too, with a number of steals for either side. Shelford did however put a number of phases together, and a sharp blind-side break by scrum-half George Teeboon paved the way for Lewis Green to score in the corner for an 8-0 lead.
 
A missed tackle in midfield saw Ontario respond with a sharp break from a scrum to score under the posts, 8-7. Lewis Cracknell then coolly slotted another penalty after an off-side infringement to extend their lead to 11-7. A great kick ahead by Cracknell behind the Ontario back three saw a superb chase by Bob Thomas-Mathieson and a moment’s hesitation by the Ontario defence gave him an opportunity he couldn’t refuse, converted by Cracknell for an 18-7 H-T lead.
 
Wholesale changes were made by Ontario at half-time and this rejuvenated their back-line as they responded well with ball in hand, carving open the Shelford defence to score which was converted for the scores to close at 18-14. Good phase possession by Shelford saw us mount a concerted attack, but it wasn’t until a charging run by Nathan Taylor set up good field position that Shelford took advantage of a stretched Ontario defence for James Clare to force his way over to score, 23-14.
 
Ontario responded yet again as their backs spotted the Shelford backs asleep at a quickly taken penalty and converted a 3 v 1 opportunity with aplomb to bring the score back to 23-19 with a couple of minutes left on the clock.
 
In a breathtaking finish Shelford composed themselves and put pressure on Ontario as they received the kick-off, which resulted in a Shelford penalty for not releasing in the tackle. With the penalty having been kicked to touch, Shelford won the lineout ball and went through the phases eventually sucking in enough defenders to set up Nick Webb to score the crucial try and secure a hard earned victory 28-19. This game was a fantastic advert for youth rugby played with huge conviction by both sides, with the result in doubt until the final minute to keep the vociferous spectators interested throughout.
 
A big ‘Thank You’ goes to Ontario Rugby for being great hosts and the best of luck to their under 16’s in the Canadian National Championships, which is being held in two weeks time.
 
And Finally………..
 
Shelford Under 16’s would like to thank all of the team’s sponsors on tour:
 
Saffron Power Ltd, N W Brown Ltd, The Denton Family, John Penny Woodworking Machinery Ltd, Shandrum Office Supplies Ltd, Syngenta Ltd, The Hills Family in Toronto and AAF Accountancy Ltd. Many thanks to all of you for your kind donations in sponsoring our tour kit.
 
Also huge thanks to all those people who helped raise the tour funds, especially parents and their friends and families for organising and supporting our various fund raising functions over the last 15 months, it was all very worth while (just ask any of the boys who toured!).
 
One very special ‘Thank You’ has to go to Annaleaza Finlayson whose tour organising skills were tested to the limit in compiling a ‘full on’ 15 day itinerary based in Ottawa & Toronto.
 
This was a very memorable tour and one that the boys will have great memories of forever more.