Today we travelled to Long Eaton School to meet up with Burton U8s and the LE U8s. Unfortunately their clubs have been hit harder by the weather than ours and so have played less rugby this year. With pitches still unplayable, LE RUFC had kindly hired the school astroturf for 45 minutes, and for parents and coaches, it was a reminder of the 'good old days' when astroturf first came out. This was the sand based type, a bit harder then the 4G the children are used to playing on, and so bumps, bruises and friction burns were rife....

With more new recruits in Finley and Connor, we were able to field two teams, which is great for the players as it gives them less standing around time. Three pitches were therefore filled all morning and the teams were rotated around.

Its clear that our defence is getting stronger, although the old adage 'spread out' still holds true in attack. The work they do in training is lost in the passion of simply wanting to score a try for the club on matchday.

In Elks 1, Ben and Fraser were their usual troublesome selves in attack and defence, ably backed up by relative new boy Damian. Its easy to forget he's only a couple of weeks into his rugby experience. In Elks 2, player of the day had to go to Finley Wilson who really didn't look like a newbie. Once he realised that he wasn't going to receive a 'big hit' in the tackle, he side-stepped his way down the pitch. Moving forward in defence, there was no tag he couldn't get, almost forcing the turnover on several occasions. Lets hope his football team don't hear about his new adventure...

Once again the Elks played with a great spirit and should be proud of how they approach the game. Next week its back to The Stute to work on that attacking formation....