An initally pleasant Sunday morning saw the Under 12s travel to Shrewsbury for a return fixture with again many of the squad looing forward to playing against school mates. Large squads on both sides meant there were enough players available for two matches.

 

 

The first match was a very closely contested affair with both defences working very hard. A couple of absent players meant Newport started with their smallest scrum of the season, with Joe Furlong unusually finding himself at number 8.. The forwards however performed excellently, showed great rucking skills and dominated much of the loose against against a larger pack.

 

Both sets of backs were strong in defence and limited the space for the other side to play. Shrewsbury were able to inject slightly more pace in to their attacks and, with little to choose between the teams, the first match finished one try to nil in favour of the home side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second match saw a host of changes on both sides with some of the less experienced players getting more exposure to competitive match conditions and many others being asked to play out of position, most notably Keiran Farge who had a good game at hooker.

 

Again there was some very pleasing rugby from both sides and good performances from the newer Newport squad members.

 

Shrewsbury's backs, however, had too much pace and skill for the inexperienced Newport defence giving the home side their second victory of the morning. Special mention must be made of Oliver Scott who tackled superbly in only his third competitive fixture for the club.

 

 

Thanks to Shrewsbury for a fun morning - we look forward to meeting them again at the Telford Festival in a couple of months' time.

 

Next week we're due at Telford - watch out for an e-mail with the details.

 

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