(Ed's Note: - otherwise entitled: "ANYTHING THE OSPREYS (aka Wales) CAN DO, FALCONS CAN DO TOO!")

After last week's heavy defeat against an undefeated Walsall 'A' side, the Falcons played Bromsgrove 'B' with a number of the Bromsgrove 'A' team players evident. Conditions were great for rugby, but the Falcons started slowly, allowing an early try to be run in from distance without much resistance. Playing up the hill, the Falcons started to get their act together, and rucking and tackling skills began to drive Bromsgrove back, with Jake Fowler and Tom Turner winning good possession. The scrum tightened up with Connor Richards and Conor Reeves-Webb strong in the front row, allowing Jak Jenkins to hook cleanly and Toby Sitch to set the backs away on a number of good attacking moves, using the pace of David Serafini and Rory Hinton out wide. Just before half time Bromsgrove found space around the left and ran around the wing to score in the corner to end the half 0-10 ahead.

The second half gave the Falcons the advantage of the hill and the wind, and within a minute the ball was through the hands of Ali Duddell and Jamie Forsyth, to give David the space he needed to speed over the line to bring the score back to 5-10. Bromsgrove hit back immediately, running through some weak tackling to score between the posts and increase their lead to 5-17.

This seemed to galvanise the Falcons, who then took the game to Bromsgrove, driving through the defence, with Alex Forsyth and Liam Stanley tackling anything that moved, and Toby Grinnall charging the line with great aggression. Toby finally scooped the ball up from a drive by Liam and crashed through the defence to bring the score back to 10-17. Again Bromsgrove struck back but were held short of the line by dogged defence from the Falcons, with Chris Plumb eventually clearing the ball to relieve the pressure. The Falcons then worked the ball to the half way line, and a slick passage of play by the backs gave David a chink of light down the left wing, and with Benedict Davis in support he ran the line to the corner and scored a great individual try. At 15-17 with a few minutes to go, the Falcons kept the pressure on and Mark Grimes drove forward then slipped the ball to Toby, who handed off several players but was brought to ground just short of the line between the posts. Great recycling cleared the ball out to the right through the backs and George Morgan took the pass to dive over for the winning try (and his first for the Club) as time ran out.

The Falcons showed great character and belief to keep coming back against bigger and strong opposition and deservedly snatch a fantastic come from behind win, 20-17. Great game both sides !
Mark Reeves-Webb

The Wallabies, following on from their excellent victory over the Droitwich A team the week before (15:14), saw off a determined Old Hales side.

A total of 14 tries were scored spread evenly amongst forwards and backs and the pleasing aspect was that the side kept their shape very well when it would have been easy for players to take on too much as individuals. Player of the match was Liam Stanley who has now found his true position as a flanker and troubled the Old Hales backs all the time with some excellent harrying.

Try scorers were Serafini 3, Plumb 3, Pogson 2, and one each for J Forsyth, Fowler, Davis, Jevons-Fellows, Gretton and Hunt.
Stuart Preece

Moseley came to play on a morning notable for soaking conditions and mud. With a much larger pack, the Moseley side started well and initially had the Whippets on the back foot in the set plays, but Jonathon Sprague and Toby Grinnall started to challenge well in the lineouts and Matt Garrard, Chip Lawton and Jak Jenkins got the measure of the opposing front row to gain parity in the scrums. Whippets demonstrated great hands in appalling conditions and pressed the Moseley line, before a breakaway try from the big Moseley wing put them in front 7 - 0. Adjustments were made to cover this obvious threat and from then on the Whippets started to gain the ascendancy in a high quality game. A delightful move through the backs set Charlie Buiskool around the outside at pace and though tap-tackled he regained his feet to score what looked like a hard earned try, only to be denied by the referee. Forward pressure drove Moseley back to their line, and George Fairlie set the backs away for Liam Charlton to score from inside centre with George Morgan ready to take the pass if needed. Ben Rhodes converted to level the scores, which stayed that way till half time, thanks to Jack O'Sullivan keeping Moseleys best player firmly under control with crunching tackles and constant pressure.

The second half then saw the Whippets take better control of the possession on the ground with Conor Richards and Mark Grimes both latching well to keep the Moseley pack at bay. Quick ball was well used all day by flyhalf Will Meikle, and Jonathon broke free with a short pass to crash through the defence and put the Whippets ahead. A superb kick from the touch line by Ben put the Whippets further ahead. Phil Williams had to leave the field through injury but this gave Ali Duddell chance to show his composure under the high ball and great attacking awareness to set a number of attacks going from the defensive kicks of the opposition. Ben Rhodes was everywhere to snuff out attacks and then make several breaks to lead his team forward. Anything else was met by the marauding Will Cusack, who gained turnover ball in a number of mauls and knocked the opposing players back whence they came. Moseley were now on the back foot, and despite having a try disallowed by the referee, Toby was not to be denied and, after a 50 yard charge, rounded off the resulting possession with a fine forwards try. Chip lived up to his name and converted to add the extra points. Rory Hinton set off down the wing for a late break to get into the opposing 22, and the pack camped there using good phased play to maintain momentum and were unlucky not to drive over for a score. Improving Conor Reeves-Webb added his drive to the rucking and mauling and tackled well in this bruising encounter.

Though Moseley got a little feisty at times, the Whippets showed discipline and composure to go close to scoring again before the referee blew his whistle for the 21 - 7 win, and everyone ran through the mud for cover from the rain.
Mark Reeves-Webb

This year's annual tour saw a total of 30 boys head off to Brean Sands to play in the Gullivers two day festival - add on parents and siblings - the tour party was nearly 90 people.

Two equally talented Worcester teams - Wallabies and Whippets - were entered and played in separate leagues of 8 teams.

After day one, both squads had played 4 matches each and won all four and there was a chance that by winning their respective leagues they could end up playing each other in the Cup Final! Day two saw a change in fortunes and the Whippets lost a game and therefore came runners-up in their league (and so qualified to play in the Plate final). The Wallabies drew two of their remaining games but still managed to finish top of their league, and go on to the Cup Final.

The resultant finals saw the Whippets beat Bromley 2:0 and win the Plate, whilst the Wallabies, now 3 players down due to injuries from the original selected team, lost 3:0 to Ystrad Mynach - the team who had earlier beaten the Whippets.

Overall the results read: Played 16 matches, Won 12 , Drew 2, Lost 2, and we won the Plate and came Runners up in the Cup. These are great results when you consider that many sides had fielded their best "A" teams against our squad sides.

Rugby Highlights ....
The outcome of the Whippets last match before the Plate final was insignificant in that win, lose or draw, the Whippets were guaranteed runners up spot in their league. This gave coaches a chance to let players "perform" in positions that they normally would never see. The backs played in the forwards and the forwards had a chance to add pace, guile and new moves to backplay. The fact that they won 3:1 was a reflection on what a talented bunch of players we have. Add to this that the "forwards" (half the size of their opponents) managed a rolling maul that resulted in a try!

Bradders was in great form, bulldozing many opponents out of the way and David Serafini's pace caused problems all over.

[Editor's note: ...To see the official photos taken over the weekend by RWT - the teams posing, plus the presentations, plus action shots (from the Whippets pool match against Ystrad Mynach, and from the Wallabies Cup Final against the same team) - visit their website at www.rwt-photography.co.uk (CLICK HERE FOR A DIRECT LINK) and scroll through the list of events to find 'Gullivers Rugby Burnham on Seas 2007'. The pictures are under separate headings of 'U12 teams', 'U12 action' and U12 & U13 presentations'. Rita]

That said, rugby results alone don't make a tour. The tour outfit of pink shirts and multi-coloured socks made the Worcester teams stand out, and the Hawaiian fancy dress night was a great success which coincided with the annual awards night.

Many congratulations to ....
Coach of the Year - Mark Reeves-Webb
Squad winners - Phillip Williams, Jack Stansfeld, and Alex Instone
Most Improved Player of the Year - Tom Gretton
Forward Player of the Year - Andrew Boyce
Back Player of the Year - George Preece
The inaugural "Clive Hinton Star Award" was presented by Rory Hinton to Tracey Boyce for all the hard work and tireless commitment she has given the section.

The awards ceremony was followed by a Kangaroo Court - judges being Stuart Preece and Nick Fairlie. It transpired that the touring party were the jury and, from recollection, not one person on trial was found to be innocent. Strange how that always happens isn't it?? To protect the innocent, the guilty will not be named and their crimes will remain an embarrassment to them alone - after all - "what goes on tour, stays on tour".

A great weekend, fantastic weather and a super HQ - add to this the excellent standard of the boys playing rugby, and it goes down as the best tour yet.
Stuart Preece