Whits U13s finished their season with a trip to Guildford for the cup final of the waterfall cup against a combined Cobham and Weybridge Vandals side (referred to by their coaches as “Candals”) that included a former Whits U13, Jack W, playing in his first season away from South Croydon. The U13s also welcomed back one of their own, Ethan, who had spent much of the season out with injury but had recovered in time for the final.

In the pre-match warm up the Whits coaches had impressed upon the team the importance of a strong start and they were not disappointed. Whits took the kick and were playing down a fairly steep hill. From the start Whits were pressuring the opposition and committing numbers to the breakdown ensuring that they had plenty of the ball.

It was not long before Whits opened the scoring. Whits recovered the ball with a strong counter-ruck from Flynn and sent the ball down the line to Thomas who carried strongly before being tackled. The Whits forwards were there quickly and the ball came back to Max B who saw something down the blind side when the space seemed to be out wide on the left. He was absolutely right, the 6ft 3 inch lock picked up the ball just outside the 22, bounced off several tacklers, side stepped another and dotted the ball down in the right hand corner. Whits took an early 5-0 lead.

Whits were not in the mood to take their foot off the gas, from the restart Whits took the ball back with interest with a jinking run from scrum-half, Mustafa. He was tackled just over the 10m line and the ball found its way to Eli stepped and powered his way through the opposition before slipping a ball out the back to prop Ethan who had done magnificently to get there in support. Ethan took the ball cleanly and powered his way through the remaining cover defence to score a well worked team try. It was great to see Ethan back in the red black and blue and on the score sheet. Whits 10-0 up.

Candals were struggling to get a foot in the game. Whenever they got their hands on the ball, the Whits tackling and rucking was ferocious, even their big men, of which they had several that were competing with Thomas and Max for size were being chopped down relentlessly by the Whits defence. When they cleared the ball downfield the Whits back three were cleaning up with interest with Joseph particularly impressive in taking in several kicks and returning them with interest. From one defensive masterclass from Kamran, the ball, squirted loose to Markell on the 22, Whits leading scorer for the season knew exactly where the try line was, he brushed off several tacklers before crashing over in front of the posts. 15-0.

Minutes later Markell followed this up with another scintillating solo-run from just inside his own half. This time he was set up by Will who yet again had done some great work at the breakdown to secure the ball for the backs. Again the ball came to Markell who not only possesses great pace but he has the power to match it, meaning that when defenders get hands on him, their technique has to be perfect or he simply swats them away. Whits 20-0 up.

Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes. If the first 4 tries were scored by Whits “big men” then the 4th showed how fleet-of-foot wingers can achieve the same with a different approach. When Stevie picked the ball up on the halfway line there was little threat to the Candal try line, but Stevie, an U12 playing up with the 13s, has been irrepressible this season. He jinked his way through the lumbering forwards and around the chasing backs before sprinting down the wing to score in the corner. It was a wonderful and well-deserved effort to reward him for a brilliant season. 25-0

4 tries up and only a quarter of the game gone, Whits used their rolling subs. Sean came on at centre, Joseph came on the wing for Rio and Conn and Noah came into the pack with Kai moving to 9 and Mustafa moving to 10. As Whits built pressure some Sean weaved in and out of the defence before drawing 2 defenders and offloading to fullback Max W. Max cut back against play and powered his way through the defence. A solid tackle brought him to ground but he had the presence of mind to place the ball perfectly for big Max B to pick up. Max surged for the line dragging 4 defenders with him has he touched down in front of the posts. 30-0 at half time and the team were warned not to get complacent as they were playing uphill and would likely face a backlash.

Their coaches should not have worried as try 6 came from a great bit of teamwork, a kick downfield from Eli was fielded and cleared by Candal. Sean worked hard to clear up the ball before stepping two chasing defenders and then being brought down, his composure had bought the Whits chasers enough time to recover and as usual it was front rower Henry who had worked hardest to get to the breakdown and secure the ball. These selfless acts draw less attention than the try scoring but they are the platform on which a successful attack is based and should be recognised as no less an important skill. Noah supported his teammate in the ruck before scrum-half Kai popped the ball to Eli who had shifted his run to come blind. Eli dummied the first defender, committed the 2nd before slipping the ball to speedster Rio on the wing. With clear grass in front of him, no one was going to stop him from scoring. Another well deserved try. Whits 35-0

Having given Markell a break after halftime, his hattrick was scored minutes after he came back on. Again he picked the ball up on the halfway line, shrugged off the first tackle, stepped the 2nd and 3rd before outsprinting the 4th for the line with enough time to wag his finger to the cameraman who had challenged him to score. Whits 40-0.

Try 9 was a solo effort from Ethan who had clearly decided that anything a back could do, a prop could do better. As the ball worked its way down the Whits line, Ethan found himself receiving it on the wing on the halfway line. He brushed off the attentions of the first 2 tacklers before slaloming his way in and out of another 2 tacklers as he sprinted for the corner. Whits 45-0.

By now the ref had made it clear to both sets of coaches that he was seeking to restore some balance. The opposition were determined to keep plugging away and their efforts were rewarded by a short distance try scored after a series of Whits penalties. Whits 45-5.

Whits shrugged and carried on as they were. The 10th try followed a brilliant bit of play from Max W, joining the line from fullback to support Markell, he danced and powered his way down the touchline before slipping the ball back to Markell as he was tackled. It was a wonderful bit of teamplay and great support work from Markell who carried on with his run even after giving the ball to his teammate. Whits 50-5

Try 11 came from Sean with another fantastic solo effort. With Candals attacking on the halfway line there appeared to be little danger, but as the Candal attack built pressure, Sean tackled and ripped the ball from the carrier. He jinked past the first defender before accelerating from the halfway line leaving the defence flat-footed and running in to the right of the posts without a finger being laid on him. 55-5.

Whits 12th try of the day came from a player who is playing his first full season for Whits and followed some unselfish play from his teammates. Ethan picked the ball up from the base of a ruck 5 metres out, the powerful prop forward would have been forgiven for going for his hattrick, but he played the ball wide to Stevie who had come in off his wing, Stevie stepped and jinked but could not escape the attentions of the Candal defence who had still not given up trying. He offloaded to Conn who was similarly well placed and could have tried to drive through the defence, but instead he selflessly slipped the ball to Noah who was better positioned. The pass went just behind Noah who had to stop and pick the ball up from his knees. This gave the scrambling defence the time to recover and make their tackles, but as Noah went to ground, he had the presence of mind to stretch for the line and touched down on the whitewash for a well deserved try. Whits 60-5.

The final Whits try came from who else, but Markell, with a typically powerful burst through the defence that left defenders eating mud. But his was not the final act of the day, with the ref calling last play, Candals inched there way down the pitch. A penalty on the 5 gave them one last chance and they scrambled home in to get their reward for playing to the very end. Whits 65 – Cobham & Weybridge 10.

Player of the match was awarded to Max B, he was immense on the pitch, endless rucking and carrying and tracking back when needed. More than this he was a leader on the pitch, firing up his teammates and “managing” the referee with a maturity that many adult professionals fail to achieve. It was an impressive performance from a player who has grown in stature (quite literally!) during his time at Whits. Well done Max.

This season has been a challenging one for the team, they lost a number of players at the beginning of the season, several U12s have stepped up and joined the U13s benefiting both teams. Over the course of the season they have come together and gelled as a team, on finals day everything came together and they were superb. The U12s have been phenomenal, you would not guess the age difference in the way they play, indeed they were all either award winners at the end of season dinner, or in contention for one. Finally, the notable additions of Kamran and Markell midway through the season gave the team a huge boost with their powerful running and fearless tackling. The two centres have given Whits guaranteed front foot ball freeing up Whits smaller players to cut loose with their pace and agility. Well done, Team, you are a credit to this club.