Lessons Learnt For Our U15s
Newmarket U15s travelled to Saffron Walden for the Cambridge Rugby Festival and came away with a day full of lessons, challenges, and a well-earned win to finish.
Game 1: Cambridge
After opening their season on a high, Newmarket arrived with confidence and optimism. However, an early dropped restart set the tone for a scrappy first half, with handling errors allowing Cambridge to seize the initiative and score first. The Jockeys spent most of the opening exchanges looking like they were fumbling with a bar of Imperial Leather as opposed to a rugby ball.
A sharp tap and go try from Noah briefly narrowed the gap to 7–5, but a well-taken penalty from Cambridge pushed the score to 10–5.
Newmarket pressed late on and looked certain to cross the line, only for a final handling error to deny them a potential victory. It was a frustrating end to a match that slipped away in the small moments but perhaps on brand with the remainder of the game.
Game 2: Saffron Walden
The second fixture brought improvement with ball in hand but exposed defensive gaps. Newmarket made Saffron Walden’s very able runners look like Jonah Lomu’s bigger and stronger cousins, such was the friendliness of their tackling.
Unfortunately, the boys were unable to land any punch whatsoever in the game, encamped in their own half. The 12–0 loss was a reminder that control in defence can be as important as flair in attack.
Game 3: Shelford
After a chance to regroup, Newmarket rediscovered their rhythm. The team hit the ground running, dominating rucks and showing much greater urgency and cohesion.
Jake opened the scoring with a converted try, and Noah’s tactical kicking from midfield kept Shelford pinned back, with our predatorial runners hunting down territorial opportunities. With confident support play and strong forward work finally starting to evolve, further tries from Harley, Hector, and Lewis sealed a 26–0 win and a positive finish to the day.
The turnaround in performance highlighted the team’s resilience and growing maturity. Despite a mixed start, Newmarket closed the festival with their best team rugby of the season so far — a result that showed what can happen when focus, taking responsibility and teamwork come together.
