The KPMG Barbarians
under 12’s (children born in 2004 and 2005) went into their opening concentration of clubs held at the University of Malaga’s Teatino’s Stadium on Saturday 24th October.
These events are organized by the Andalucian Rugby Federation (FAR)
and sees teams from U6 to U12’s compete in mini tournaments which are held once a month at different clubs around Andalucia.
There were 10 teams in the U12 age group split into two groups of 5. The Barbarians were drawn against the hosts Malaga Rugby Club, Cajasol Ciencias from Seville, Club Amigos de Rugby also from Seville and Marbella Rugby B.
First up were Ciencias who towered over our boys. Boasting at least three boys of close to 6ft, this was a baptism of fire for most of our lads for whom this was their first or second proper competitive game including four of
our team who are still under 10’s.
Our boys showed exactly what rugby
players are made of not shirking out of a single tackle. However sheer size won the day and Ciencias won comfortably scoring 6 tries. However, the boys never gave up and put the pressure on scoring
a try of their own to boost spirits.
Next came Club Amigos de Rugby (CAR) who were our size and the Barbarians, now knowing what to expect, were up for the fight. Barbarians piled on the pressure from the beginning and scored first. CAR replied but heads didn’t
drop and the Barbarians crossed the
line twice more just to have the tries disallowed.
No complaining from the players, just more hard graft saw them get their just rewards with another try. Unfortunately with time running out CAR scored to
tie the game with the final score of 2-2 but Barbarians heads were held high knowing they had been the better
side.
We then took on the hosts who again were a team full of goliaths. They ran out 6-0 winners with our lads starting
to tire but never giving up.
Photos by Stefano Plantone
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