🏉🔥 Sideline Sam’s Match Report

Yate Rugby Academy vs Southmead

“Skills for days… rugby the Lions themselves would be proud of.”

Hey team, Sideline Sam here, still buzzing after watching one of the most complete, skilful, high-tempo Academy performances I’ve seen all season. This wasn’t just kids playing rugby… this was rugby played properly — width, support lines, offloads, tackling, rucking… you name it, Yate put it on display.

Let’s dive in.

⚡ Warm-Up: Setting the Tone

The session started sharp:

• Quick warm-up to get the blood pumping

• Straight into ball-ripping drills

• Followed by pad collisions

By the time kick-off came, the whole squad looked dialled in eyes up, shoulders on, absolutely ready to go.

🥇 First Third – Blistering Start

Yate came out like a lightning bolt. Southmead barely had time to blink before the tackles started landing and the support runners arrived on the money.

The rugby on show? Stunning. We used the full width of the pitch, kept our shape, and unleashed our speedsters, Harry, Phoebe, and Ollie who tore down the touchlines to grab three brilliant tries.

The rucking from both teams showed real promise, but the tempo Yate played at was something special.

⚔️ Second Third – Southmead Bite Back

Southmead woke up and targeted key playmakers — and fair play to them, they crossed the line a few times to close the gap.

But Yate’s response? Defensive steel.

Big hits from Oscar and Jayden changed the tone. The line speed, the communication, the bravery, it was superb.

At the breakdown, Ollie was a menace, ripping, stealing, and turning messy moments into Yate ball. Scrum ball movement was slick, fast, and controlled.

🦁 Final Third – Yate Hit Their Peak

Both sides lifted their game, but Yate found another gear.

More tries flowed, this time from Joey, Harrison, and Lewis, who finished with pace and confidence.

Southmead felt the pressure, frustration crept in, and mistakes came — but credit to both teams for keeping their heads and making some huge tackles right to the end.

One thing stood out above everything else:

👉 There was always support. Always. A Yate player on their own was rare. That shows teamwork, trust, and rugby intelligence, far beyond their years.

🔧 Technical Takeaways

What Yate Did Brilliantly

• Support play: Best seen all season

• Wide attacking shape: Outstanding

• Offloads & passing: Brave and accurate

• Ball stealing: Elite for this age

• Ripping skills: Clearly improving

• Defensive line: Strong, connected, committed

  
  

Next Steps

Tackling is improving massively — but the team knows there’s another level to reach so every player is on the same page defensively.

🌟 Standout Themes

• No player isolated

• Constant communication

• Relentless work rate

• Seriously good fundamentals

• The kind of running rugby that makes coaches, parents, and Lions fans smile

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🎤 Final Thoughts from Sideline Sam

What a game.

What a squad.

What a future.

110% effort. Awesome rugby. Absolutely smashed it. 🏉💛💙

🏉💫 Try-Line Tilly’s Match Day Report

Hey team, Try-Line Tilly here, and wow… what a game to report on this week. Yes, the score line didn’t fall our way, and yes, we walked off with a few bumps and bruises (and even a couple of missing players!), but this match showed something far more important than numbers on a board: care, spirit, and scrums.

Let’s get stuck into it.

⭐ Standout Moment

Once again — and I feel like I say this every week — our scrum was an absolute force of nature. Stable, powerful, relentless. Even when the game wasn’t going our way, that platform never faltered.

💭 Feelings Going In vs Feelings Coming Out

Heading into the match, we didn’t totally know what to expect. We’d heard Saracens were strong, fast, and dangerous — and they lived up to that reputation.

At full-time? There was disappointment. Not just because of the score, but because losing teammates to injury is never easy.

But that disappointment? That’s just proof of how much this group cares about each other and about the badge they wear.

🔎 Standout Players & Units

The forwards:👉 Dominant in the scrum👉 Disruptive at the ruck👉 Slowing Sarries ball again and again

A massive shout to Joe Hill, too shifting from No.8 to the wing and playing like he’d trained there all season. Adaptability like that is rare and brilliant.

🎯 What We Did Well

It’s tough — really tough — to keep finding yourselves defending under your own posts. But after the initial frustration, these lads showed real character: They reset. They refocused. They made their next actions positive.

The pod work looked good, the communication was strong, and they stuck to structure even when the pressure cranked up.

🔧 Next Week’s Focus

This team will bounce back. Next week, it’s all about:🔥 Sharpening our defensive shape🔥 Becoming harder to break down🔥 Turning that scrum dominance into territory and pressure

By the end of the season, the goal is clear: become a team that is very hard to beat.

🤝 Moment of Teamwork & Resilience

This one was class.

A scrum inside our own half →Seb launches a beautifully judged kick →Superb chase →Pressure forces an opposition knock-on →We win the scrum →Seb goes again with a kick to the corner →We almost steal the lineout…

That whole sequence took us 70 metres up the pitch, all through teamwork, graft, and intelligent rugby. One of the best team efforts of the game.

👏 Respect to the Opposition

Saracens were:⚡ Fast⚡ Agile⚡ Athletic

They really tested our tackling and were dangerous across the pitch. But more importantly, they showed respect — in their play and after the match. Always good to see.

🌱 Player Progress

A special mention for Logan Skinner growing in confidence every week and today stepped up brilliantly as a starter in the scrum. Love seeing that development!

📣 Supporters Make the Difference

Even as the score slipped away, the parents and supporters from both sides stayed loud, supportive, and encouraging. That positivity matters the lads felt it.

🔥 Three Words to Sum It Up

Care. Spirit. Scrums.

A tough day, yes. But a day full of heart.

This team will bounce back — and Try-Line Tilly will be right there on the touchline when they do. 🏉💙💚

# 🏉✨ Friday Night Lights: Yate vs Chipping Sodbury

🌟 Under the Lights… Final Score: Yate 26 – 13 Chipping Sodbury

Rose: Rob… what a night! Friday under the lights, rain pouring sideways, mud everywhere, derby tension you could slice with a studs-on… I’m still buzzing!

Rob: Same here, Rose! That was proper rugby. Grit, power, heart, and a Yate performance the lads can be proud of and we have plenty to talk about!

⭐ Standout Moment

Rose: Right, Rob, start me off. Your standout moment?

Rob: Tough choice having seen Evan-Ridley Demonick in open space counter to score, but that 50:22 from Rhys Summerville just after halftime. Absolute peach of a kick! It felt like the whole game flipped right there, momentum swung in favour of Yate.

Rose: Oh yes! You could feel the surge from the crowd. That moment was the turning of the tide, and from then on the forwards just took over.

💭 Pre-Match Nerves to Full-Time Feels

Rob: You could sense the determination before kick off. After the first game, the lads knew they needed to step up.

Rose: And they did exactly that. By full-time? Satisfaction, smiles, and a real sense of “job done.” That walk back to the sheds felt different tonight.

💪 Forward Dominance & Backline Quality

Rose: Shall we talk about the forwards? Because in those conditions… wow.

Rob: They were monstrous. Marshalled brilliantly by the scrum-half, always ready to carry, clear out, dominate the contact area… textbook wet-weather rugby.

Rose: And when the game loosened up? The backs just said “cool, we’ve got this too.” You love to see that balance.

🧠 What Yate Did Really Well

Rob: For me, the best thing was their rugby IQ. Smart decisions. Sticking to the plan. Playing the game that was needed, not the game they wanted.

Rose: Yes! And the sheer resilience. There were moments in our 22 where Sodbury were knocking hard and Yate just refused to crack.

📈 Areas to Sharpen

Rose: If we’re being picky… discipline can always be improved

Rob: 100%. A few penalties gave Sodbury cheap territory. Clean that up, and this team goes up another level.

🤝 Respect to Chipping Sodbury

Rose: Let’s give Sodbury their flowers. That was not a 26–13 “comfortable” win, no matter what the scoreboard says.

Rob: They were physical, brave, and dangerous from anywhere. Proper derby opponents. They kept Yate honest all night.

🌱 Player Progress & Standout Performances

Rose: Big shout to Austin Pullin, tough conditions, put in a great shift on the wing in only his 2nd appearance.

Rob: James Cannon stepping back into first team duties made an impact against, twisting the knife against the tiring defence.

Rose: And Adam Bishop looked sharp in a new role until that injury. Fingers crossed he’s back soon.

Rob: And of course… Matt Starr. Man of the Match. First season with the club and putting in a performance like that? Superb in set piece, outstanding in open play. Huge future.

Rose: And we can’t forget the repeated hard yards from Ben Hayman and Brad Mears. Machines.

📣 Supporters & Atmosphere

Rob: The crowd tonight… wow. Cold, soaked, windswept and still loud from first whistle to last.

Rose: The kind of atmosphere players feel. And the derby energy from both sides? Magical. Yate’s supporters absolutely deserved that final whistle moment.

🔥 Three Words to Sum It Up

Rose: Go on then, Rob. Three words?

Rob: Heart. Determination. Rewards.

Rose: Couldn’t have put it better myself.

A huge night for Yate. A huge win. And a huge step forward.

Until next time,

Rugby Rose & Ruby Rob 🏉✨*