Whilst the parents concentrated on staying warm on a bitterly cold day at Lutterworth RFC, the OLs representatives applied themselves to the task in hand incredibly well. Three wins and a draw saw the U10s win this Prima Cup qualifying festival and earn themselves a quarter final at Welford Rd, the home of Leicester Tigers. They are due to play just before Tigers’ Heineken cup match against Clermont-Auvergne. The Tigers match is being televised and shown throughout the world so there is the exciting possibility of Jonno‘s red shorts finally, and rightfully, being glimpsed on an international stage.

OLs 5 (George Smith) Kenilworth 0

The first match saw OLs hold the line as wave after wave of Kenilworth pressure was rebuffed by strong tackling and scrummaging. The forwards were powerful and did not let their opposite numbers settle on the ball. The teams were evenly matched, but the breakthrough came after a break by Kai Bailey saw him get the ball to George Smith who drove over for the only try of the match.

OLs10 (Luke Green, Alex Witchell) Barker Butts 0

Barker Butts fielded a big and aggressive team but they were out rucked and out mauled by the OLs front row. Cameron Jessamine seemed to be everywhere and his play around the loose ball secured possession for OLs on numerous occasions. Luke Green broke the deadlock with a powerful jinky run. The next try was the pick of the day and involved the whole team. Solid scrum work and intelligent running and passing by all the backs saw Alex Witchell score after a scintillating turn of speed. A real pleasure to watch.

OLs 10 (Kai Bailey 2) Rugby Lions 0

By the third game belief and confidence was running high throughout the squad. A rather scrappy and dour match that was again dominated by rugged forward play. The level and quality of tackling meant that Rugby Lions did not really threaten to score. Kai Bailey scored two good individual tries using his speed and nimbleness to good effect

OLs 10 (Zac Leng, Luke Green) Sutton Coldfield 10

The last game was the crunch match. OLs knew that a draw would see them through but word had filtered through that Sutton Coldfield were a strong team. Another evenly matched game that saw the forward line, in particular, battling hard. Zac Leng was rewarded with a try after another impressive display of strong and determined direct running. Sutton immediately got back into the game after some sloppy defending saw one of their strong runners race over the line. A further try by Luke Green and a Sutton response set up a nail biting finish to the match.

As the players chomped on a celebratory chocolate freddo frog after the match, proud coach Andy Bailey was heard to say ‘I’m OLs to the core’ (as the wind made the masking tape covering the Kenilworth badge on his jacket flap.....)