County reports to AGM july 2006
Devon Rugby Football Union
Annual Report
for 2005/6.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to present the
Annual Report for the Devon Rugby Football Union for the season 2005/6. It is some eight years ago or more
that I last presented the Annual Report and little has diminished in the amount
of work coming through from the RFU or the clubs in that time. The major change has been the use
of the email system for the transfer of information from one source to another
and that in itself may have saved on time and postage costs, but the system has
not been without its problems.
Under
20`s. (Report of Roy
Henderson)
The Under 20's successfully reached the semi
final of the Under 20 County Championship by winning the games against,
Somerset, Cornwall and Gloucestershire. Sadly the season came
to an end when we played Northumberland at Plymouth to lose by one point in an
exciting game of rugby.
Every player can be proud of the effort they
put in during the season, from the very first trial game in October to
the semi final defeat in April, a total of nine games plus the many
training sessions. A
wonderful team spirit was generated, and the players improved their skills
and commitment to the game as the season progressed. They all return to their
clubs better players thanks to the ability of our dedicated coaches Keith
Brooking , Danny Thomas, Ed Lewsey , and Mark Rose. There is no
doubt that by having coaches who play or have played at National 1 level
has been a great success and all our future players will benefit
greatly.
Senior XV. (Report of Roy
Henderson)
The seniors returned to Twickenham as County
Championship Finalists for the third year running following victories over
Hertfordshire & difficult away matches at Gloucestershire and Cornwall. Having won on the two previous
visits to Twickenham a hat-trick of wins on the famous ground was within in
our grasp. Lancashire
provided the opposition, and a good performance in the first half saw us
leading, but the Lancashire backs raised their game in the second half and sadly
we lost by 32 points to 26.
The past 3 years has been highly successful,
and once again we thank our coaches Graham Dawe, John Roberts and Dave Rule for
ensuring that Devon had another good championship
season.
In order to win the championship the support
of the senior sides is a must and our thanks go, in particular, to Plymouth
Albion for supporting county rugby following a tough National 1 season. We extend our thanks to Exeter and
Launceston and all clubs who have supported the County by making their players
available.
The annual Tamar Cup game against Cornwall
must not be forgotten and this season the Cup returned to Devon following a
comprehensive victory at Penryn. This yearly game is an ideal
opportunity for players, not at senior level, to stake a claim to a place in the
County Championship side.
In some ways it was a missed
opportunity this season with no silver ware, but a losing semi final in the
Under 20's and losing finalist in the seniors clearly shows how far we have
progressed, even if it is tinged with disappointment.
Playing Under 18 (Report of Maxwell
Turner)
The campaign started back in July
05 with over 80 players taking part with the first trial at Crediton RFC, thanks
to the Coaching staff of Keith Fleming, Craig Townsend, Keith Brooking, Nathan
Kelly, Pat McManus, Charlie Guppy, Roger Smerden, and Fred Bolt the sorting of
30 players to be taken forward to be developed and play four more trial games
was accomplished and I thank the Coaches all.
Our first game v Exeter College
to whom we are very grateful, the Devon side were far too strong for the College
and ran away convincing winners.
Two more games were arranged
against a combined West Devon Schools side played at Kelly College, letters of
thanks were posted to the Headmaster of Kelly College for the use of their
outstanding facilities and hospitality. These games were used to
develop our game plan with a more settled squad and put in place game patterns,
the squad ran out easy winners 52 - 0 and 45-7.
The stage was set now to face
stiffer opposition in the form of Frank Butler Academy Manager for Bath RFC
under 19s side, thanks go to Frank for his support in U18 Devon County
Rugby.
The match was what the Doctor
ordered for our squad, the step up in pace, quality of opposition and the
Coaches learnt valuable lessons as well as players.
In the first 20 minutes we gave
them too much respect, when settled we played some very good rugby proving we
could hold our own and proved to the team we could compete at this level.
Bath ran out winners 23-17; we
could hold our heads up as the game was a close call for Bath!
Our first game of the South West
Championship was v Gloucester at Bristol North RFC on a very wet small pitch
(someone had done their home work!!)
we did not have the best of starts with the loss of Jack Gilding tight
head prop in the warm up with a groin injury also Ben Moon back injury in the
first half (our other starting prop).
Hard work was made of the game we should have won easily with gaping
holes in their mid field which we did not exploit. Gloucester ran out winners
17- 3 but all players had game time.
It was Cornwall next at Newquay
the conditions were much better and a dry pitch..
The first half hour of the game
we played some outstanding rugby which the Coaches knew they were capable of and
set about Cornwall in a refreshingly ruthless fashion scoring well constructed
try's, but as more try's came we lost our shape and try fever set in, as with
many sides this is the time to turn the screw and punish opposition.
Another lesson to instil, on the
plus side 7 to 8 players showed their class as we ran out winners 3- 45 .
The final game of the
Championship was v Somerset, it should have been played at Kelly College but due
to snow I had to find another venue, with some very quick thinking and at a days
notice Crediton RFC came to my rescue with a pitch and Okehampton RFC providing
all the food and transported to Crediton on the day by
Roger Smurden and myself, a good
show of two Clubs working together for the County!
This was a frustrating game as we
had ample chances of putting it to bed in the first half. We let Somerset win they didn't
beat us, again poor execution. Also the loss of Jack Gilding with a groin injury
again and Jamie Fleming after half time with a broken metacarpal. Devon 7 - Somerset 17.
Divisional Selection - On a
positive note for Devon U 18s it has been the most successful year to date for
players we got through to the South West trials 8 in all.
Jack Gilding, Ben Moon u17, Alex
Pickard u17, Dan Williams u17, Jamie Fleming,
Sam Roberts, Dave Lewis u17, and
Tom Bedford.u17.
Of the above seven were selected
to play for the South West.
Of the 7 Devon players in the
South West side 3 went through to England trials.
Jack Gilding, Tom Bedford and Dan
Williams.
Tom Bedford and Dan Williams were
selected for England and both played in the warm up games leading up to the
England 18 campaign. Tom Bedford was selected to represent England in the AER
games in Italy and scored two try's in his opening game.
Dan Williams was selected to play
in the Home Nations and gave a very good account
of himself.
I would like to mention another
player who did not actually
represent Devon 18s but has been a part of the squads in past , Richard
Bolt,( Exeter Chiefs and SWERA ) played in the England under 19s Six
Nations and selected for England
under 19s World Cup squad played in Dubai.
Richard is also a year young for this age group.
As Chairman of this Group would
like to say on behalf of the Devon
County Committee a big thank you to the Devon Coaches, Admin Staff, and Divisional Selectors who spend many man
hours working for Devon Young Men to play
our game at a Higher Level they otherwise would not achieve.
Playing Under 17. (Report of Maxwell
Turner)
The trials for this age Group
started back in December 05 with 70 players attending from across the County at
Exeter University, 30 were selected to go forward for training with the first
game v Dorset & Wilts Jan 8th 06.
On a cold wet day the conditions
did not allow for any sort of flowing game, all players were out to impress but
we did settle in to a team and won 5-0.
Sunday 29 th January 06 we played
Gloucester at Okehampton , thanks were sent for the Club having us and their
hospitality. The game ended in a draw 24-24
Next up was Somerset we played
this game at Brickfields home of Plymouth Albion, thanks were expressed to the
Club on the day for use of Ground and providing the after game meal. The weather
conditions were horrendous but both sides stuck to the task with some good play,
but Devon with sustained pressure scored a converted try late in the game to
give Devon 7-0 win.
It was nice to see Ken Jeffery
Hon Treasurer at the game, sorry Ken you got so wet!!. And thank you.
April 2nd was the
final game v Cornwall at Newquay the weather was sunny and dry but blowing a
gale, at the start both sides were fairly well matched but Devon put some good
phases of play together with the forwards dominating set play. Cornwall were
kept under pressure most of the second half having to defend, as they tried to
play a territory game, our pressure paid off as we ran out winners 3-12.
This is the first time in the
17's history the County side has been unbeaten ( we must be doing something
right !)
I would like to thank the players
for their efforts, parents for support and transport, the Coaching staff, Admin
staff and Crediton RFC for use of their ground and Club house as our Home
Training venue
Devon CBRDP report. (Ron Roberts)
The RDP has this year been
responsible for only the lower age groups in the Devon operative plan. The
sections included are the links with schools and clubs; playing at and below U18
with special emphasis on producing U15 & U16 schools based representative
teams, U17 and U18 club and school's based representative teams. The development
of schools and club links to ensure the best possible player progression and
with general club schools links to ensure a better and more cohesive partnership
beneficial to all in the county.
This has been all the time
strengthened by the officiating and coaching groups who have been working
towards achieving their goals to ensure a better player coach ratio and an
improved standard of match official whilst at the same time increasing the
numbers of suitably qualified officials to control matches each week.
An agreement has been brokered in
North Devon which will ensure that by working together for their joint benefit
the clubs and schools in that area will co operate to deliver a workable plan
for the increase in schools matches in the area, by instituting a new
competition where the schools will play matches, in a different format to that
at present used, at central locations in a league of two sections. This will be
aided by the clubs becoming more actively involved with and in the schools
within their own catchment area.
This scheme is the model that the
partnership, with the agreement with the Devon committee, will use for the
introduction of similar schemes in the rest of the County, the process of which
will start to roll out in stages with a total programme being in place ready for
the start of season 07/08.
The women's section has been
actively progressing the introduction of the women's game by increasing the
number of clubs who are active in providing youth rugby for women and have held
a series of tournaments at which our teams played successfully in very
competitive competitions.
All of this is underpinned by the
partnership working that has been achieved and the employment of two community
coaches, one in N Devon/Torridge side and the other in Exeter / Mid Devon. This
partnership has an active involvement from the Devon Community Sports
Partnership, Devon Referees society, Devon Schools Union, Devon Mini/junior
committee, The Devon Schools partnerships, Devon County Council sports Office,
Devon RFU (RDP), the RFU, the RDO, the RRDM, the RRDM (W), Sports lottery fund
and many more.
The specific partners in the
scheme will provide individual playing and other reports.
Competitions. (Geoff Simpson)
The new format for the Rhino Rugby Senior
and Junior Cups seemed to work well but the change to a deadline rather than a
cup weekend date did catch a few Clubs out, particularly in the first round.
Both finals were well contested with Exmouth coming out on top in the Senior Cup
against Torquay Athletic and Okehampton edging out Cullompton in the Junior
Cup.
In the Colts Cup
Barnstaple and Brixham emerged as the finalists with the former fully deserving
their victory on the day at Astley Park. It is hoped that the move to U18 for
Colts next season will encourage more U16 players to stay in the game.
The Mini/Junior
committee, and Junior competitions secretary Terry Friend in particular, again
organised some excellent tournaments and cup competitions. The introduction of a
plate competition for U13 to U16 teams provided more games and a chance to be
involved into the New Year.
The re-organised
Devon Merit Tables seem to have been well received and have provided a flexible
structure for second and third team rugby. The basic ethos is to get games
played and Clubs will take some time to adapt to the deregulated nature of the
competition and fully embrace the opportunity to help the opposition out when
necessary. Thanks must go to Geoff Bulley and Tommy Clark who were the table
administrators. Please do help the administrator (Geoff Bulley for all tables in
2006/7) by phoning, texting or e-mailing results promptly without having to be
chased. Congratulations to the inaugural winners of the four tables who will
receive their shields at the County AGM.
In the leagues a
number of Devon Clubs won their division or the play-off. We wish them all well
at their higher level next year. Again thanks should be recorded to Danny Irvine
and Martin Newman for their service as league secretaries. Martin will be
stepping down next season and will be replaced by Tommy Clark.
Discipline. (Roger
Gash)
The Discipline Committee met on
ten occasions and dealt with 57 cases (an increase of 13 on 2004-2005).
These covered a wide range of offences as follows:
Striking 16; Stamping 7; Kicking
6; Dangerous Tackle 2; Retaliation 2; Late Charge 1; Abuse 15; Bringing Game
into Disrepute (Law 5.12) 4; Citings 2; Abandoned Games 2
The Committee had to operate the
new disciplinary procedures introduced by the RFU at the start of the season
which, once a case is proved, require the level of seriousness to be determined
and then the appropriate entry point of sentencing to be adjusted upwards or
downwards to reflect aggravating or mitigating circumstances. This is not
always an easy system to apply objectively - as indicated by the fact that in
the two cases where players appealed to Twickenham against our decisions the
sentence was reduced in one but increased in the other.
Only one club accumulated 40
points over the season and has put in hand various measures to improve its
on-field discipline next season.
The incidence of referee abuse
continues to rise. This is an unacceptable trend and the Committee dealt
firmly with some blatant instances of disrespect, several involving senior
players and coaches who could have been expected to know better. In one or
two cases however firm management by the referee himself might have proved more
salutary at stopping the trouble at source than a subsequent disciplinary
reference. Finally, the Committee has been critical in the
past about loosely drafted sending-off reports, in particular those which left
obvious questions unanswered. This year however it is a pleasure to record
that the standard of reporting has been very good and has left little or nothing
to the imagination of the Committee.
Sponsorship, Kit etc. (Gary
Aldridge)
Counties such as Devon rely on the generosity
of those in the business world for financial support and once again this season
we are indebted to our two major sponsors, Vosper's Motor House and South West
Water for their most generous support. Major contributions have also been
gratefully received from Rhino Rugby and Westcountry Embroidery. To our sponsors we say a sincere thank
you.
For the third successive season Devon have
appeared in the final of the County Championship at Twickenham and inevitably
such success although vital for our development, brings additional strains on
the finances of the County, and the financial reward from the RFU for reaching
the Final is insufficient to meet the costs involved. It is of paramount
importance therefore that we look for and encourage new interest and new
partners to help us as a County to continue to develop the playing side of the
Union.
Any interest shown should be directed to Gary
Aldridge on 07788 584147.
The County have been fortunate in having
Gary, not only as our sponsorship officer, but also as the kit man, for the want
of a better title, and he has successfully managed to ensure that all Devon
County teams run out suitably clad.
Conclusion
In concluding this report I
acknowledge the work members of the County Committee undertake on behalf of the
Devon Rugby Football Union.
Alan J
Stevens.
Hon Secretary.
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