The squad all arrived nice and early, so we had half an hour to warm up and remind ourselves of the basics - Mauls, Lineouts, Passing, and tackling. Wimbledon were in Pool A against Pulborough, Guildfordians, Old Reigations and a no-show from Brighton.

Match 1: Pulborough 5, Wimbledon 0
Wimbledon had a slow start against Pulborough, with a lack of energy and aggression for most of the game, with the exception of Ed W who was "on-fire" mauling, rucking, ripping, tackling at every opportunity. Compared to the previous week, the forwards had picked up their lineout game with Will and Ed L both contesting well, winning our own throw in and stealing a couple off Pulborough. The backs played a steady game, lacking structure initial but slowly built this up into the second half. Unfortunately, Pulborough's large centres and good supporting play meant that they had most of the attacking ball, and inevitably scored their 5 tries.

Match 2: Guildfordians 3, Wimbledon 0
Wimbledon learnt a number of the lessons from their first game, showing a bit more energy and enthusiasm this time. Wimbledon improved their positioning due to better communication between one another, forwards and backs alike. Ed W again had a great game, and along with frequent strong play from Max and Tom, the forwards made the game slightly easier for the backs of which Beau and Lucas particularly had good games. Beau doing some great tackles and Lucas clearing up rapidly from the breakdowns kept the score down. Daniel who came on at wing was a little lost in this position, but more than made up for it with some strong tackles. After the game, Wimbledon were keen to initiate some healthy banter with George Eves who has moved house and now plays for Guildfordians.

Match 3: Old Reigations 1, Wimbledon 4
Wimbledon continued building on their strengths, going into their third game with the knowledge that they were improving every time they played together. Within minutes Beau had scored a try, followed shortly afterwards by a great steal from the back of a breakdown by Lucas and a perfect run to score our second try. Old Reigations responded well with a try, giving them confidence to apply more pressure on their attack, but with some excellent tackling from Ed W, Lucas managed to get the ball out into the backs. Old Reigations defended well, and put in a big tackle against Beau who still managed to get the ball out to Rahul who scored our third try. In the second half, facing up the hill we continued playing really well, with a near miss from Gregory as the ball was knocked from his hands inches above the try line. Beau wrapped up the game with an excellent covering tackle, followed shortly afterwards with our 4th try.

Overall, the boys improved as they went through their matches playing more as a team and with more energy. Through the second and third games, the boys were very committed - demonstrated by many with bruises on legs and arms! Unfortunately, the festival only had 4 teams from the 4 pools going through to the semi's and final, so we made the most of a sunny afternoon by packing up and leaving early.

Squad:
Forwards: Max Quenby, William Martin, Edward Lee, Tom Sheppard, Edward Wilkinson
Backs: Daniel Peixoto, Freddie Elmberg, Gregory Hunt, Beau Roberts, Lucas Smyth, Rahul Shah, Henry Hiles