POSITIVE GROUP DYNAMIC AUGURS WELL DESPITE LETCHWORTH LOSS

The U16s still have a fair way to go in terms of development. However, the only real gauge of progress is the arena itself, and the visitors will draw a number of positives despite coming unstuck to the tune of 47-17 against stronger opposition (December 17).

Letchworth, playing on their Hertfordshire home patch, were clearly always going to be a handful, and with the wind in their sails in every sense, the onslaught in the opening ten minutes was predictably a fierce one, as the hosts threatened to run Ignatians ragged.

That a cricket score never materialised, was down to the resilience of the blue and golds, who can rightly be proud of their defensive effort, although it was always going to be a tall order in coming back from a 30-0 deficit at the break.

Ignatians, though, can be particularly proud of their second-half effort as, with the wind now in their favour, they made an even contest of it, as the second segment of the game was tied 17-17.

For the record, Ignatians ran in three tries via Ryan, Will and Gabriel.

Head coach Andy Roper said: “The big positives for us were the performance of King, who made some big tackles on his debut, whereas Ryan M claimed his first points for the club. Our next training session is on January 4th – after which we have a home game against Finchley on January 7.”