What a fantastic weekend for the Wassenaar Warriors Minis spending 2 full days on the beach playing rugby. Can’t be better. It was a first time participation for our Minis, but not as a club, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank our host Hoek van Holland RC and their organizing committee. It was a great friendly tournament, well organized. Thank you to the referees as well for keeping up with the pace across the 2 days and for making this event safe and enjoyable.

High intensity rugby

24 Minis team joined the event which made 4 qualifying groups of 6 teams. Each team play each other twice as part of the qualifying stage during a 2x5min game. Beach rugby is fast and players rotation are many to keep up the high intensity. Minis played The Wasps, Rotterdam RC, Hoek van Holland, The Dukes 1 and Delft 1 as part of the qualifiers. Few nice competitive games during this series with a record of 137 tries scored for our Minis across these 10 games. Impressive performance which is a good testimony of the level of energy brought by our Minis when entering the pitch. Winning all their 10 games led us to the semi finale against well know neighbours, Voorburgse Rugby Club.

Go Louie, run, run!

Sunday mid-day, all players have 1.5 days in the legs but sun is shinning and it is the moment to show resilience and stay focus. Voorburgse RC finished 1st of the group B and we know they could be a solid opposition. Here we are, both teams are fighting back every try with an astonishing level of intensity. Looks like it is their 1st game of the day and energy is back to 100%. Crowd is cheering alongside the pitch: there is a ticket for the final to win! The ref blows the whistle, it is the end. Interestingly, there is a mix feeling between the players and the coaches. Who won? Well 6-6. Time for the golden try. The 1st to score win. It will go fast and can take just few seconds. Kick off, few tackles, contest from Wassenaar Warriors, ball not released by VRC. Penalty for Wassenaar, the ball is moved quickly to the right wing with a last pass to Louie. Go Louie, run, run! With a last explosive and strong run we saw Louie crushing down the ball in the try zone. TRY !! 7-6: end of the game. We are in the Final. Fantastic but not much time given to relax as the finale is in 10min against another well know opposition: the RAMS RC we played last year at the Scheveningen North Sea Beach Rugby tournament.

“No Regret” game

The story repeats, you don’t play a final, you win a finale. 10 more minutes of high intensity. We don’t change anything, we play of best rugby, everyone on the pitch is a leader and is expected to make the difference. We have a good start and found spaces to score. Wassenaar is leading at the half time but the game is far from over. The crowd is loud and our Cubs are cheering at the players on the sideline. Second half starts, 5 more minutes. We are training hard for these special moments and it is where you can make the difference. This is the 12th game and none wants to lose it. A miss tackle means a try for the opposition. Each player throw the little energy left to play the “No Regret” game. Warning from the ref: 20 sec left…. It is a Wassenaar ball following a good tackle. Quick pass to the right wing and a last offload Wojtek who is like flying alongside the sideline to score the last try of the day, ending the game and lifting our Minis to the top of the leaderboard. Well done Minis – you have won the 1st Place!

It was a demanding but fantastic weekend together as a club, as a team. Well done Minis, I can not be more proud of you. Many thanks to our support staff, parents and fans! We need you and we shall see you soon.

Laurent Minaud – Head Coach Minis

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