Against my better judgement, I agreed to referee the U13 match the following day as London Welsh took on Old Albanians. The gallons of beers celebrating the Welsh win wasn’t the best start to the 11am kick-off. Luckily, lots of Lucozade, 25 minute halves and a small pitch helped things.
The best thing about refereeing kids is how disciplined they are; no back chat, no hands in rucks, no sly punches. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, just not very often. The first half in this match had only two penalties, everyone kept on their feet and rucked properly it makes a referee’s job very easy.
The visitors were in control from the beginning with a better organised pack and players that targeted the ball for the rip at the tackle. They had some good strong, physical runners who were able to beat some soft tackles. They managed to pop over some pretty decent kicks as Welsh at least managed to shepherd a number of the tries into the corner.
