A rain-drenched Welwyn was the venue for the South East qualifer for the first ever U14 National Cup on Sunday, with three teams playing for two places in the next round - Welwyn, "Cramberley" (from Surrey), and "Herts Barbarians" (a scratch side made up of everyone else from Herts outside of Welwyn, plus some girls from Eastern Counties!).
The hope was that the two Hertfordshire teams would make it through, and the opening game between the two "home" teams was incredibly close - Welwyn desparately unlucky to go down by a single try.
Unfortunately Welwyn then had to play again. The disappointment of the first game - and the strength-sapping mud - did not help when up against one of the best U14 sides in the south of England (National 7s winners last year) and they went down 17-0.
The boot was on the other foot, however, for the next game as the "Barbarians" took full advantage of a good rest and sneaked home 10-5 in an really exciting game that ended in the gathering gloom of a winter's evening. So the Barbarians at least take the Herts flag forward when they get to do it all again on 4th February!
"Gloom" and "having to do it all again" were also the emotions felt by the our three U17 entrants as their tournament at Saracens (or "Lake Bramley" as it may now be called) was called off just as everyone was setting off (well, everyone in Hertfordshire. We suspect that other teams due to take part had already been travelling for a while before they heard). Quite what will happen now is anyone's guess as - with county and regional dates already in place - there are not that may opportunities to rearrange the contest before 4th February. Watch this space...
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