Ross Rugby Club young players, the minis, travelled to Upton RFC on Sunday and were very successful in all age groups.

The Under 7/8s played a number of closely fought games of tag rugby and won in their first game of the season.

The Under 9s played brilliantly and drew 6-6. This was their first game of contact rugby and there was some great tackling.

The Under 10s played two matches. With both Ross and Upton coming to terms with the rule changes for this season in the U10s, it was inevitable that the first match would be a cagey affair. The introduction of rucks, mauls and scrums gave all the players plenty to think about.

A brace of tries from Jonny Smith gave Ross a slender half time lead of two tries to one, a fair reflection of a very competitive first half.

In the second half Thomas Finighan showed his class in attack with some great support play and some timely offloading, helping Jonny to score his third try and complete his hat trick.

Despite a swift response from Upton, Ross extended their lead with a try from Brynley Price, and with William Glynn working tirelessly in defence, Ross managed to hang on to win four tries to two.

In the second game Ross played a more physical brand of rugby, consistently putting Upton under pressure in the rucks. Some fearless tackling from Cody Richardson-Wall helped blunt the Upton attacks, ably assisted by Charlie Cronin-Preece.

The increase in tempo paid dividends, with tries from Alana Hatch, Curtis Williams, Jonny Smith and Alex Jackson (2) giving them a five tries to nil lead at half time. In the second half Upton responded to the gauntlet that Ross had thrown down, and some sterling defensive work restricted Ross to a single try from Brynley Price; the second half finished one try each, giving Ross a 6 – 1 win overall.

Ross U11s took their biggest squad to date to Upton last Sunday, bolstered by a few U12 players who were looking for a game. Due to their high numbers Ross split into two teams, the Blues and the Whites, each playing three games over the morning.

The Blue team drew 20-all in their first match with two tries from Ryan Comfort and one a-piece from Ollie Cronshaw and Aiden Street. In their second match scrum half Aiden scored again thanks to outstanding ball-handling from Ethan Chick, but this was not enough in a game where Upton took the spoils 10-5.

In the Blues' third and final game, two more tries from Ryan and one more from Aiden saw Ross win comfortably 15-5, with prop Sarah Evans showing plenty of determination around the park.

The White team started their first match convincingly with strong running from prop Poppy Godwin setting up Stone Yates for the first of his two tries. Fly half Harry Davies then added another to set Ross up for a 15-0 victory.

In the second game wing Kieran Clements returned from a long break after surgery to score a great try with Harry scoring again to seal another win for Ross by two tries to one. Finally Harry Davies scored a hat trick in the Whites third and final match, after great service from scrum half Jamie Harris.

Harry used his power and pace to round the Upton defence, leaving Ross victors by three tries to one.